Talk about PRESSURE..... Valedictorian..Blue Angel...looks like an intellectual to me. Salutatorian...Rhino Hide....always hanging tough Honors..Tokudana Flavocircinalis...one of the exchange students always studying and skewing the grade point average. Class President..Sagae...like Idiothe, I'd vote for him every time Homecoming Queen..Goodness Gracious.. I mean, she learned all the graces at Old Miss, she was born to be the HQ Class Clown...Wheee! nobody else is Toujour Gai all the time! Most likely to Succeed..Smooth Sailing...has to be, you know? Things always go easy for him, like perfect, out of the box. Being so good looking has something to do with it, don't you think, eh? Teacher’s Pet..Pandora's Box, yeah, that one always needing special attention, sitting RIGHT ON THE DECK at dinner time so The Woman can tweak her drooping curls. Best Dressed...Sharp Dressed Man, no less...He's been that way ever since he fell for Diana Remembered and tries to travel in her fancy circles. He might make it this year, I saw him glide his pot right next to hers last week. Yep, watch those two...he has ideas, but she's always a lady. Craziest Hair..Atom Smasher...I mean, have you taken a LOOK at that hair? Shyest..Emily Dickinson without a doubt is the shyest little thing to grace the East Coast. So feminine and perfectly poised, her private passions hidden beneath a smooth facade. Most Artistic...Stained Glass...as good as Papa Monet painting with flower colors, the whole family--cousins and all--have the wildest artistic tendencies. But Stained Glass heads the family. Cutest..Tiny Tears....Awwww, it think's it's a real hosta! Shortest..Oze...maybe if he STOOD UP he'd look less short. But that plant is just plain LAZY. Tallest..Old Faithful...for now anyway. Reminds me of good ole Abe Lincoln, that plain green homespun look, long lanky legs ... Others will surpass his size, but not his strength and manly fragrance.

#1 looks best to me. The background color matches better to me, since the brown in #2 is different than the rich cabinets, 1 looks better. Love the dark cabinets

Let me tell everyone that the pictures on this thread have been so exquisite!!!! Such eye candy! This has been such a fun and interesting thread to see which roses have done well for everyone this year. Thanks for sharing your pictures and input on your roses. Lots of new roses and several that I would definitely like to get my hands on in the coming year. It was interesting to see how we all voted this year and there was a 3-way tie for the 2014 rose of the year........Julia's child, Love song, and Pope John Paul II. The runners up or ones that got more than one vote were: Beverly, double delight, mutabilis, lady of shalott, south Africa, peace, gold medal, Marie van houtte, tiffany, belindas dream, hot cocoa, Gemini, and don juan. I think we should do this again next year to see how we all fared and see if our favorites are still the same or have changed given all the variables we may encounter in the coming year. Thanks to all who participated and Happy New Year to everyone! May everything come up rosey in the new year! Shannon

Favoritism & digs & pesky gnats? Please don't go there. It's a friendly plant forum where anyone/all are welcome. The purpose of this forum has never been to invent plant names, just to attempt to match pics with the correct botanical name. Common names are optional because most plants have many of those. Many have an interesting story behind them. It's not a competition or popularity contest unless one is having their own internal one. There are other forums if one decides to seek a more in-depth discussion about a particular plant or cultivating it in a particular area/climate/circumstance. It's customary to include a question mark when one isn't sure, or suggest comparing. Really a gray area, if somebody thinks they know and they are wrong, they still thought they knew, and I assume all responses are given in the spirit of trying to help. If you read the responses that way, they're all pleasant. Exploring similar plants from close-but-not-quite-a-match suggestions is often fun too. I read as many as time will allow, and learn a LOT here.