I fertilized in spring with milorganite, alfalfa meal, cotton seed meal and a little epsom salt. Other than that they get leaves and straw pulled back from crown. They have always been happy blooming fools with just leaves and straw. I don't spray my roses with anything they are disease free roses especially the ADR roses. Had several rains followed by nights in the fifties but the days are warm. We are having the same weather pattern we had for winter. The weather men are calling it the summer polar vortex. Hot for a few days, then rain followed by cooler than normal for a few days. Haven't had to water yet. The snow melt is still in the ground. Been growing roses for 20 years and I've never seen this before. For what it's worth it looks bacterial. But I was by it two days ago and saw nothing. Saw it today and it was an oh,oh moment. Like seeing rrd in your roses. Perhaps not as deadly but she looked to be on deaths doorstep. Any thing else I can tell you about the rose? She in pretty good soil holds moisture but not flooded or muddy. Has been growing there for a good ten years.

Great photos - Is that a goldfinch on the thistle? It's been miserable here. We're not used to the cold weather. It's been really cold (for us) so I bought some suet cakes for the birds last week. (I don't usually feed) I went to Walmart a couple of days later and they had bags of peanuts right in front of the door, so I bought some for the bluejays. This week, we're covered with a sheet of ice, so I bought more peanuts, some mixed bird food and a couple of more suet cakes. We've had ladderback woodpeckers, goldfinches, cardinals, doves, blue jays, assorted sparrows and whole bunch of grackels and starlings. I think they can use some extra help this year. It's been really cold everywhere. bkay

Hi Kids, Happy New Year to you all. I saw my first Hawk in the yard today. I think it was a Northern Goshawk. I got a few pictures of it which I will post as soon as I am able. It was beautiful. It sounds like we are all enjoying the birds. The worms I always kept on hand for the Blues were live mealworms. I know you can get the freeze dried, but I have always used the live ones. They are not gross at all. They are small, only about an inch, dry and easy to handle...no slime. I order them on line and they arrive in a bag, inside a box. I take them out, put them in a shallow plastic container that has a lid and, put them in the lower part of the refrig. They last for a long time. I would even feed them apples so they stayed plump and happy. I think I got 5,000 for about $15. The Blues LOVED them. I was lucky enough to have a Flicker visit during my PFW count this past week. I was so excited. We seem to have a mini flock of 3 that now visit the suet feeder just about every day. They are so beautiful. I'll try to post the pictures of the Hawk. I would like to know if you all agree wtih my ID of it as a Goshawk. sooey

dklucius, you are absolutely correct that the price of black oilseed is on the rise, but i doubt that the local riding horse market is generating a major impact because they have been using sunflower seeds of all variety, and especially the black oilseed as a supliment in both Equine and Bovine feeds for a number of years. I think you will find a much greater impact is coming from the oil industry. Although black oil seed has not been extensively farmed in the past, there are now finding that black oilseed it much cheaper than corn to produce and it has a higher yield for making biofuel. As the biofuel industry expands we can expect to see a big demand on sunflower seeds of all varieties. It is a great deal for the farmers because their initial planting and tilling costs are less and they can plant & harvest the oilseed with the same equipment they currently use for corn. If the biofuel industry kicks off as expected we will see the price of sunflower seeds fluctuate very quickly, It could go through the roof or on the other hand, once more farmers get into the production the price could drop tremmendiously. However it turns out, I will be okay because I have unlimited access to 10 acres where I can grow my own oilseed, or convert some of it to open meadow bird preserve. Last year we had to cut down two 65ft high Maple trees in the yard. We sold off the firewood, but I took all the brush and limbs and built a living fence along the creek which provides excellent habitat for birds, rabbits, and a couple ground hogs, now to mention that the open meadow area provides a hunting ground for the hawks and Bald Eagles. As soon as the weather breaks I will be building some hunting blinds in that area where i can sit all day and shoot pictures.