A visitor to my garden stopped in her tracks when she saw FoJ. "What's that?", she asked. "Fourth of July", was my reply. From the expression on her face I could tell that the name meant nothing to her. "It's a rose bush" I explained. She was dumbfounded, "That's a rose bush? I thought it was a peony." I got a similar response last year when someone asked about Betty Boop. Let's face it. Non-rosarians have no idea about the many forms & faces (& names) of roses.

Thanks, Rosajoe, I'd love to have a name for our Camellia. There are still a lot of buds on the shrub/tree that have not opened. Also, thanks to you, I went out and uncovered some leaves around my lantana plants and was happy to see a lot of tiny, new growth. I'm afraid that we've lost a lot of our plants too. Vicki, I hope you can post a picture soon of your Daphne Odora. I'm not familiar with those. Girlgroupgirl, is it normal for the daffodils to bloom at different times? I was hoping to have a big patch of yellow. This is the second year in the ground for our daffs and I'm hoping for more blooms than last year. Anyway, their little yellow faces (here and there) were a welcomed sign of spring. My phlox hasn't bloomed at all. Bagsmom, I'm with you, can't wait to get out and get dirty. I've been trying my hands at starting some seeds inside for the first time. So far, that's not working for me. Cyrus_gardner, I've been out for the past few days and it was wonderful! Bok choys...love it...have you grown that before? Too bad the nice weather left us. I hear thunder in the distance. Thanks for all of the comments, everyone. It's nice to get excited about what's blooming in your Georgia neighbors' yards as well. Bon

terrene, you have two large trees to keep up with. I like the sound of a natural tree form for them. Great to have old trees that offer you a lot of screening too. I suppose the birds enjoy them. Yes, the Hicksii is supposed to stay narrow. You're right, they do grow slowly and I have to remember that when pruning, since I am trying to grow them as a screen. It was very warm here today. It's 45 degrees on my back porch. The rain was wild yesterday with all that wind. We are left with patches of snow. I walked around the garden this afternoon and it was nice to get out. I always enjoy it too, Dee. I see crocus poking their heads up and leaves opening on shrubs which concerns me this early. Lots of branches on the ground from the neighbor's silver maples. I filled the feeders. I feel like Carol, lots of work to do come March and this January thaw just gets you wishing it were spring instead of a false alarm. I'm trying to think of other things so the time will go by faster. [g] Dee, what are you winter sowing this year? Is anyone else starting seeds?

That is a metal head of a season lady. I forget what you call them. I had a book as a child that had pictures for woman representing Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. She has grapes for hair. I wired her on a Linden tree that was dying. For a while I thought of carving the tree but it was too hard and required skill. You have a good camera like Glenda; I can't get that close to birds. You got the texture of the snow. The area around my bird feeder is nasty and would not look good if I could get a picture. I am on my last bag of sunflowers seeds. They have gone through lots of seed and suet.