I believe this was a sport of mayflower.. a particular useful rose for nothern gardners.. But probably isnt worth growing in warmer climates. He has better roses, he has better white roses. Mayflower is cold hardy, smaller in starure (give or take, the warmer you are the bigger it will probably grow) has a decent scent and is fairly and relitive to his other intros desease resistance. But the flowers look like a mess on the pink ones imo, so I doubt them sporting to white will do anything for it. Probably make it worse looking. Mayflower is a rose I used to have in the old house never bothered adding it back here. Maybe at a future date, i probably will never bother with the white sport of it. Winchester Cathedral is a better white(and still fairly cold hardy). Claire Austin looks even better, coudlnt comment on cold hardiness on that one though. Silverkelt

Dear Sherry---I wish I had read this before I commented on the Climbing roses" post---now I realize where your heart has been---most rose-lovers are also pet lovers so we understand your loss---I've had many precious pets over my 80 plus years----it never gets easier to lose one---a little story about my friend Charlie a Golden Retreiver---we had just lost my son's Golden---both kids were away in college and I was a widow---so I went looking for a dog--My daughter and I were sitting in the breeder's house and had almost decided on a 3 mo old puppy ---then she brought Charlie into the house--he was 7 mos' old---he looked at me---walked into another room pushed his nose through a pile of papers and came over to me and dropped his papers in my lap--I looked down and noticed he was born on my birthday----I'm so happy my daughter was with me because who would believe this story-----he was my companion and protector ( rare for a Golden) for many years----he also picked my current DH for me ( another story)--anyway--when his time came--he was very sick and the day we were to go to the vet I gave him some eggs---held his head in my lap and pleaded with him to just go to sleep---while I was standing at the sink his tail stopped and I looked down and he was gone-- Now I'm crying --but just wanted to share this story with you. I have many stories about this wonderful furry friend My heart hurts for you. BTW--I always tease my DH---I say he married me just so he could share Charlie---He loved him also. Florence

WOW! How did I miss this one!! Zabby you'd fit right in with this old Arkansas Hillbilly and I promise to leave my shotgun home in the double-wide. Just wondering if I could smuggle my slingshot cross the border?? We could zing each other with used canning jar lids. :^) Seriously Bill, I'm flattered but not only is it awfully far away from the hills down here, I have to add that any info needed is already readily available from a far more reputable source than me - NCHFP and its great collection of publications (not to mention the vetted books we often discuss here). Sadly far too many home canners either aren't aware of its existence or just don't recognize it as a legit source. The real problem, as I see it, is that many folks don't recognize the potential problems/risks in home canning and so tend to focus more on convenience rather than safety. As a result, they really aren't interested in learning more because they see it as restrictive. That is the attitude that needs to change IMO - to recognize that the purpose of home food preservation is just that, SAFE FOOD PRESERVATION. It is not convenient gourmet instant meals. I too would have expected much more from Ellie Topp since the opportunity presented itself to her to address that topic and the fact that she didn't provide the info undermines my confidence in her recipes. Unfair? Likely. But true just the same. Thanks for the invite though. Dave

She's one of my favorites on the Food Network, although they moved her to 8 am on Saturday morning, a time when I'm barely conscious. She cooks "normal" food without strange ingredients for the most part, and explains about antioxidants in chocolate and good fats in nuts, etc., so you actually get good information in addition to the cooking. I like her roasted vegetable salad with feta and mint, although I subbed basil for the mint, not being a lover of fresh mint. Elery likes her Asian spring rolls, I liked the filling but I don't like the wrappers. I also like her whole wheat pancakes, although I ddin't have the stuff to make the nut topping so I made them without and I like the lemon ice box bars. Oh and her broccoli and cheese stuffed potato skins with avacado cream, they're yummy. Annie