My favorite three old roses that I am loving for a long time are Zephirine Drouhin, Rose de Rescht, and Cl. Cecile Brunner. I bought Zephirine Drouhin the first time around 10 years ago by accident (at that point I didn't even know that she was an old rose), when I was still living in Germany and growing roses on a roof top terrace. I love her for a gorgeous, very strong wafting fragrance and for the loosely-double, slightly tussled, pink blooms that occur in abundance on this rose in spring. I have seen this rose re-blooming well in Germany, and it seems to be the case that a colder climate helps with that, whereas in a very warm climate she seems to be a little bit stingy with the repeat. The color of the flowers vary in intensities from clear to a light soft pink depending on the age of the blooms, which makes this rose even more charming in my eyes. I am very happy that I am able to growing ZD here in San Diego, again. She is getting into her third year this spring and has grown quite a bit and I am expecting great things of her. Rose de Rescht was also already with me ten years ago in Germany, and I bought her already twice in California again, once in the Bay Area and now in San Diego. Besides that this rose has very cute crimson pompom like flowers, which are nestled deeply into the beautiful gray green foliage, it has an awesome, strong, warm, old rose fragrance, which makes it even more adorable. I also appreciate that the rose is making a nice round shrub by herself, which looks very pretty in the landscape. To me it is very fascinating that she is so adaptable to very different climates. She was doing really well for me in Germany. In the Bay Area in CA she became a really nice big bush. Here in San Diego my RdR is not even a year old so it is too early to judge about her, but I got some very nice blooms from her last year already! Cecile Brunner, Climbing. This rose stood out for me when I came to California 6 years ago. I saw her everywhere in CA, sometimes gigantic specimen always producing an absolutely spectacular spring flush of small blush pink flowers. The rose is relatively floriferous year round. The sheer vigor and will to live of this rose has impressed me tremendously. I also love the dainty, cute flowers and the fragrance is also not bad. Even though it is a very common rose here in CA I get never tired seeing this beautiful rose! Christina

Well, Pam...not 'that' far from you and here in Buckroe Beach, VA (Hampton coast) we got hit pretty hard like they predicted. But I had not believed it since we rarely get it!! But i sure is beautiful !!!! Boy oh boy, the birds are going nuts at my feeders out front. I guess since they're used to me, I awoke with doves sitting on my table and couch on the porch, and cardinal, too -- just feet from my BR window. I put a few seed trays and water down and now, can't tear myself away watching the doves, cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, sparrows, catbirds, and a few others I'm not sure about. And of course, the starlings !! Those little pigs. But no squirrels, thank God. Hadda go rescue my cat from the snow. He's never seen it before, tried going out the back door and shot right back in again. But then he bolted out the front door at 8AM. Typically during colder weather, he's out and right back in (just to go do his business) so by the time lunchtime came and still no "Pinkey," I HADDA go looking for him. He was all huddled up under my neighbor's house, just a'crying all pitiful, scared to come out. I finally had to trick him with treats, then grab him, all the while he was screaming. That is, until he was safe in "momma's arms. But now the dumbass wants out again. No way. I don't want to have to perform a 2ND rescue....LOL

A big THANK YOU for the "bucket of death" idea!!!! I have lost a season's worth of strawberries (wouldn't have hurt so much if they hadn't taken just a couple of bites and gone on to the next berry and even ate the green ones); I probably don't need to include the holes there. I thought our drought conditions were hurting a lovely Korean Spice Bush; odd, the other plants are doing well. Since every place else in the bed is open ground, under the bush things are hidden, so I looked and yup, there was a hole. Have been seeing a chipper for a while but never connected it to tree damage. And have been weeding and finding only the outer skins of crocus and hardly any larger ones. And my little fritilaries are down to three. That HURTS! The last straw was hearing noises from the air vents. I live in a mobile home with the skirting insulated. The little buggers are getting in somewhere. When my cats sit at the vents for an hour they are either listening for mice and apparently chipmunks. It wouldn't take them much to get inside here from underneath. I tried snap traps but kept catching birds hungry because of the drought. SO: went out and bought me a bucket and some seed and made me a "bucket of death". And guess what? Caught one first night! I noticed that there were a few spaces in the floating seeds; that's a good indication of a dead chipper. I also checked along the back of my home where the ground meets the concrete slab and behold, a hole under the stairs (in the general direction of said noises). Took a waste basket and did the "bucket" thing again. I used a 2x6" board for the one out front; stuck a few seeds onto the end with PB but those weren't touched. Out back I just put a few seeds on a step. Haven't checked that one yet though. Weather will soon be turning cold and I don't want to share my home with these destructive critters, not to mention their fleas and ticks and diseases.

Female baby cardinals don't usually have the crest as fledglings. The males do. The females can easily be mistake for a sparrow as young fledglings (beak and feather pattern can help you tell difference) while the males begin to show orange and red hues pretty early. I've been feeding cardinal nestlings and parents for years now, they bring so much joy and will after time communicate with you. For example, mine are obsessed with blueberries. If I'm out of blueberries and don't put anything out, dad will pretty much "yell" at me now, or if I try to give them grapes or other berries instead he's even more annoyed LOL. And no, I'm not a crazy old bird lady. But birds understand more language than cats. My females are far more skittish, but my daddy cardinal has been with me 3 solid years now and will sit within a foot of me, let me move slowly, and allow me to talk to him. Mama, not so much. ;) As for size, cardinals fledge quite quickly (11 days, incubate for only 13), but remain fully dependent on parents for at least a full 20 days when their flying begins improving. They don't venture far from their parents for weeks afterwards. But by the time they're flying well, they're barely smaller than mom. You likely indeed saw mom feeding baby cardinal. A baby cowbird doesn't resemble a cardinal, though cardinal parents adopt, incubate, feed and fledge them as their own.