Thank you, Michael. I gave both the fragrance and the Knockout talks. The folks who came specifically to hear about how to care for Knockout gave me a really good set of ideas as to what new rose growers ask about first and then some of the other things they need to know. The inspiration was that this spring I had seen so many badly pruned Knockout mass plantings on my side of the mountains. The title of the Kockout talk ended up with the subtitle "First do no harm." Fortunately I-40 is open again, two lanes east bound, one lane westbound for about five miles close to the state line. Lots of slick metamorphic slates still there to slide down onto the road if they don't get them bolted in thoroughly.. The fragrance talk was about OUR part of the country and how good some roses can be as scent sources, what doesn't work here, where people can go to sniff roses (and at what time of the day) and general recommendations for us (and how to avoid falling for some marketing blurbs.)

Re this particular cat, then to roses. This is Twitchit cat, who hobbled up the hill to our solar porch, collapsed with a broken left front leg. She'd been dragging her paw so long that there was no fur left on the top of it. She could (I think) hear then. Probably not well. The leg healed in a sort of odd orientation and she now struts like a bulldog. It's that past four months that she's been more cautious as to where she sleeps and prefers to sleep with her tail over our feet. (So she can tell when we are moving?) I've been trying to teach the herd to use a second door from the kitchen; but with Twitchit, I couldn't get even an earflick as I called her. Only when my shadow crossed her did I get attention. So we'll have to learn that underfoot is by her choice and she has a reason for not responding to "Move!" Our original roxburgii double came with the 200 year old farm house. It bloomed spring and a little in fall. It was at that time shaded by some massive silver maples. Well, (roses can smile at this) the maples have been wiped out by a tornado, by the loss of a sugar maple and by old age and the sunlight situation is much better. The original plant is still going, but now that there's more sun, it's suckering tentatively. It really did wait for more sunlight to move into new territory. One of its suckers in now down in the species garden in really crappy clay. It blooms right on cycle with its parent even though it's usually 5 degrees colder there during winter cold. I do try to improve the soil for the older one. It doesn't really show any perceptible appreciation. The one thing that was really interesting this spring was that we had a wet winter, and there was NO dieback at the ends of any stems. I had come to expect that dieback every winter, regardless of temperature. But this winter, it kept all of its growth and bloomed everywhere.' The single form of roxburgii is a different story for me. It's down in the species bed and it hasn't bloomed yet. Stephen Scaniello tells me it takes time. It's been five years. I also have the bald hipped version of roxburghii down there and it managed a few blooms in year three. Same soil as the other one in the species bed. I talk to them a lot down there. Right now I'm not sure the single is as close to the double roxburghii as the nomenclature suggests. And there's one genejockey paper that doesn't have them close. But the plants have different leaves and different growth styles...someday, I'll be able to compare blooms and bloom times. Right now, they are just interesting to watch. To get bloom, I think age may trump sunlight as my slower ones are in full day sunlight except for shade just before dusk.

It is rare to see any cooktop that has a temperature readout control. I've never seen one on gas and electric, but that doesn'tmean there aren't any expensive electrics out there that don't have them. The only induction units I've seen with temperature sensors and readouts are the Cooktek models, particularly the upscale Apogees which have an LED readout and cook at 100 levels. If they made a 4 or 5 burner model I would have been sorely tempted. They are used mostly by professional chefs. But they make two burner units that are set up horizontally or vertically. And besides the one stand alone 3500 watt Cooktek Apogee I have, you can buy them built in. They even have a built-in wok model along with a stand alone model. And they all have 26 temperatures built-in to the sensors memory, which is pretty much guaranteed to find the right temp from below simmer 85 degrees to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. If I was smart and willing to spend as much as a Miele (and get far better performance than a Miele) I would have bought a double horizontal 7,000 watt unit ( 2 x 3500 watts) for the front and a double horizontal 5,000 watt (2 x 2500 watts) for the rear. You plug each unit into a 30 amp outlet and voila--although you might get away with a 20 amp on the 5,000 watt unit with slightly diminished performance at full crank. And of course none of the burners share power--you can get 100% from each. They are built like tanks, undoubtedly because they are built for commercial use. The ceramic tops thicker than others along with very high grade and thicker stainless body, which carries around the ceramic edges, as opposed to a much flimsier frame. For those that might be interested here are Cooktek features. They are also sold on the Inductionsite.com BUILT-IN DIAGNOSTICS Inside each induction cooktop is a built-in SmarTemp microprocessor that monitors key internal components 120 times per second. It works to protect against power surges and to check for any problems associated with overheating, blocked airflow and almost anything else you can imagine. If a problem is detected, the unit will shut itself off before any real damage can occur. Also, an error code appears in the LED display allowing you to easily diagnose and adjust for most problems immediately. HEAVY DUTY CERAMIC GLASS SMOOTHTOP Our glass smoothtop can withstand temperatures up to 1000°F. The high physical shock values allow the cooktop to withstand everyday use in a commercial kitchen. Certainly tough material, but very easy to clean! COMMERCIAL KITCHEN-PROOF ELECTRONICS Every electronic component was specified with the commercial kitchen environment in mind. We know that our cooktops will constantly be subjected to grease, flour, other food particles, and extremely high ambient temperatures in the kitchen - and we've put them to the test.. LED DISPLAY All of our induction cooktops have a conveniently located LED display. On the freestanding cooktops, it is located on the front panel. On the drop-in cooktops, it is located under the glass of the smoothtop surface for easy viewing. USER-FRIENDLY CONTROL KNOB Aesthetically speaking, most customers prefer a push button panel - it just looks better. We agree. However, when a customer compares cooking and controlling heat with a knob versus pushing buttons, they overwhelmingly prefer the knob. Not only is it easier to work with, but it's more like working with the knob on a gas stove - and that's what we're used to. By simply turning the knob left to right - just as you would with a gas stove - you are able to decrease or increase the power instantly. BUILT-IN STAINLESS STEEL EDGE The ceramic glass on our cooktops is designed to withstand anything a commercial kitchen can offer. And although it has extremely high shock values, we've taken the liberty of building in yet another safeguard. Each cooktop - even our drop-in units - has a reinforced stainless steel edge that serves as extra protection around the edge of the glass to prevent splitting, cracking and safety issues. FLEXIBLE TEMPERATURE CONTROL If your recipe calls for a specific temperature - no problem.With the push of just one button, you can turn the knob from left to right to set a specific holding temperature anywhere between 85 and 450 degrees. With a broad range of 26 temperature settings to choose from, even the most delicate dishes become simple to cook. Greg

Beth, Boy do I remember that summer! I was recuperating from surgery and we had to evacuate a few times to our daughter's house. But they had a houseful of people (his parents, too) with blow-up mattresses and the wind was so forceful, it blew the rain right through the brick in their living room......what a mess. At least I could sit and fold towels. DH went up on the roof, did a patch job and it hasn't leaked again, so hopefully it's taken care of. I'm thankful that even at his age, he is so handy. Can't remember what day it is, but still remembers his handyman skills. lol