>I would love a recommendation for a yellow or white rose that is very low maintenance in the south and preferably repeat blooms. Hi Donna, Just one rose? How large? Here are several of different sizes in various shades of those two colors. To find out about which forms and sizes would work in your setting, go to HelpMeFind to search on each name: http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/plants.php I've been looking for worry-free roses that are shades of yellow or white for some time, and here are some that I like. All tend to be low maintenance; we have a no-spray yard. (But we haven't yet tried them all.) In a rough order of ascending height: Rise 'n' Shine, Marie Pavie, Westside Road Cream Tea, Sea Foam, Julia Child, Lion's Fairy Tale, Ducher, Alister Stella Gray, Amazone, Spice, Prosperity, Moonlight, Ghislaine de Feligonde, Snow Goose, Lady Hillingdon, Crepuscle, William Allen Richardson, Lamarque. None of these are above average in thorniness except for Sea Foam, which is very thorny. I've tried three versions of Iceberg here and would not recommend any version of it for a no-spray yard where it's humid and prone to blackspot susceptible roses. Tiny Litte White Pet works for most people, including on the blackspot prone East Coast, but it hasn't worked well here in too much shade. If you have plenty of sun, a little border of them would be beautiful if they're healthy for you. I've seen a border of Marie Pavie too that was gorgeous. Best wishes, Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Lookup information on different roses at Help Me Find

Great post. I'm in the NE but surprisingly I see much of the same results that you have. My growing season is a bit longer as I don't have to deal with nearly the heat and humidity that you do although my transplant date is the middle of May. In terms of your questions regarding green cherries, the two that I know of that people give favorable reviews of are: - Green Doctors/Green Doctors Frosted - Green Zebra Cherry Some other prolific cherries you could try is Matt's Wild Cherry and Mountain Magic (F1). I haven't tried Sweet Million, but have tried Sweet 100 Million with good success. Also Dr. Carolyn's is very prolific and robust. It's a little later to develop than your typical cherry so it would be interesting to see if it does well in your climate. In terms of blacks, try Indian Stripe. It supposedly has a very similar tast to CP, but is more prolific and provides fruits earlier than CP. In terms of yellows try Hugh's. In terms of reds, I've heard good things about Ramapo (F1). You could also try your hand in grafting your tomatoes to rootstock to improve soil pest resistance and possible introduce more vigor to your tomato plants. There are various opinions on GW about the validity of grafting, but I think in your environment it would be a good thing to try (if nothing else at least you could buy the "Grafting - Been there, done that." There are expensive rootstock seeds you could purchase like Beaufort, or you can purchase cheaper hybrid seeds that already have soil pest resistance genes in them like Celebrity. You could even try your hand hand at making a 'Frankensteinian" tomato-eggplant mix using the eggplant rootstock "Black Beauty" which some people swear by. If you want to learn more about grafting type in "Cary Rivard" in Youtube. Dr. Rivard has a bunch of conference seminars that were video tapped and are now on Youtube. smithmal

First, I tried to answer the question about the definition of OP using the same genetic terms that pennyrile used. So that's an attempt to defione an OP based on genetic issues alone. What Trudi posted is a definition based more on a functional basis. Here's what Trudi quoted from her source: (In addition to their long history of use, the heirloom vegetables that are routinely grown from seed are open-pollinated, meaning that they set seed "naturally," often aided by wind, rain, or pollinating insects, and can thus be renewed by sowing the seeds harvested from each generation of plants. Known also as standard or non-hybrid, open-pollinated varieties tend to be stable and true-breeding. They differ from F1 hybrids, which in usual practice result from deliberate crossing of two distinct, highly inbred parent lines. (The term "F1" to describe the hybrid offspring indicates the "first filial" generation, with respect to the parent lines.)) Trudi, I know that definition well and used to use it when asked, but a couple of things about it started bothering me. (are open-pollinated, meaning that they set seed "naturally," often aided by wind, rain, or pollinating insects, and can thus be renewed by sowing the seeds harvested from each generation of plants. Known also as standard or non-hybrid, open-pollinated varieties tend to be stable and true-breeding.) Possible Problem #1; if cross pollinated by pollinating insects a variety is no longer genetically stable, as in true brreding. Possible Problem #2; nothing was said about spontaneous mutations which can also alter varieties. Possible Problem #3. What about all the varieties that were bred by individuals and done so deliberately? Would then one still consider all of TOm Wagner's varieties such as Green Zebra, Green Grape, Elberta Girl and on and on, as OP's b'c they didn't come about via natural means? Same comment for all of the ones bred by joe Bratka such as Snow White, Super Snow White, Ghost, Rabbit, Marizol Purple, aka Marizol Bratka, and all the Sara thises and that's that he bred. Since they were bred are they to be considered OP? s And what about all the ones bred by Joe's father, such as Box Car Willie, Mule Team, Red Barn, Great Divide and Pasture. Are they OP's using the "natural" definition? And there are more examples. ( They differ from F1 hybrids, which in usual practice result from deliberate crossing of two distinct, highly inbred parent lines. (The term "F1" to describe the hybrid offspring indicates the "first filial" generation, with respect to the parent lines.)) The purpose here is to produce F1 seed for sale whereas the deliberate crosses made by Tom Wagner, Joe Bratka, his father, Tad Smith and others is not to produce F1 seed, rather, to dehybridize the F1's that they create to develop OP's from selections at the F2, F3, level, for instance. I guess what I'm saying is that I've know that functional definition of OP for a long time and that goes back to the late 80's. But in more recent years we do have lots of folks making their own crosses, so it seems maybe a bit problematic now to say that an OP can only arise by natural means, forgetting the comment about X pollination by insects. Just something to think about. Carolyn

If anyone wants to see the differences between 'Beefsteak' and 'Ponderosa Red' (or Ponderosa Pink) with their own eyes I offer them all in the Your Choice Tomato SASE. The full and updated list is on my trade page, if you've already sent for any of my SASEs please feel free to send again. I have a lifetime of seeds to share. Personally, I think it's worth the time to find out about the differences or similarities between the older varieties. I've been on a quest recently to find out info about the 'Chalk' tomato and with help from my USAIN friends I've learned so far that Chalk's Early Jewel is placed between Bonny Best and Marglobe for color and characteristics. I'm still looking for info on 'Chalk' but I hope to get that from the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville. Beefsteak is a shape, a type, and the tomato named 'Beefsteak', so to me any tomato said to be a beefsteak has to stand against 'Beefsteak' as a comparison. I think they're all great slicers and they all go great on a sandwich with cheese and mayo. Your own locality and garden health will determine which works grows best, but ultimately, once you have a beefsteak that thrives in your garden, the flavor will be what keeps you growing it year to year. In my mind, Mom's 'Beefsteaks' growing into that arborvitae are the zenith of what a meaty, red slicer should be. Here is a link that might be useful: Here's the list and info for 'Your Choice Tomato SASE'