Jeez, I just skimmed through the thread and saw that because I used asterisks to simulate a swear word, Garden Web removed the first post I made today. Eyeroll. So my above correction doesn't even make any sense now. To reiterate it: Today the owner of the roofing company came into my yard without announcing himself. I only knew he was there because my wonderful watchdog barked. He had a camera and I assume took photos but I don't know for sure of what. He also had another person with him. I went out as he was getting in his truck to leave and he introduced himself and the professional gardener he had brought with him. He said he has never seen anything like my letter and there was no way I was getting $700 out of him (which was the number I finally went with, significantly less than the total sum for damages and repair). He said I could take him to court, but he would only countersue for his lost wages, which would be substantial. He could see I had "a bit of a garden," though, and was willing to "chip in a few dollars for some plants". I explained that he couldn't see much of the damage because it involved plants that weren't there anymore, that was kind of the whole point, and that I had estimates for replanting and remulching and it costs a lot. He essentially said I was lying, that there was no way there was enough damaged to total $700, and tried to intimidate me by adding that he was contacting the property management and owner (which I already did, of course) and that the woman with him was a professional gardener. He says his guys had legal access to do the work and had to do it around messes like dog poop (yeah, I miss a pile once in a while, I admit it) and there was just no way to avoid some damage with the kind of work that had to be done. I say this is bull poop (ahem: happy, GW magic eye?), most of the damage was done during cleanup and if it had been the garden of one of the guys up there on the roof, they would have made sure to find a way to protect it. I've since called 4 local roof companies and asked them and 4 out of 4 have answered that no, there would not be big piles of shingles and debris on the flowerbeds if they did the work. As a rule if someone is trying to intimidate me I assume there's something I CAN do that they don't want me to do. But I'm deathly scared of a countersuit, because there's no way I could pay it if he did win. In retrospect, the minute I found out who he was and that he had simply walked into my fenced backyard I should have called the cops. I am really angry now -- I HATE being manipulated -- but I have to find out what the likelihood of his countersuit being successful is before I can go ahead like I want to and sue his sleazy brains out. Kristin

FWIW, I haven't grown the climbing CS but I have the bush form and I agree with Jackie. It ALWAYS balls, even in our mostly low humidity climate. For instance, 40% humidity is "high humidity" according to our weather folks. I just have to think of CS bush form having round flowers, then it doesn't bug me too much. Obviously some folks get gorgeous blooms from this rose, but it might have to be in the high desert to be reliable. I'm impressed that Patrick didn't have much problem with this - I think he's on the east coast. It must be lovely where it's happy, and this love letter is almost enough to make me want to try it in the climbing form. It's also possible I guess that the climbing form is more resistant to balling than the bush form, but with all those petals it's probably still susceptible. It looks like the rose Patrick was talking about is the Dingee and Conard rose, and hmf lists the following vendors: Angel Gardens, Antique Rose Emporium, Rose Petals, and Roses Unlimited. It's listed at one 5b and I've had good luck with polys, so I might give this one a try next year just to see how it does. Cynthia

Right now my back yard is pretty full of bromeliads, and I have I don't know how many different kinds, from pineapple to Portea petropolitana extensa. I also have Meyer lemon, Eureka lemon, blood orange, Kaffir lime, bay tree, white sapote, cherimoya, avocado, banana, papaya, Fuji apple, Bearss lime, and some shrubs. I also have a large collection of orchid cactus (epiphyllum) and a small collection of orchids, mostly epidendrums and cymbidiums, plus some cattelaya, dendrobium, and several others that I do not know the names of. I have one tiny orchid that makes flowers with an intense coconut fragrance. I also have quite a few South African succulents in the back yard. My dill is making flowers now, but I have basil, chives, Greek oregano, Italian oregano, and rosemary. I used to have some mint, but I don't know what happened to it. I also have a couple of chocolate Habanero plants that appear finally to be growing, but I probably won't get chilies from them until December. Here's a bromeliad that is just now blooming after my having it almost four years:Vriesea Mint Julep. Here are some more bromeliads in the pergolaHere are some in the back yard in front of my pitaya plant:I have to keep moving them around, and some of them cannot take too much sunlight, which makes this a somewhat difficult time of year. Anyway, I am trying to make my back yard a very pleasant place to relax while I am recuperating. I very much enjoy looking at all my flowers plus the hummingbirds and other birds that visit the yard. I need to clean out the fountains, but that can wait.

I too, like SnidelyWhiplash, appreciate the low cost and speed of a keyboard with internet. I was raised in a different time long before the internet when writing ability was important. I believe that good penmanship yet has merit in today.s world, albeit slow compared to the typed word with other modern conveniences. I am saddened to learn that cursive writing is no longer taught in some schools. Its no wonder that today;s students can't write. Printing is slow compared to cursive. Cursive characters are designed to flow smoothly into each other and this speeds writing. It leaves some latitude for individuals to develop their own distinctive styles. although that was frowned upon by teachers of the art some 70 years ago because they were striving to mold the output from everyone to standard form. Lets not forget that this country was built with cursive writing. Case in point: The Declaration of Independence is hand written in ink with a nib pen. The original Constitution was hand written. In fact, all court records such as land descriptions and marriages were hand written until the introduction of the typewriter in the 1880s.