I liked being an owner and the intense joy that my incredibly loyal following enjoyed from my hard work. I had many people who just stopping by my garden center could revisit the feelings they had when they walked in their grandmothers garden. Some came as a form of therapy. Others came at night when I advertised in advance about the opening of the Night Blooming Cereus. Still others loved the fragrances, oh how I loved finding new and aromatic plants. Hummingbirds loved my place for they knew dozens and dozens of tasty plants awaited them in all sorts of colors not just red. For some I was the home greenhouse they wanted but could enjoy none the less. The joy I felt in treating the poorest customer just like I did the customer who (literally) was a millionaire and founder of a NYSE listed company. Being in the greenhouse in the quiet of January and feeling warm and seeing beauty all around me. Working harder than I knew I could work and feeling pride and fulfillment. Sharing moments of excitement with a customer who for the first time saw an American Goldfinch or Red Breasted Nuthatch at a feeder I sold them with the correct food to attract them. Being well known in a 6 parish area(county for those of you not from Louisiana) for the fantastic diversity and quality of the plants I sold. I had the pleasure of dining with the late J.C. Raulston of North Carolina. Knowing the late Dr. John Griffin of Louisiana Tech University, a man who made you feel like the most important person in the world,at least to him, every time you visited with him. It was about me but it was also about connecting with all kinds of people.I have been out of the business as an owner for 7 years and I miss the people the most.

If you can find him .. John McAfee may be able to help! You've probably used software pioneered by John McAfee in your lifetime. The 67 year-old tech guru founded McAfee, Inc., the self-described "world�s largest dedicated security technology company." The company is most often associated with its virus removal services and products � what you and I buy to keep our computers clean. It�s a multibillion industry and McAfee is no exception: the company was purchased by mega-IT company Intel in 2011 for $7.68 billion. You would think with numbers like that, John McAfee would be taking things easy. Only he�s not. The reclusive and somewhat controversial millionaire is currently on the run in Belize: he is wanted by police as part of investigation for the murder of his neighbor, Gregory Faull. Mr. Faull was found shot to death in his home over the weekend. McAfee was sought by police for questioning but instead, fled. Here is a link that might be useful: murder-and-mayhem

The egotist in chief said tonight at a dinner the reason he lost the popular vote by three million was there were all illegals voting. Morning Joe said his first days could not have gone worse. He actually went to the CIA and stood before their board honoring their dead and complained about the reporting of the size of his crowd. He even brought people to stand in the hall and clap at his speech. Seasoned CIA people were appalled. This guy has zero class and is certifiably NUTS. Besides he needs to have spell check. He tweeted honer today meaning honor.

Austinkisses, I have had a bunch of roses that got RRD over time, and I had to get rid of most of them. I have, however, had 3 survivors. These 3 plants have not shown any symptoms for several years now. I did cut out the affected parts and continue to use my spray mix as normal. The three varieties that appear to be survivors or are at least asymptomatic are Blythe Spirit (Austin's), Pat Austin, and White Lightnin', the grandiflora. I had another one that put up a valiant fight, General Cavaignac, but ultimately it lost out. I gave it the regular spray treatments and cut out the bad parts, and for a while it seemed to be doing okay, but eventually the rosette would reappear. This went on for a few years. It always seemed to be worse in years when we had a bad, late freeze which would knock out the disease resistance. I finally had to get rid of it which was a shame. I have a second plant of it, but it is in a part of the yard that isn't as good. I hated to lose that rose even though it was a blackspot magnet because it did bloom quite a bit when it got going and repeated well. So, I am not sure what I can or cannot claim except that using the harpin and aspirin appeared to help some, but not most. It does help general disease resistance if the plants do not get clobbered by these late winter-spring transition freezes where the plants are trying to grow. All I can do is report what I did and what I saw as the results.