Athenainwi, it never gets old :) I am amazed every spring when I see how the roses came through winter. I make sure the ultra tender ones get lots of snow piled on them. Thank goodness for the white stuff. Good luck with MM. She almost came home with us a few years ago. Peachiekean, Deb is absolutely crazy about CM. I'm beginning to like it too. The foliage impresses me as much as the blooms. Mike, I take the mounding off every year in mid March if the snow has melted. The winter of 98/99 was the first I protected roses. I waited until April to remove it. Mold had formed on many of the roses by then. The next winter was a record setter here. Zero was the lowest temperature that winter. The roses only had tip damage the next spring. That convinced me the roses only needed protection from subzero weather. We don't have much chance of getting subzero stuff after mid March. I know the mulch has been helping keep the ground cool and, hopefully, the roses dormant. New growth is starting to show anyway so the mulch comes off. New growth will have to deal with teens and 20s.... occasionally single digits. Our roses always manage to get through low temperatures better than having mulch piled on them and getting moldy. Our normal mid May freeze is the key to how the roses do each year. If it gets to the low teens (like in 2005) the roses will be all season recovering. It is kind of funny... I just shake my head when I read of people protecting roses from temperatures in the 20s. It is hard for me to imagine them doing more good than harm :) I try to wait until mid December to mound the roses. Deciding when to cover them is much iffyer than when to take the mulch off (for me). I want as much frost in the ground as possible but don't to lose cane to subzero stuff. The bottom can drop out here without much warning in November and December. By the way, the roses are looking incredible. The spring of 2000 was the only one when we had more live cane on them. Looks like I am going to have to relearn how to prune roses. Thanks Donna :) Our CM is grafted. I prefer starting with grafted rather than own root. I always hope they will eventually develop their own roots. Hey Leslie :) LOL, though Gemini will always have a home here.... it gives me the creeps just thinking about how old blooms on it look. What a bloom factory! Brigadoon and Color Magic are similar and very different at the same time. I know that doesn't make sense. I like Brigadoon much more. Brigadoon is a better bloomer and a more vigorous bush for us. I like the darker color and shape of the older, open blooms on it. Blooms last a little longer too. Brigadoon is not a stinker but is more fragrant than CM. Neither one browns like Gemini does :)

Beachlily, Rinsing is a very wise thing to do for eye accidents. Prevention is the only thing better. Corneas are no plaything. Whatever you do, go back to the MD for that check. I became very eye conscious when I taught Chemistry labs. I was one of the more obnoxious instructors and would yell across the room asking by name "so-and-so, where are your safety glasses?" I had an assistant and once, I noted her glasses were off and yelled at her. Not 30 seconds later, she smelled the top of a test tube with a reaction on-going, (strictly against all rules) and it blew up in her face! I quickly had her at the eye wash and we rinsed and rinsed, then transported her to the hospital. She had minor burns all over her face except for the area covered by the safety glasses she had replaced when I yelled at her. (I had felt bad for yelling until she was hurt). She was very grateful for my rudeness. Sunglasses are a good idea too for all of us gardeners...you just never know. beachlily, I am so glad you are going to be okay. We need the eye to garden and to appreciate the beautiful places. kay

Our 48X32 ft hoop house is up and the tomatoes are flowering amid cold weather. Our experience with the USDA people in North Little Rock, AR was great. They were helpful, knew what they were doing and were more like neighbors than bureaucrats. If they are going to help pay for it, they don't want to pay for trash that is going to blow away. We have been able to extend our tomato harvest and we will be able to plant lettuce for market all winter. They said this was a test to see if the value of an extended season would be worth the expense of the hoop house. In addition, they noticed that we were starting to build a sheep herd and told us about a pasture rotation program that would cut down parasite damage to our animals. They paid for the materials for building electric fenced paddocks that were secure and would enable us to move the animals every week, breaking the parasite cycle. We paid for or did the labor.I know all the arguments against letting the government help, but I see the government spending money on stuff I disapprove of and in this case, I appreciate the knowledge and financial help the guys at USDA provided locally.

Welcome to the swap, Simsedward! You member page does not have your email address listed. You will need to add that, or email me through my member page, so that I can send you my mailing address. - Thanks! Mike, did my envelope get there already? Man, that was fast! Jsschrstrcks, I had a lot of trouble with that last year. Fortunately, a couple of folks in the swap were kind enough to send me some extra baggies. Our Walmart was out for quite a while, as the drug dealers tend to buy them all. Hoping I don't run into that problem again this time. Thank you, Jamie, for your donation!!!