Thank-you all for such a warm welcome. It is so nice to talk to other people who feel the same as I do. My DH understands that I MUST have a garden and is very supportive, but doesn't share it. Dear Melissa, Your garden in the Apennines sounds wonderful. I love the way it seems your roses do so well for you without mollycoddling. They must be happy roses. The weather here, I am still finding out about as we have only been here since late September. All I know so far is that last autumn was golden, with just occasional rain. This winter has been wet with lots of rainfall, and just one night of light frost. The soil is better than I thought it was on first viewing the plot. It seemed to be a thin layer over solid rock. However there is a lot more depth to it, and it is certainly supporting a lot of weeds! The site is fully exposed to the colder north winds, which should prove interesting! The water is not connected yet. When I potted the clematis and herbaceous plants, my DH had to climb halfway up a steep hill to the village pump to collect water for them. Luckily there has been lots of rain since. Dear Chance. Yes I am English. I have holidayed on Crete many times and fell in love with it. I loved Cornwall too, but not the weather. Most of my time was spent staring out of the window waiting for the rain to stop. Frustrating! I have always loved OGRs. I have to blame Graham Stuart Thomas for that. His writings made me fall in love with them, before I ever even saw any. I am now looking forward to seeing the teas and the chinas which I don't know. Dear Carol. Thank-you for your welcome. I can certainly keep you all updated with descriptions. The pictures I will have to learn!! Dear Florence. It is VERY exciting. The people on this forum I can see are very helpful and supportive to each other. I hope that I can help some in return. Dear Mendocino Rose. Thank-you for your best wishes. I am guessing about my zone number. That information is hard to find over here. As it is now winter the daytime temperature can drop to 10c ??f. Everything is very green and the almonds and other blossom trees are coming out. Whoopee! Dear Sherry. Yes, I am dying to get started. Luckily the builder has now said that I can start my garden at the far end of the plot away from the build area. So, as soon as I can find a mini-digger and driver that can pull the precious top-soil away from the edge of the terrace above my neighbour's field, its all systems go! I think you are right, about it being an all year growing climate. The Jasminum polyanthum which grows in our rented place has been putting out the odd cluster of flowers and new growth all winter. The wild flowers have also been growing and flowering too. HelpMeFind looks good. Thanks for letting me know about it. Daisy

I got 'em from my plants. Can't remember where I got them originally. I've been growing them for years. Sorry you didn't ask me earlier - I had a bunch of seeds - don't know what I did with them, tossed them, or gave them away. Let me know if you want me to save some for you for next year. e

I was so happy we got big rain 3 days ago - 2.4" - and then .3" the day after - there's a high liklihood of rain every day this week. Before the big rain came, I put chicken manure around the base of the pipevines, plus I trimmed them back considerably. It had gotten to the point where there was almost nothing but big, old tough leaves that the cats won't eat except when desperate. Hopefully, between the rain and the fertilizer, they should be making new growth again. I'm probably going to need plenty of new growth soon for future cats. The cats are all doing great - pipevine swallowtails have been very easy for me to raise over the years. After they get thick on the vines like the gulf frits are now I start leaving most of them there, and they thrive on their own. That's amazing that the spicebush swallowtails are just now emerging in the Dayton area, unless you meant the second batch? They've been out since about early March down here - 'didn't know the temperatures were that different. I've only found one spicebush cat lately, but I've still got a good many chrysalides left. Thank you Dan, I AM feeling better now - Prednisone does wonders, although I can't sleep when I take it, it keeps me wired. Elisabeth, those two zebra swallowtail chrysalides are still there, looking beautifully green and perfectly healthy, but still "un-emerged"! I'd love for them to be male and female, mate, and give me a chance to try raising them again! Sherry

We have at least 2 new inches of snow with more continuously falling. I almost got stuck in my parents' driveway at 2:00. NOT FUN! It's been years since I did that one. Took me at least 15 minutes to get out. The drive is downhill and sloped downhill to the north, besides. Dad had plowed it, but with the new snow on top, all my beast wanted to do was slide sideways to the slope. Then it took me an extra 10 minutes to get home. I am in for the night unless someone else does the driving! I usually don't mind driving in this stuff, but I've had enough for today. Tami