Hi, Kitkat-- Thanks for the correction/reminder: it's Heirloom Roses, not Heritage. I have yet to see Irish Hope. You're right about Austin's blowing soon and having a droop factor. But I find that if you cut them before they're open--and even if they *are* open, and *immediately* put them in water, they tend to hold up pretty well; of course, not like a hybrid tea, but hey, their flouncy, delicate beauty makes them worth it. As for plant food, at the time I took most of those shots, I was into the rose addiction heavy, and trying every darn mix and brand and method the 'experts' recommended--most some version of expensive organic this or that. In that period, one product I liked a lot is Neptune's Harvest. Since then, I was tragically beset by the nastiest of all rose pests: the Rose Weevil. Looks like a ladybug without spots but with a snout, which it uses to pierce the buds; so, when they bloom, you have swiss cheese blossoms. Or, they suck juice from the stem below the buds so they droop and die. They are horrid critters, and I was forced to turn to liquid systemic Bayer All In One (food, blackspot & insect control). It works fine and makes life easier when you're getting older, lazier, and more slothful (especially with 70 roses to deal with). Long story short, I've learned over the years that roses are tough cookies and don't much care what you feed them. And they keep blooming well even if you forget to be prompt; they just bloom BETTER if you're regular and disciplined. I've seen roses just as beautiful fed with regular Miracle Grow as with any fancy organic approach. I do, however, replenish the soil each winter with good organic compost, epsom salts, alfalfa meal and whatever else I have on hand. Once feeding stqarts, I don't think it matters a whole lot what you give them. My current rose tragedy is an infestation of botrytis blight--a fungal illness which only a very expensive product works on, called Decree; and, thus far, I'm only having limited results with it. I'm about ready to throw in the towel if I can't get rid of it, and get rid of many roses instead. It originated on my most beloved scent rose: Yves Piaget. Smells like roses are supposed to smell. Sorry for going on, but your question got me going over my live with these wonderous blessings. Karen

That's great about HostaLib. Your lists will be a great asset there! About Papou's comment "Why dont you publish an unexpensive loose-leaf 3-ring binder style document.", I just wanted to mention that one year, when I wanted to make calanders for Christmas presants, I bought a GBC brand "CombBind C50" from one of the office supply stores (Staples, Office Depot, Office Max - one of those). It cuts the holes and puts a plastic ring type binder in (the sort you see in recipe books that various organizations sell for fund raisers). It was a little pricy, maybe $50 - $60 plus supplies, but it's easy to use and makes a nice booklet. I'm glad I bought it and plan to use it for other things besides calanders. If you (or your wife) are into any kinds of crafts it might be something you'd like to look into. Of course, doing it that way, you'd have to make the booklets yourself. Just a thought.

Lisa, I love antique roses, but I really don't have the soil for roses here at all .....heavy, thick, red clay that is so incredibly slow to drain. It takes a monumental amount of soil amendment and raised bed building to keep their roots in good shape. I have mostly David Austin English roses and, while the roses themselves are gorgeous and have delicious scents, they have a lot of trouble with blackspot. Partly my fault as they are on the south side of the house and probably need better air circulation than they have there. I had much lovelier roses in Fort Worth and did have some antiques. My best soil for roses would be the narrow band of loam/sandy loam where I have the veggie garden, but it is FULL of veggies and fruit trees and, even now, the big trees in the woods are encroaching on that area. I'm either going to have to cut down some huge trees (60' tall or taller) on the edge of the woods OR lose the battle and end up with too much shade for veggies. One of these days, I'd love to build a huge new raised bed just for roses, put it between the driveway and the south property line fence (under the electric line) and fill it with antique roses. I'd have to haul in dumptruck loads of sandy loam and compost, though, so it may never happen. AND, that fence line is a "traffic corridor" (unfortunately) for coyotes, bobcats, skunks, possums, deer and the occasional big cat, so it isn't an ideal place to plant anything really. (There's only bermuda there now.) THAT'S the sort of issue you face, though, with trying to turn pasture/prairie/creek bottom land into a landscape and garden....all those wild critters persist in trying to use the land the way they always have, even if we humans are "in their way". LOL I love roses, and if they were all I grew, I could give them the time and attention they need, but I try to grow too much and maintain too large of an area--about 2 acres--and the veggie garden (and harvesting/preserving the harvest) sucks up way too much of my time. Sometimes when I am mowing (and we actually mow and weed-eat 3 to 4 acres most of the time but only have shrub and flower beds on half of that), I think about my little standard-sized lot we had in Fort Worth and how I could mow/weed-eat it in no time at all. That doesn't mean I'm wishing I were back there.....just that there are days when less land to maintain sounds attractive. Dawn

Block 4 - 12 1/2 X 12 1/2 Your occupation Block 9 - 15 X 21 Your favorite season Block #3 for November size is 21" long by 11" inches tall... This block will be about when you as a "child" you may do it how ever you like.... example your favorite toys as a child, your best friends as a child.....something you would like to share about your childhood.... There are 14 blocks..... 12" by 12" ( there are 2 blocks this size.) 21" long by 7" tall 21" long by 11" tall 20" x 21" 16' x 21" 12"x 25" 9" x 15" 15" x 21" 10" x 15" 12" x 15" 16" x 21" 15" x 19" 7 1/2" x 42" Been searching Google for you and did a bit of copy and paste. :-) Looks like you have half of the block info now. SharonG/FL