I have all of the Austin oranges - Pat Austin, Lady Emma Hamilton, Summer Song, Lady of Shalott, and also Carding Mill. My Pat Austin has shown rose rosette disease, but is responding favorably to aspirin treatments at the moment. I'm hoping for the best on this. It does bloom nicely, but the flowers do not take our summer heat. The bush gets quite tall. It does have a good color, but, again, the flowers fry easily. Lady Emma Hamilton does not get to be a tall bush. It is more spreading. It does not bloom in large amounts of flowers at any given time, but it has a fairly steady supply of nicely fragrant flowers. It is the most consistent performer of the oranges that I have. Summer Song was quite pretty in the spring. For summer all three bushes of it that I have didn't do much of anything. I noticed that a couple of them were munched on probably by deer. Something ate the leaves off of them as well as part of the stems, and I have seen deer in the yard at various points. The first year I had these plants they did reasonably well. This past summer, year two, they didn't care for the excessive heat and just sulked. They did, however, throw long canes. The orange color does fade badly in the heat. They did not bloom much at all in the fall either. I think it was more because of the weather. Lady of Shalott was pretty its first year. It seemed to be going along okay growing and flowering most of the way through the growing season. It pretty well stopped by the end of September, but it had a couple of flowers late. I think this bush will get fairly large. Flower size has been on the small size. Perhaps it will improve some next year. Carding Mill does reasonably well, but the flowers have been on the small side. It can get to be about 5-6 feet tall here. Its growth habit is fairly cylindrical and doesn't spread much. The apricot color bleaches out to a pink in the heat. Otherwise, overall it has been reasonably consistent here. I have no major complaints about this one. I hope this helps a bit.

Hello all, It looks like everyone had a great valentine swap. Great boxes everyone. My surgery went well and I am recovering quickly. Still not allowed to do much. The doc said you can return to your normal routine but don't push, pull, or pick up any thing over 5 pounds so hey, whats left. Normal????? I am trying desperately to be good. I am doing mostly computer work at the nursery trying to get my website and ebay store ready for opening soon. I have a friend that is helping me with heavy labor and I am getting to boss him around so that is nice :O) LOL. I got in a huge order of plants today and had to get them all ready for the cold snap, so I have been busier than I wanted to but all is going well. The hardest part will be not over doing it before time. Thanks for all the inquiry's. One thing I wanted to mention was the fact that a couple days ago I came home and found a box in my front yard. It was from our sweetheart Jo. She said that I had the most votes from those that chose to vote for the best xmas box. I was floored when I opened it. It contained the most beautiful throw. It is made of fleece material and is reversible with red daylilies on one side and a beige/green fleece on the backside. It is sooooo cool as it is not sewn but cut on the edges and tied together every inch or so. Never seen one made like it and it is sooooo warm and cozy, and soooo pretty. My yorkie has been fighting me for it ever since it came! Also in the box was a beautiful hand made (of course from Jo) angel. It is sitting on my mantle right now. She also included a nice corn bag. Just pop in the microwave and place on a sore or tired muscle for instant relief. Very nice. It has been quite handy the last couple days for my abdomen. Thanks sooooo much Jo. My camera stuff is still at work so I haven't taken pics yet but I will and I will show everyone the wonderful suprise gifts that I recieved. Thanks so much Jo for your generosity and thoughtfullness and thank you all for the votes that I never expected. It was a beautiful surprise. I also gave my notice to my job. My last day will be the 28th officially even though I can't really return anyway for atleast 6 weeks. I have left my position to focus full time on getting the nursery open. My open date is still March 18th. Hope I can recover and get everything done in that amount of time. It will be close enough what ever I get done. My career has changed, I am now an unemployed/self employed nursery owner. I finally got my license and all the other paperwork done and I am on a new road. Anyway guess that catches me up. I am guessing that I will be out of the corner in april so I hope to get back in the loop then. Take care Tanarae

PM, oh I so agree w/blk bowties!!! I will keep that in mind for next year. To busy this year to get them made I'm pretty sure. High heels are red. Thanks for the great idea. Jeanne, so glad I made you SMILE! You seem like the kind of person who wears a smile 99% of the time from what I know. Jane, Yes, I knew I could count on you! Ya, everyone really looks forward to seeing what's coming next. This really adds to the fun. The full time gal who works for me is so into decorating and that really helps. Candy, oh I would love having pink high heel shoes. The only color left was red so I didn't know what I was missing till now.Sigh!!! I love using pink and green together. Oh Goodness, I love pink with most colors.haha Your tree sounds beautiful. How about sharing it with all of us? Fun2bhere, I love suggestions so don't ever hesitate to let me know what your thinking. We made 65 heart bows like the ones you can see in the 1st picture and tried them before using the heart garland. We both agreed the garland looked better so we used it. Funny how we thought the same as you till they were up. Jeanne, if I had more time and a material store close by I would buy some plain blk material and then some with polka dots for the centers and whip them up. However, it's 60 miles to run get some so till next year the bow ties will be on hold. Oh Karen, your so fun. Nothing warms the heart like fun times shared w/friends. Love it when you sound like the Karen we love. Hope your Fibro is as good as it can be. Luvs, a BIG YES, so fun! I've always been a little reserved on here and try not to show or share what goes on at the offices. The gal who is working full time now at my office is so much like me when it comes to decor. She doesn't have room to store decorations at home so loves what we do at the office. You are all so wonderful to be a part of. Your comments keep me getting out of my chair and trying new things. Now I will try to do just that as soon as I finish reading all the posts here.LOL Stay warm and safe DF's. Our snow has left and the sun is shining here today. Just beautiful out. Punk

Hey Casey, Any Jimmy Buffet. Also, the one that gets me for too many reasons to explain is "Dock on the Bay" by Otis Redding. You have so many great suggestions here from folks. Good luck with your downloads! PS LOVE your photos and site of the day - I check those first every day. I don't always have time for other threads but I visit those two regularly.