Hi everyone! Celeste, first I want to tell you how much I enjoyed your article in the current Heritage Rose Groups newletter. I wish I could do the same thing: wind in my hair, holding on tight, and exploring the highways and byways with my sweet husband via motorcycle, sounds like a lot of fun. Too bad I am scared to death of motorcycles!!! (I cannot believe I just admitted that on this forum!!!) I have loved roses since early childhood, due to my mother's love of them, and spending some time with her in her "garden" (well, just a suburban yard, really, but when you are a preschooler, the whole world is bigger, you know?). I have had small gardens at each home I have lived in, and even when I was young and single, I would at least have houseplants and a rose or two in a large pot out on the patio or deck of my apartments. My husband Johnny and I married in 1996, and he knew from my small pot ghetto at the time that a larger garden would be inevitable once we bought a home together. Although he is not a gardener by nature, he is very much an outdoorsman, and he was content that I would want a nice big garden. Whether it was roses, other flowers, or vegetables would not have interested him at all. We bought our home in 1999, and before we had moved in, the garden plans were beginning inside my head. As soon as we had made this older house habitable inside, I changed my focus to the outside... Being the nice guy that Johnny is, he took my planning and excitement in stride. He could be counted upon to dig some holes, and assist with maintenence. But no way would he help pick what roses and other plants to buy, or help choose where to plant them: "You just tell me where to dig, and I will dig" mentality, lol. I joined the Texas Rose Rustlers, and Johnny has been sweet enough to tag along with me to the meetings. After all, how many times have I gone with him to the deer camp, or out fishing, etc, just so we could spend some time together? He met several men in that club that are avid gardeners of every description, particularly rose gardening. He listened to the speakers at each meeting, he joined in the socialization, he made friends with all the sweet older ladies that think of him as one of the nicest guys they have met... and before you knew it, he was asking questions, becoming curious about soil science, propagation, hybridization, and even would love to try his hand at growing roses from seed. Several years and hundreds of planting holes later, Johnny still doesn't consider himself a gardener. He leaves that distinction to me. He is the gardener's helper in his mind. He has lots of pictures of me in the garden that he loves, and I know it is not just that the pictures are of his wife! I think one would have to be heartless to spend so much time caring for the earth and not be able to develop an abiding love for the plants that you have nurtured! And anyone that knows Johnny, knows that he is a man with a very big, very happy and loving heart! Does he get teased for gardening with me? Not that I have ever heard. Would it bother him? I doubt it. He is pretty strong minded, and can hold his own in any circumstances (except for needles.... he nearly passed out during a minor procedure once, but that is a tale for a different sort of forum!) I wonder what sort of folks would think it odd for a man to garden? Maybe I am naive, but gardening is pretty common here in Texas. Lots of us come from Farming roots. And there are generations of hybridizers to look to for the nobility of the art of gardening. How many of the founding fathers of the United States were gentleman farmers before they were called to become patriots? I doubt they *only* grew their cash crops, but probably also grew things that they fancied. ... That reminds me that Thomas Jefferson was just such a man. His garden journals still exist, and he was, I think, the original American "Master Gardener"! Maybe there are problems with people's thinking nowadays, to disparage a man for being agrarian, rather than just a hunter-gatherer! Seems to me that agriculture was a step up on the evolutionary pathway. My final thoughts: Anyone that is foolish enough to question the masculinity of a male gardener is deserving of having a whiskey barrel full of compost, or a trash can full of fermented alfalfa tea dumped on their head! And anyone that stops to think about it will realize that rose gardening ain't for sissies! Most roses have big, mean thorns, and they bite. Anybody that would laugh at a guy that wrestles Mermaid without fear is lacking in brainpower. And last but not least, as Poodlepup knows, men that grow roses... yeah, they're hot! And most of them don't even know it! Allison

Lynn, I've never dreamed about decorating. I very seldom dream. After saying my prayers each night, I tend to think about what needs done at the office the next day. Or what I forgot to do! I would of never guessed that so many dislike clowns. I've always enjoyed good jugglers at the circus. The rodeo clowns have always impressed me with their courage. I made 30-50 clowns years ago that you could pose to sit, lay down, etc. They sold like crazy for $30. They were pretty ones with cute faces, hats and different colored hair. I have some I've painted and they are so cute that I just never gave them a negative thought. Geez, I learned something new here.LOL Punk

dedtired - I am just like you - I put on the hat, scarf and coat over my "house outfit" to walk the dog etc. and look just fine. For the summer (note I did not say spring because really spring is usually freezing) I have 2 cotton coats that I bought at consignment shops - they are not lined and are about the same weight as a cotton housecoat. So I put those on, particularly when I have to walk our dog - he is always on a leash so I have to go out with him. I have summer hats that I put on my head (auburn hair - coloured of course, but it fades and I burn in a nanosecond anyway). I also suffer horribly from allergies and am allergic to anti-histamine. I did try the shots but had a reaction to them but I so love the really warm summers - 90 F would suit me just fine - with no sun. Bugs love me - the whole animal kingdom does. I remember back in the day when we actually had 4 seasons, now we seem to have one - winter and a bit of summer which is really like spring used to be. heather_on - Bite your tongue. Please not a COLD summer in Ontario (at least not in Toronto). We have had a few and frankly I do remember people complaining about them. I hate the snow and ice and my 9 year old dog loves to eat it and we seem to have salt alternative everywhere. I have been looking at him and asking him why he can't use the toilet - that is how much I hate going out in the cold. It isn't the walking part I hate - it is the "out". Eskies are very cat like - except they need to go out. So I am hoping for a "real" spring - back when "put on your Easter bonnet" was possible.

I like that. Thanks for posting it.