>This december, the same plant formed an ENORMOUS red bud, and when it opened it was dark pink/almost cerise and faded slightly lavender. Is this what Gruss does in cold weather? [...] >And it has the most outrageously beautiful smell... We had three Gruss An Aachens for one year. They were originally planted as one gallon own-roots. Even growing in too much shade, they were healthy, floriferous beauties with a nice scent. That scent varied a good bit, but was mild in the hottest weather and moderate much of the rest of the time. Healthy, no blackspot problems growing organically without chemical sprays. Lovely plants. Unfortunately, exactly one year after the spring when they were planted, the following spring it was clear that they had developed the Rose Rosette Disease that their neighboring Cornelia plant had contracted the previous fall. (Unfortunately, I had delayed taking out the Cornelia when I knew in my gut I should have taken it out.) I saw something similar to what you saw and smelled just prior to pulling the plants out with Rose Rosette Disease last spring. Not a reddish bloom, but a pretty deep pink/lavender - nothing I'd ever seen during the previous year. I don't know whether the difference in the bloom was related to Rose Rosette Disease at all, and it may have been a normal variation showing up in cooler weather. But the variation hadn't shown up to that extent in the cooler weather of the previous spring or fall. The bloom was much deeper than I had ever seen and also much more strongly scented (overwhelmingly wonderfully scented). The bloom was a little larger (more than 4") with more petals too. Possibly a little assymetrical, it was a beautiful, beautiful flower, and there was nothing to dislike about it. It might have been a normal cooler weather variation that I saw; the connection with Rose Rosette Disease might have been pure coincidence. The plant itself was more mature starting its second year in our yard, so the size of its blooms might well have been expected to be larger. I can say for sure that of all the roses - a good many different varieties - that I had that came down with Rose Rosette Disease, they all developed the most lusciously exaggerated fragrance at the point they were coming down with Rose Rosette Disease - the same fragrance as always, only LOTS stronger. This was true irrespective of weather, season, or variety. I had to remove two different roses in the middle of an intensely hot summer last year and, along with amazing thorniness, rosettes, and assymetry, they both had blooms that suddenly became much more fragrant, amazingly more fragrant, in the middle of a record-setting hot summer. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that even though you don't live where Rose Rosette Disease is rampant, it wouldn't hurt to just pay some extra attention to the Gruss An Aachen(s) for the next few months. It wouldn't totally surprise me if your rose were coming down with Rose Rosette Disease now. PROBABLY NOT, but it might be a good idea to just look carefully for symptoms for the next few months. Gruss An Aachen normally does have thorns, but not an overwhelmingly lot, and normally they're not red/orange/yellow thorns either. If you see do see RRD symptoms, don't wait for ALL the RRD symptoms to show up before getting rid of the plant; it can spread to other nearby roses while you wait around, pining for your rose to suddenly become disease-free. (I know how it feels. How well I know...) Especially because of your location, I'd bet you're safe. This post is just a "Just in Case" sort of thing. My fingers are crossed for you, and for anyone else who reads this with a rose showing similar symptoms. Best wishes, Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Ann Peck's eBook on Rose Rosette Disease

I thought I had already posted my reaction but let's just say that it was very loud, very unprintable, brought my DH running and he said something just as loud and unprintable. It could be translated and bowdlerized as "revered engaging-in-coition-with-a-female-parent excrement!" LOL One a-mazing floor and I am so glad you didn't just tear into it. DH wants that floor for a powder room in our next house... and he even said I could have it in purple, like that one. ;-) We had also bought the console that youngdeb posted - however, we didn't use it partially because it's very TALL! I'm short and it ended up hitting me just below the bodacious ta-tas, making me feel about eight years old. ;-) Because of the way it is put together, we couldn't just cut down the legs. (Once in place it was also too modern for the style of the room.) It got sold for half price on Craigslist. :-( Happily for the gal who bought it, she already had the Retrospect toilet to match, but couldn't afford the $500 sink. Vintagetub.com has a nice selection of pedestal sinks in somewhat smaller sizes with *cue the hallelujah chorus* free shipping. (They do not charge sales tax outside of PA. Whether you pay your sales taxes to the state in April is up to you. When I lived in sales-tax states I always guesstimated a ballpark figure that was undoubtedly too low, but it satisfied my sense of karma.) I have a Cheviot sink (a console though) and it is really great. With the clipped-corner toilet (which absolutely must stay, if you need repair parts for it contact deabath.com or antiqueplumber.com, and if you need to cut down the water flow put a quart bleach bottle filled with water in the side of the tank), I would consider looking for something with clipped corners for the sink. Definitely look at the Cheviot Art Deco, which I think is perfect! Also look at the Cheviot Mayfair (25" wide; also comes in a small 20" size); the Cheviot Classic bears a significant resemblance to the Porcher Lutezia at over $100 less (the Cheviot Essex is a close ripoffresemblance ;-) to the Porcher Pomezia and again over $100 cheaper), and the St Thomas Creations Neo-Venetian (22" wide, 34" high at front rim). I was able to find both Cheviot and STC at local bath showrooms. Contact Cheviot at 604-464-8966 for dealers, and STC has a dealer locator on their website. Try to get multiple names, call around to see if they have the models you want to see on display, and bring a picture of the toilet along. You will most likely have room for at least one nice shelf - glass or wood painted to match your trim - above the sink or the toilet to put down your lens case on. If you put a cabinet or shelf above the toilet, if it's the same depth or less as your toilet tank you are much less likely to bonk your head. Learned that one the hard way. :-) Don't trash the old vanity and its top/faucet - Freecycle it! I have found homes for my bathroom fixtures almost immediately.

Many of the longer Gardenweb kitchen reveal threads lost text and photo content when they were imported into Houzz. The good news is, Tamara says the data is not lost, but the threads will have to be repaired manually. No time frame yet, as they’re still working on other issues. We’re keeping up with the lost content issue in this thread: Kitchen Reveal Threads Missing Photos and Text Currently, you can still see 2LittleFishie’s intact threads by finding the cached version in Google. I have some info about how to do this in the above thread, about 20 posts down. (Feel free to message me if I can help.)

Thanks Pooh - coming from you who has one of the most stunning kitchens around is really nice - Thanks! May Flower - thanks - Actually, we will add some other items to the glass cabinet but until the backsplash is in, some items are still boxed, so for now - just glasses... Yup those drawers are BIG - but loving them so far. The angled cabinet had me a bit worried on functionality and thinking I should have used a double door - but the most used items are in front. So bottom line - I am printing out a copy of GF and will figure out how to incorporate some accent pieces. You are all the best!! My kitchen would have been a disaster without this group. (And I had already started when I found GW or other items would have been enhanced. Thanks PS - My usual disclaimer as the work week rolls around - I will have limited time for GW as our project goes live this week - could be some long hours!!! I will probably be able to sneak peak but less likely to be able to respond - but will try.