Wow, nice choices everyone! Doesn't it feel like Christmas when you open that box? Mine are all potted, and I did NOT get Mariska, I thought it was in the box because I didn't see "sold out" on my slip. Oh well, I'll have to check elsewhere. I got CC as a bonus too, surprise surprise! Maximus, I know what you mean about eyes, some really appeal to me, others I just can't stand. I guess I am on a sort of pastel kick, I'm always searching for that perfect pink. Last year it was all about purples. Laurel, great! I love the eye of Talking to You, and Winter Chill and Tachibana have the form I just love. Willie Lyles it a great bright pink, ( now added to my list ) I have had FOA on my list for a while. SIX fans? Wow! Mainiac, Last Snowflake looks incredible! and what a bonus you got! jkunkle, You got quite an assortment! Do you like purples and eyes? I think I need to add Way out yonder, Mystical Rainbow and Fairy Free Spirit to my wish list. Lilting Belle is especially lovely too. I have Roses in Snow, Beautiful Edgings and Smokey Mt.Autumn coming soon. Let me know if they send you your request for a bonus. I had suggested a couple , cheap ones, but didn't get them. Just curious. Thanks everyone, enjoy!

I was going to start a new thread for the pizza I made, but since you brought this back up, I will post the pizza photos here:Pizza right out of the oven and onto a trivet on my counter. Pizza moved to cutting board, and lifted to show the bottom of the crust.Leftover slice, the next day. The pizza did not at all stick to the cast iron; in fact, it shrank away from the sides a bit, which made lifting it that much easier. I used a cake lifter (shown in the second photo) to move the pizza to the board. I did not want to cut it inside the cast iron, and I needed to let it cool for a couple of minutes anyway. I put the dough into a cold pan (although I had been told by others to heat the pan first) because that is much easier, and I wanted to see if it would work, and it did! After stretching the dough into the pan, I let it rest/rise for a while because I was not ready to bake it yet. When I was ready to bake it, I sprinkled the crust with a supermarket blend of dried Italian herbs (very lightly), and then I sprinkled it with a bit of mozzarella cheese and baked it for 5 minutes at the highest temp my oven would go, probably 550°, with the convection setting on. Then I took it out and put the rest of the toppings on, which included thinly sliced strips of mesquite smoked turkey breast (with Kevin could not even taste), the sauce with jalapeños that I had made, and a mixture of mozzarella and Asiago cheeses (about 1 part Asiago to 2 or 3 parts mozzarella). I then finished baking it for 8 minutes more, and that seemed to be the exact amount of time it needed. It was not as thin a crust as I normally make, and it puffed up around the rim, but it tasted better than my thin crust pizza. Kevin and I were both very happy with how it came out, and I now prefer it to my thin crust pizza, but I did have to fold the slices when I ate them. I'm also glad that I sanded my pan before I used it, and I'm sort of glad that the pan is not too heavy! As for peppers - I also grew a mild chili called Tobago, which I think are similar to what you call Cachucha - they are mild and are supposed to be related to Habaneros, but for me, they do not have as much flavor, even considering the loss of heat. My favorite chilies now are the chocolate Habanero, but I neglected to plant any this year - so far. I might still start some, but it is difficult to get them to germinate, and three of my plants from last year have started regrowing from the base of their stalks, and so I am hoping to get more chilies from them this year. I still have sauce leftover from last year's crop, but I've noticed that the heat diminishes during storage :(. Since the name "Habanero" comes from Cuba, I thought that Cubans would like heat, but perhaps the name is misleading. I highly recommend this pizza pan! It is so easy to use - no need to heat it before adding the pizza - and I think it makes the best pizza. The main limitation is the size - it is only 13" diameter inside, and I used to make 14"-16" diameter pizzas. I have a pizza screen that is 17" diameter, but it will not fit in my oven, and I can use it only with the BGE. Here's a video of me stretching dough onto a 14" screen and a 16" screen: I made this video at the request of a friend's son who had had pizza at one of my pizza parties. These pizzas I parbaked in the oven and the finished them in the BGE.

Kristine - I sure wish my Oklahoma were like yours!! Darn. Deborah - Sundowner means that the winds come from the west? Anyway, those winds sound horrible and dangerous too! I hope they blow away. Hang in there. Diane - oh wow...I can't imagine. Horrible deer. :( Could you grow roses in a greenhouse? Could you have a fence (really high) in the middle of your yard where you could have roses? There must be some way to safeguard some of your roses. If you can't build a tall fence...you could use wire that is relatively low - 3 feet. The wire would be staggered with a foot in between. If you want to get someone to help you with this...here's some info Height, or width, is probably the most important factor with deer fences, especially if high deer pressure. White-tailed deer can jump almost eight feet high, so effective upright fences against them should be this high. Deer may be able to jump high, but not both high and over a distance. So a fence may not be as high, perhaps six feet, but slanted outward. The deer will try walking under the fence and meet resistance. Such a slanted fence should be at a 45-degree angle, and may consist of fencing with a few strands of additional wire on top for extra height. A variation can be used to convert a shorter upright fence. Merely add additional height to posts, and string more fencing or additional strands of wire between them. If the fence is about five feet high, you also may add additions to the posts parallel to the ground and on the outside of the fence. Add strands of wire between these to achieve the same effect as a slanted fence. If you have a standard fence about four or five feet high, you can add a similar and additional one about four feet away. While not high, with this width deer usually won’t like to try and clear both and perhaps get caught between or on them. Out of sight, out of mind, applies to deer with solid wooden fences, or ones with overlapping slats they can't see through. Such privacy fences are quite effective, as deer can't tell what is on the other side. Even if they can smell what is on the other side, and it's attractive to them, they can't be sure that danger isn't lurking there as well. One less expensive variation on the high fence is to use a commercial heavy-weight deer netting if the deer pressure is low to moderate. These products are quite popular for home gardens as they are easier to work with than wire mesh, are less expensive, and blend into the landscape. Another inexpensive solution is stringing single strands of monofilament twine (such as deep sea fishing twine) between posts, about six inches apart. If deer pressure is really low, you might even get by with a single strand about two feet off the ground. Deer bump into this, are surprised at something they didn't or can't see, so may flee. Keep in mind deer can't see well (poor depth perception), so many advocate hanging streamers on the lower strands or netting so deer can see them and don't just try running through. Some recommend not putting such ribbon streamers on the top as this tells the deer the fence height. Some have even suggested adding streamers on extensions above the fence, to make deer think it is even taller and so even harder to jump. Some advocate using white streamers to mimic the white tail signal that deer use to warn of danger. There are many variations of electric fences. You may begin with a single strand, about 30 inches off the ground. Some make this more visible to deer by using bright flagging tape, or conductive polytape. This also helps people avoid these fences by mistake. Make this single strand even more effective and attractive to deer by smearing peanut butter on aluminum foil. One taste won’t kill deer, but it will surely discourage them from returning. Studies have shown, though, that using odor repellents in combination with an electric wire may be more effective than using the peanut butter bait. Single strands of electric wire may work if low populations, but if more deer pressure you may need to add multiple strands. You may add these in various configurations as for mesh and strand fences, with the electric wires about a foot apart along the post supports. With any electric fence, use them only if children won’t have a chance of getting injured. Some residential areas may even prohibit them, so check local ordinances first. If you have just an isolated tree or few plants to protect, consider building a cage around them. You may drive stakes into the ground, stretching wire mesh or deer netting between them. Or you can make a portable frame of scrap lumber or PVC pipe, attaching netting to these. If portable, make sure such frames are anchored so deer wont push them over. Make sure such mesh has small openings, or is far enough from the plants, to keep deer from reaching the plants through the mesh. Rhonda Massingham Hart, in her revised book on Deerproofing Your Yard and Garden, gives many more details on deer fences and installing them, plus some additional tips: -- As with other controls, it is best to use them before you have a problem. Train deer first, before they find your plants, or even before you plant. -- Fences must be tight, can't have gaps, and should be checked often. Deer almost always will find the openings. -- With this last point in mind, installing fences over uneven terrain can be difficult, leaving openings large enough for deer. -------------------------- I'm sure you've tried so many things...I just want you to have roses and hope again. And you don't have to have the fence go to the end of the property...just at the flat part or just around a rose section. My black dog is 100% standard poodle...we just didn't cut his tail. He looks different when his coat is grown out. :) Jubilee Celebration and Chartreuse de Parme ... thank you for liking them!! Jubilee Celebration has the most fabulous scent!!!! I have 2 large wheelbarrows, 1 small wheelbarrow and the other planter is a small bathtub - about 8 inches long. :) I love my wheelbarrows!! :) Thank you!! Oh bummer about the chair! You just can't catch a break! :( -----------------

Carol, very nice rose blooms! YES 90's-97 degrees is hot for your zone Carol... Nanadoll, really enjoyed your photos! What are hops Nanadoll??? Very humid here... Makes the mid to upper 80's feel like its in the 100's...lol Our Julia Child is out front (side) where people can see her so I want those 3 roses in that bed to look there best... MOTH has not disappointed...Plum Perfect needs more time to grow so still being avaluated... Julia Child is now 70% engulfed with Blackspot and dropping leaves at a fast rate....JC also dies way back here after winter.....SO most likely I'll replace JC with a Sparkle and Shine rose and see how that goes...Our neighbor planted a 3-5 gallon Sparkle and Shine in June its already as big as our Julia and it has no BS...SO might just try it next year... Carefree Celebration today... ES with a white streak...lol