The oil tanker British Tranquility, anchored off the coast of St. Maarten.

All the roses are blooming like crazy here. I love the multi-colored Joseph's Coat.

I love them EVERY day....so thank you all for giving me such pleasure. You all are so talented...it is just like getting one of those "Taste of Home" magazines (no ads) .... I can't remember the name of the magazine...just remember how hard it was to part with them.

I like the shrubby Serviceberries too, I've planted quite a few over the years. One shrub in the sunken garden has to be over 30yrs. old. Is showing some age finally, and has been blown over at least three times, but still blooms and puts out those suckers like you say. I try to keep it more open and bare at the bottom. It was purchased from a nursery that had entered it in a garden show and they had pruned it up so nicely. For the past seven years it's been propped up with a wooden "crutch"! I'm just too attached to it to cut it down, altho I have done some hard pruning in recent years. I have heard the berries are safe to eat, but never tried them. At what point did you pick them - when they are dark red I suppose? Like you say, the Robins and other birds gobble them up even before they turn completely red so I probably would be hard up to gather many of them. What do they taste like?