Thank you for the tour, Malcolm. It was especially great to see such a close shot of cherry blossoms. I've never seen them in person. Also great to see the fruits of the funds I spent at the FS rose sales. All mine are doing wonderful and growing like gangbusters. I am really impressed with Mary Washington. She is grafted on fort and in the ground and in her third(!) bloom cycle.

I'm bumping this as a reminder to all the local folks. There is only a little over a week until the gathering, and I'm trying to make sure that as many people as possible know about it. I just sent out an email with final details to everyone on my mailing list. The email said: Please mark your calendar and plan to attend the organizational meeting of the Old Dominion chapter of the Heritage Roses Group. (My apologies to those of you who receive this message, and live too far away to attend.) Sunday, October 10, 2010. 11am, at Hartwood Roses, 335 Hartwood Road, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22406. The purpose of this meeting is to gather old rose enthusiasts for food and fellowship, to answer questions and share experience, and to discuss local volunteer opportunities with old roses and gardens. Our special guest for this gathering will be Dennis Whetzel, nursery manager at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Lunch will be a pot luck buffet ... attendees are asked to bring a dish of their choice to share. Please contact me to reserve your spot at the gathering ... email Connie@hartwoodroses.com. The last open garden day this year will be Saturday, October 9. For those who are planning to attend the HRG meeting, and intend to buy roses that day, please order ahead of time on the web site if you can, to guarantee that your selections are available. Most remaining varieties are in short supply. We already have at least one garden volunteer opportunity, thanks to our friend Nick at Heritage Rosarium. We'll discuss the details at the meeting, and report back here afterward. I look forward to seeing as many old rose enthusiasts as possible next weekend. I'm so excited!!! Connie

Oh- I forgot- I don't want to spend 40 or 50 dollars on a bottle of archival mist, either. I want to be as cost effective as possible. Thanks again! -Sarah

Rosefolly, Ashmead's Kernel is one of my absolute favorites! If I were to grow only one apple tree, it would probably be it. Well, maybe Esopus Spitzenburg too... Of those you mention, Empire apples can often be found in grocery stores here, indeed probably because it's from NY state. I have never heard of Cinnamon Spice either. It's difficult to resist apples with such names. This year one of the highlights was when we saw for the first time Black Gilliflower, nicknamed 'Sheep Nose' (a very old variety from Connecticut, 1700s). We were twisting our heads and looking at all angles to see if any looked like it, and lo' and behold quite a few had the shape of a sheep's head from profile view. It gave me a chuckle. I picked a couple but haven't yet tried them, they still need to ripen a bit. Chris, I've looked up your two apples and they do indeed look similar, but both must be very delicious. Ha, just this morning I made applesauce! The best advice I got about making it, and incidentally it's from the good people at this orchard, is to mix several different varieties, tart and sweet. And I also love how the kitchen then smells, ... autumn is here. gdinieontario, I'm glad about you found Akane and many thanks for mentioning this orchard. It looks like a nice place to visit when in Ontario. Summers, I also like looking at online recipes. They have the advantage of readers' comments, truly tried & tested. And valuable especially when more than one person make similar suggestions for altering the recipe. Perma, I'll mention this book to the orchard owner because, as a family-owned farm with more than 300 varieties, they are not entirely organic but do try to reduce chemicals and use integrated pest management. Thank you.