I don't have any particular fondness for rodents, but I just don't have the heart to kill an animal. For me "exclusion" is a much easier method. I just keep all my roses in gopher cages, and have no problems. But I do laugh when I see a ring of gopher mounds around a caged rose. On a related subject, I was going crazy with my son's cat who is a rat killing machine. There are weeks when I end up with 2 or 3 dead rats in the house, or patio. So, I came up with a new program called "Rats for Roses" Each time the cat brings me a dead rat, I bury it under one of my rose bushes. I have about 30 roses, so I just keep buring them , eventually all 30 roses end up with a nice little bonemeal/bloodmeal treat. By the time all 30 have been given a rat, the first rose is ready for another one. It's good for the roses, and it gives the little fellers a decnt burial.

Luvs, I watched all of them. I may not paint like Donna but I do like watching her paint. I don't have any of her books or videos but I do have videos on Zhostova painting and also one on the kind of deminsional painting she does, it is called Baren - something. It just took me a while to watch them all so I haven't had a chance to post. B

I'm very sorry for your loss(es?) here guys. CW sure is a cool guy. I accidentally bumped into him on the field in Frisco 3 yrs ago after the Bison's 4th (of 5 in a row) Championship! Most of the crowd was on the field after all! At every Eagles game, the camera's usually highlight some Bison people/signs. Pretty fun to see from back here in Fargo! I was watching an ESPN network couple days ago, & happened to catch that short film. Wow..... I knew he had worked with that family. Their family had been invited to a recent Bison home game. I was lucky enough to be there. The Mom spoke on the field, very graciously of Carson & of the people here. Humbling..,. Faron

There are great bloomers that are more than a century old--Souvenir de la Malmaison comes to mind--and it was introduced in 1843. There are new releases from 2018 that are complete duds. You have to realize, Weeks is in the business of selling roses. They make the most money off the very newest introductions. Never trust 100% anyone who is trying to sell you something. That goes for everything, not just roses. Its better to look at what performs well in your local region than it is to focus on the newest roses. If your local rose society has a website, often there are suggestions for good performers, or you could attend a meeting or two and ask around for suggestions. Or of course there is this forum, where it helps to pay attention to suggestions from those in climates similar to your own. Rose performance is very localized, so get local information. What is a stellar rose here ('Iceberg'!) is in most of the rest of the country a blackspotted failure. It's also important to buy fresh, healthy plants that have not been sitting in a small pot on hot asphalt for months in summer. It's also important to be a little patient. Not forever patient, but three or four years patient. A newly planted young rose doesn't bloom as much as a well-established plant with a big root system. First year sleep second year creep, third year leap is the old but true saying. I do not live in JB country, but from reading this forum JB's will eat anything and scent or no scent they are a problem.