Well, I would second Sexy Rexy. Here in Tropical Minnesota (zone 4a) SR is one of the hardiest floribundas available. I still have the original plant that I got when it was first available some many years ago. SR gets through winter with just some wood chip mulch thrown over the crown after freeze up. If it is hardy in your area, Our Lady of Guadelupe is another good rose. It is a little tender here in MN. It survives here , but does not live up to the good press she gets from warmer locations. Regards, Charles

The movie is worth seeing for Streep's performance. She accurately captures the endearing goofiness of Julia, even down to the awkward body language and that weird voice that sometimes would drift into an unmodulated screech. Stanley Tucci is excellent as well. I found the structure of the movie a tad strained, though. Putting those two stories together--well, the parallels seemed artificially strained at times, or at the very least unbalanced. The portion of the movie dedicated to the lives of a couple of struggling NYC yuppies just isn't as interesting as the story of a diplomat and his feisty wife (who will soon revolutionize American cuisine) living in postwar Paris. If the Streep scenes are fresh figs and Sauternes, the NYC scenes are Fig Newtons and skim milk. And, when the movie drifts away from cuisine into some political/social commentary, it does so in Hollywood's typical preachy hectoring tone. But that's a minor cavil. Fred Astaire movies weren't known for consistency and logical plots, either, but they were enjoyable. Have a glass of decent bubbly before the show and enjoy this confection. As Julia would say, "Bon..." oh, you know the rest.

I ordered the first two seasons of the French Chef DVDs when I saw this thread, but I ordered them from a private seller in California for $29 (including shipping) for both sets of (3) DVDs and received them in two days. We have Amazon Prime, but it was much cheaper to order from an individual seller, and they did not charge extra for tax. The inside cover shows a picture of men crouching behind Julia to catch what she throws off the counter, which looks like it would otherwise go onto the floor. The first pancake that she made broke in half and landed mostly on the stove, but she scraped it up and put it back into the pan. Kevin thinks the shows are very humorous, possibly because they are so dated by now. Interesting to be reminded how primitive things were back in the 1960s. I love the way she speaks French - which sounds completely authentic to me, unlike many American chefs who cannot even pronounce "vinaigrette". Lars

I read the book before I saw the movie. I absolutely hated the book and the author along with it. She's a miserable person, imo. I envy those of you who didn't read the book because, unfortunately, that ruined the movie for me. I know that the movie was quite different from the book and the character was tempered (Julie, not Julia), but it was still ruined. I love, love, love Meryl Streep and she was delightful in this movie, as always. But if you want to continue loving the movie, my advice is to not read the blasted book. (Can you tell I really, really dislike Julie?).