I'm a relatively new rose grower that was, and is, still planning on joining the ARS. I've read all the arguments pro/con and I'm still joining because I believe that change comes from within. Who will be there to replace the "old guard" and give voice to those enjoy growing roses as garden shrubs, pieces of history, wonderful smelling flowers, and objects of beauty? Depending on who you are and what you spend your money on, $50 could be a lot of money. Personally, I've spent $50 dollars on much more fleeting/"dumb" things than a membership to an organization. Would we be having this conversation if the dues cost $10 a year? Just a few months ago, I joined my local rose society. I'm the youngest member there at 34, most members are in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. The leadership of my local rose society fall into the exhibitor camp. The highlight of the society's calendar is the annual rose show they put on. The focus of the pre-show meetings was on exhibition cultural practices (all the pruning advice was for HTs) and preparation/grooming for exhibition. However, I'd say 75% of the society's membership does not exhibit, like myself. The show came and pretty nobody from the society came except the leadership/hardcore exhibitors...the reason? Most of the members, including me, thought our roses weren't "good enough" because we had the strict judging standards drummed into to us. The competition aspect of took precedence over the fact that this was an opportunity to show off flowers to the public. I think the exhibitors were mad because they didn't have other roses for their roses to "smack down" :) The next meeting after the show, the president made a plea to the members to bring roses to the show, no matter what they looked like. She said the public just likes to see roses, they don't care if there's a petal or leaf out of place, or if there's spot. Like Jeri said "Rose Societies SHOULD BE ABOUT ROSES." I'm going to be pushing the idea for more frequent "rose celebrations" and I've been bring bouquets of roses from my garden to each meeting. I have been, and will continue to be a voice at my local society offering a different story about roses other than traditional exhibition HTs. I've planning to approach the society about giving "novice talk" about what I've learned about OGRs, and make people aware of resources such as HMF and GardenWeb, where I've learned so much valuable information. I'm planning to also check out HRF as well, and will spread the word at the local level. You'd be surprised how many people are out there that like roses, but are so bewildered/intimated at the thought of growing them. It seems like for better or worse, ARS is the organization a lot of them have first contact with. There's a lady in my society that "only" has 3 rosebushes, but you can tell she's so eager for advice and information, a lot of which she gets from ARS publications. People think that HTs are the only roses out there for a reason. Throwing one's hands up and walking away is certainly one's choice, but I want to help shape the next generation of rose growers (hoping there is one). Eric

Well said, Bob. I've been part of the MHS as member and Master Gardener for 5 years, and have given hundreds of hours of service, both at Elm Bank ( which has improved dramatically in the last two years, especially) in hort activities, the NE Flower Show, and in the business offices, and have seen the effort that goes into managing an organization that extensive with, at times, not as much staff as you might think. I love the flower show, and I enjoy my MHS membership. Tickets and Horticulture are pretty much covered by your membership fee, the chance for early entry, especially on the first weekend when everything is amazingly pristine, would be a big plus for me (although my MG shift starts at 6 am), and the information via newsletters and mailings about symposia and individual classes that is delivered to you gives you many more opportunities to expand your garden knowledge. Besides, it's sort of like Christmas to get those tickets in the mail when you've pretty much forgotten that you have the membership. Not everything goes smoothly in every large organization, but MassHort is, as Bob said, committed to its mission of hort education. As for Philadelphia- been there-liked it. Better? That would be my personal opinion, which might not be yours. Every year is a new opportunity. For the last 4 years, at least one person has taken the time to come up to the MG booth to say that he or she had been to Philadelphia, and New England was better. As the saying goes "You pay your money and you take your chance". Whatever your choice is, take pleasure in your garden, and come and see ours at Elm Bank and the NE Flower Show in 2008. Happy gardening to all.

Hi florida_country_boy, Hmmm, not sure what to say, strange the Bhut always drops it's flowers? Is it in the same environment as the other plants? Maybe the seed you started from had some suicidal gene combination? I'm growing from the same seed stock as yours this year and have loads of pods about a week or so away from ripening. Already pulled a couple of eager ones that ripened last week. Glad you like the Ethiopian Berbere. The parent plant I collected seed from was started from seed I kindly received from fiedlermeister. With respect to the yellow one, I know it didn't cross with the Scorpion because I didn't grow the EB last year. The EB seeds were collect from one I grew two years ago. Now, I think I may know what you have though. I grew the Scorpion in close proximity to the 7 Pot. I'm growing a 7 Pot this year from seeds collected last year and it's maturing yellow/orange, not red. Is is possible you started a 7 Pot instead of a second EB? Ate a ripe one yesterday and it still has a killer heat and nice taste. Let me know how the 5 color and 7 Pot you just started make out. Bill

Okeydoke - sorry I'm late w/this, but here's the list. Tin snips/metal cutter Lineman Plier - 7" fits most womens hand best. Trowel - round nose - for mixing and applying concrete Garden gloves w/rubber palms Rags Pigments if you want to color your cement Wire brush, nail or tooth brush can be useful w/cleaning textured or porous surfaces in smoothing out the concrete. For those driving, bring your own large buckets/ I have some containers also. If time permits and you want to begin mosaicing your sculpture on the second day, bring: tesserae tools for cutting (nippers or hammer) adhesives and applicator Riana provides the metal lathe - it's the diamond-shaped kind used for plastering walls - NOT hardware cloth w/the square holes. She provides the sand, cement and 19 guage wire (I use 18 cuz of lack of hand strength) for stitching, and I think she provides dust masks. Any questions, fire away.