Thanks for the story. It was a moving picture in my mind. I would loved to have shared such a moment with her. Like you, I felt the longing for her to have children...someone to look after her in these late years. Seriously, write these things down and include pictures....its a no brainer. Please sign my copy. Ronda

Let's see: in the last week, I've planted two blueberries, a dwarf nandina, a new seedles red grape (that arrived via USPS from Miller's), two viburnums; I lifted, divided and replanted Rudbeckia maxima, asters, goldenrod, and aego- podium; all those leftover potted daffodils and hyacinths from church on Easter Sunday have been sunk in their new spots to ripen and settle in for next Spring; hey, I was on such a roll that I bit the bullet and lifted an emerging PEONY (an absolute no-no in Spring!) and moved it - still seems to be emerging six days later - we shall see. . . In short: START PLANTING! And even if some things didn't make it (but they will!) it just feels so G-O-O-D to be out there digging . . . right?

Dave, We are in the same boat. My job has been transferred to Columbus, Ohio. We currently live in Warren County, NJ. Our house is sold and we purchased a house in Columbus. We close on both at the end of January. Here's the kicker, my son is a senior in high school and we promised him that he could finish school in NJ. So, we are now looking for a short term rental for my DS and DH. I will relocate to Columbus at the end of January and come home on the weekends until DS graduates. When we put the house on the market in late September, we didn't expect it to sell as quickly as it did (3 weeks). We thought that we would wind up taking the relo buy-out offer thus stretching out our time here in NJ. We are blessed that it sold! Good luck in NC. DeborahNJ

Well aren't you all sweet and supportive and the best cure for garden grumpiness ever? I knew you'd understand, even if you don't necessarily agree. Great rose pictures MiGreenThumb & Rebecca, which show what could be possible for the season. BraveRichard - the kind of flush you describe is what I kept waiting for all year, and trust me if I'd had it I'd be chortling with beemish glee at the extended weather. It's just that the entire gardening year has been perpetually positively pathetic, which leaves me nothing to do in the garden but come up with weird word patterns. Oh yes, and grump. I still do enjoy the weather when I'm not in the garden, and I have to appreciate the weather for weather as Towandaaz and Kentucky Rose and Seil have done, and not worry too much about what the garden isn't doing. You're right that four seasons (particularly fall) are exciting, Mariannese, Marlorena, and Adrian - and you are to be commended for coming to appreciate the season from Europe in relatively untraveled places like Wisconsin and Nebraska. Time for more long walks with leaf scuffing, even if it has to be barefoot. LIke Summers I have plenty to do in the garden, but it's not like it was spectacular when I was doing all I could to baby it along anyway this year. So OK, that means roses - you're on your own guys! One more day of bulb planting to go, then it's leaf bag blankets and off to bed for the winter, I don't care if you're not sleepy and it's only half past fall in feeling. It's long past Bedtime for Bonanza, and Curtains for Camelot. And oooh, what a wonderful excuse to be inside on a lovely fall day - cooking like Sultry Jasmine Nights or baking like Rebecca! Those pies are inspirational, and they take advantage of the bounty of someone else's garden. Jim and Sheila and I will be over with our mulled cider to go with your pies! I used to do all kinds of seeds under lights starting in January, but I found it cut into my down time too much. I still think I might try hybridizing and doing seedlings for fun when I retire, but that doesn't sound like it'll be any time soon. Buford, I'm pretty sure you had it worse for rain than we did all year, and Southern California is worse than all of us with no relief in sight! Besides, I get the handy excuse that Cindi in KS stole all our rain during October (smile), and she didn't even want all of it! Amazing how a drought window can have pockets of 'feast or famine' this close together. I can complain about a bad year but have a good reason for optimism in the coming year that simply doesn't apply to California except in the most wildly optimistic estimates next year. You've given me some insights on keeping the momentum going for 12 months Cori Ann and Trish, much of which involves pacing yourselves I think. My husband and I had a narrow band of possible living places when we first got married, since he hates cold like you and didn't want to move anywhere colder than Nebraska, where I couldn't imagine living hotter than Nebraska (fortunately we're settled here for the foreseeable future). I think you and Bart have some very good insights about the notion that plants do indeed get exhausted in the heat like people and only gradually acclimate. I might have the excuses you so generously offered if I only grew plants suited to Nebraska (whatever demented things those might be), but I can't resist zone pushing and have all kinds of fussy HTs not to mention several teas. The ones that have survived have acclimated to our weather, but I can't say they're all happy about it, and that one's squarely my own fault. Oh, and Totoro, I agree that your bulbs have also acclimated to your climate and should be fine. While I was planting new bulbs, I kept digging up old bulbs that were starting to put up shoots and even leaves and it's never stopped them blooming when the correct season rolls around. And you are so very kind to comment on my writing, folks! Trish and Moses, you nailed it that I do write and communicate for a living - about communication disorders to be precise, so I have to be able to communicate in multiple ways. However, while I love the research I do, the kind of writing I do at work is hardly creative, stuffed into categories of Methods and Results and all (one guess what I was avoiding when I first wrote this thread). Fortunately I also teach, and about working with infants and toddlers no less, so I get to be as creative and goofy as I want to in that respect. That brings me full circle back to the point of this, with a good reason for getting over grumpiness. Cori Ann said we're all facilitators, creators and cultivators, and I really like that sentiment. It's about more than the garden of course, and the students and families and children I've worked with are much more justifiably something to be proud of facilitating than mere plants. So bah, French Lace - who needs you (better not be me, because it has died on me a record 7 times). As Moses said, we're all drawn to roses because we love the challenge, but also because we can bring the patience and persistence we find in roses back out to the real world as well. And here our spouses and friends thought we merely grew barbed wire with scent (little do they know...). Obviously that's one of many reasons we have such a lovely community here on GW roses, including pulling a fellow gardener out of a major grump. Many thanks to all of you. Cynthia P.S. Does this mean I don't get mulled cider after all? If I can't grump any more, can I at least pout a little?