I'm going to try to get pics today. Glad to hear everyone is doing okay. C3D, I would have put up electric fence ;) 9,000 gallons is a good size. A bit overwhelming to plan out though. Mary, I'm so sorry to hear about Sasha. To me it's the worst way to loose a dog. That's what happened to Nebt-Het it was devastating even to Isis. When they're sick you have some time to come to terms with it. Heather, i can't compare temp that's for sure but suffice it to say it wants to be spring here but it's not working. Last week it snowed just enough to make everything icy. Not too bad until you figure it was about 80 the day before. Hey zinnia.. fishy, I'm sorry. Maybe you could install a locking top? Brenda, I have to work too hard ;) That's how you end up with more hours than everyone else. Then you have to push them to work with you so people get their food on time..My Napoleon complex is well suited to the job ;) Adrea

Thanks for the welcome back! I miss Jain, Laetitia, Laurie, Robin,Mr Moores,Mike,and GMason and so many others....! I have some catch up reading of posts to do! Yesterday I walked in a fellow GW Iris gardens, oh they were lovely! Consider me back in the loop! I have alot more space for iris as well!

Adam, I believe your rating of the fragrance, it's right there in your garden, and I wish I had it instead of the rather lackluster Carefree Delight I planted last year in a space that would have been large enough to accommodate Radio Times. Mistakes, I keep making them. Sheila, you are always so kind, and your praise keeps me wanting to do better. Ann, I do think you would like Bishop's Castle. It can get large, with drooping canes, but I don't allow it to do that by cutting fairly far down when I deadhead which keeps the flowers more upright and the bush compact. Lisa, I'm afraid you may be right about a grafted Love Song being superior since mine is just sitting there with no new growth. Carding Mill own-root did the same thing for ages but is now finally beginning to pull up its socks. I find that it's really difficult to wait that long for a modern rose that I could have bought grafted. Marlorena, I hope that some day my garden will look even half as beautiful as yours. Of course you have all that lovely rain that we long for. I love that phrase about Jason "supremely elegant" and just for that I'm sending another picture of him that I hope I haven't posted here before. He's been through some rough times in his former home, including being declawed, which left him feeling defenseless against the other house cats and being witness to a very nasty divorce. We're trying hard to repair the damage.

Nice to have you back again. I see Buttercup is resting up for the big push when the roses arrive. I also have newer plants of William R. Smith, Marie van Houtte and Mme. Antoine Mari. I'm sorry you lost the beautiful varieties you mention. For me it seems to take forever for many varieties to grow to a respectable size, although Duchesse de Brabant, Mme. Antoine Marie, Mlle. de Sombreuil and Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux have shot up fairly quickly. Souvenir de la Malmaison and The Faun have also been very good in that respect.