Hi everyone! My name is Lyuba and I moved to Tulsa, Ok from Ukraine in November 2007. I used to work as a translator until I met and married my husband. I had my condo filled with every color of African violets, but I couldn't bring any of them over. My mom and dad, grandma and grandpa gardened. It is in my blood to continue the tradition. I planted my first 3 bare root Lowes climbing roses this April. By now I've joined the Tulsa Rose Society, have 5 climbers, 5 English roses, and the rest are HTs and floribundas, so far 21 total, but it is not final. I have big plans and wish lists and my husband warns me about addiction every time I bring home a new rose bush : ) I've never been on any forums in my life, so I learn as I go. Sometimes make my share of mistakes like posting my pictures in another person's blog, not knowing and with best intentions. I did this on the Rose Gallery Forum while trying to learn how to post follow-ups. I want to thank every one of the Rose Masters for their gorgeous pictures, they are of such inspiration to all of us. I find myself checking the Rose Gallery for new pictures every morning. Thank you so much! I will post a few of mine. This particular rose is very special to me. My grandmother in Ukraine used to have a similar rose in front of the kitchen window, we collected the petals to make jam. When I saw the Spirit of Freedom in the local nursery I had tears in my eyes, it reminded me of grandma and childhood, and everything good and sweet. Pat Austin was purchased to commemorate my orange cat named Carson, he is a street kitty from Donetsk, Ukraine, that grew into the Feline King. We joke that Carson could teach Garfield a few tricks : ) His life here is great, except for one mocking bird that my dear husband named Deathwish. The bird follows him to every window, screeches offences and flaps its wings. Carson has to sleep with the blinds down : ) Life is never boring around here. I'm looking forward to learning more about growing roses and thanks again for sharing your great pictures. Lyuba

More about our birds. . . How we came to have the parakeet is a story in itself. Mother was out in the garden hanging up the laundry one sunny day and out of nowhere a blue & white parakeet flew right down and landed on Mother's shoulder. She nibbled lovingly on Mother's ear and mother said, "Well hello there" and the bird said, "Ooooh. Hello!" And Mother said, "So, who are you?" The bird replied, "Pretty Bird!" So, she kept her name. She never flew away after finding a nice home, having no desire to try living out in the big free world ever again. We never did find out from whence she came. I would like to add about the Mexican Love Bird. . . . . .that after cursing out the preacher and telling him to "Go to Hell!", and saying things like "Well, -uck a duck!", our love bird never said any of the really foul swear words ever again. Mother said it must have just been a cleansing thing for her, but I have always wondered just what Mother did to make her "repent" and come clean.??? And as for our parakeet, Pretty Bird? After her jello bath, she began saying, "Oooooh, Pretty Bird. Pretty Bird is a dirty bird!" We kids got so much fun out of her. She loved Orange Jell-O, not just for bathing but for eating it as well. She especially loved it when mother made it into a salad by adding grated carrots and chopped walnuts. Yum yum! She would walk across the table and sample everything. If she found something she particularly didn't like, she would make a mess of it and have a fit! So afterward she had to kept up during meals. She would fuss and squawk at us from her cage, demanding to be loosed at once! As you said, covering her cage was helpful in quieting her down. She would then say, "Good night Pretty Bird!" which would then of course, set us all into a round of giggles. ~Annie

I have a Daphne odora marginata that I planted maybe 20 years ago even though the experts say Daphnes are short-lived and difficult. (My name is Daphne so I had to have one!) It is planted on the west side of my house and now gets very little sun since the pear tree above it has grown so much. I have watered very little the last few years and it is still quite healthy. (I read somewhere that Daphnes die more from overwatering than anything else.) I usually pick a few blooms to bring in the house and they will scent the whole room. Some bearded iris are very fragrant. A friend let me pick a beautiful bouquet of them for my house, and the following day my living room was full of the loveliest, light scent. It took me a while to figure out that the iris were scented, as I had never heard of this before. The iris growers don't care about fragrance, so they don't make mention of it in catalogs. (I got this info from one of the owners of a huge iris nursery. He seemed annoyed that I wads bothering him with a question about fragrance !!!) You'll have to find iris in bloom iin the spring and sniff yourself or get recommendations from other gardeners. Make a note of the variety and then order that type for the following year. I also have a scented camellia (pale pink). The tag said 'fragrant' so I bought it even though I was very sceptical. Since I love camellias, I thought I'd give it a try since I knew I would like the plant, scented or not. I planted it several years ago next to my front steps where it didn't get much sun until it got tall, but now it is over 8' and had a ton of blooms last year. The scent is only noticeable outside when the temperature is warm, but then it is lovely.

Lilyfinch, I saw your cute bubble pics on IG. Lucia is filled with such joy. She and Henry are delightful. Lisa, you had me laughing at your dwarf SdlM. Goes perfectly with my non-blooming variety. But, your poppies! Wow! Now, that's a poppy! How long do Baby Blue Eyes bloom? Had to look up Bubble Bath. How have I never heard of that one?! HalloBlondie, I'm going to suggest he just add on to the small barn, which is more of a big shed. It houses his ATV, snowblower, lawnmower, wagon trailer and junk. We have just under 6 acres, but the out buildings are all clumped together near the house. Not the best look. Altorama, I'm torn between pampering my Edens and neglecting the heck out of them. Maybe I should send them to you for a few years, then you send them back to me once they get the hang of it. Sultry, the answer to your question is - not a clue. He asked me to find some barn pics to show the builder. He said I should choose because he wants me to like it. Can't be too upset with that! Lily, you'll soon be growing things you couldn't before and your growing season will be almost year round. Only a couple hours away is Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach. You'll love all the garden bling in addition to the huge plant nursery. Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach is fun and Pageant of the Masters is incredible. There are the missions all up and down the coast. San Juan Capistrano was a favorite. If you like Mexican food, you will find that it is so much more authentic than Mexican food in the midwest. You'll love the jacaranda trees, camellias, gardenias and being able to grow your own citrus. I'd grow citrus for the scent alone. The fruit is just a bonus! Plants that were annuals in TN will be perennials in CA. You can visit Grace Rose Farm for a day trip. Sounds like they're gearing up for visitors, big time. The entire Santa Ynez area is worth staying a day or two and visiting Solvang, and a little further up the coast is Carmel and Monterey, wonderful get-a-way spots. At least, they used to be. A stop in Santa Barbara is a must. And, if you like antiquing, Summerland, just outside Santa Barbara was always a must. Not sure if it still is. Deborah would know. These places are not especially close to San Diego, but more like day or weekend trips. And, I am positively green with envy you will get to visit Lisa and Ingrid.