Thought I would resurrect this just to see if anyone else is making progress on this problem. I've already had to toss one big basketful of rose petals this summer (the ones I started collecting before posting here.) I'm experimenting with freezing, but haven't thawed any yet to check the results. Every flower that comes into the house now goes straight to the kitchen sink for a thorough spraying. After the petals are dried I flash-freeze on a cookie sheet and store them in an air tight container in the freezer. The thermometer registers just below zero in there, so we'll see. Whatever this petal-eating critter is, it apparently prefers roses. I've got air-dried gromphrena, hydrangea, and gardenias from last year and the year before, stored in clear plastic bins, with no sign of damage. I'll have to choose my moment carefully for thawing these frozen petals to minimize the ambient humidity. It's always humid in MS to some degree, but we've had SO much rain this year - even with the a/c going full blast I get moisture on the top of the salt shaker. Just thought I'd check in. Anyone else experimenting? Nena

Jo, you always reward us with your attentive eye. Thank you for making the report. I look, but do not see the things you do. The most I had this year were my observations of scapes with bracts, and branched scapes. Also with reblooming by Sugarbabe that was the last hosta of summer. Now I'm harvesting seedpods. Some have black seedwings, others have white seedwings. I love the way the pods look as they pop open.

This recipe looks soooo good, I'm planning on making it over the weekend when the temps dip below 0* CHUNKY CHICKEN POT PIE SOUP~ Wolfgang Puck Serves 6 to 8 CHUNKY CHICKEN SOUP: 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 medium leeks, trimmed, thoroughly rinsed, and chopped 1 large onion, chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 large garlic clove, minced 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 8 cups good-quality canned chicken broth 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice 1 pound small white button mushrooms, quartered 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen peas with pearl onions 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips Salt 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper 1 cup heavy cream POT PIE DUMPLINGS: 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Pinch freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled 1 large egg 1 tablespoon milk 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leafed (Italian) parsley, plus extra for garnishing First, prepare the soup. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the leeks, onion, celery, and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle and stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, taking care not to let the flour brown. Remove the pot from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly pour in 6 cups of the broth. Add the carrots, mushrooms, peas and onions, chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt, the tarragon, and the white pepper. Return the pot to medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the chicken is done and the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, put the remaining 2 cups of broth in a separate shallow saucepan and add 1 cup of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. For the dumplings, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. With a pastry blender or the tines of a table fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and parsley, then stir them into the flour mixture until a dough forms. Reduce the heat under the boiling broth to maintain a simmer. Using a greased teaspoon, gently scoop up rounded teaspoons of the dough and carefully drop them into the broth. Cook until the dumplings are well risen and cooked through and float on the surface, about 7 minutes. Keep them warm in a small amount of the broth until ready to serve, reserving the remaining cooking liquid. Before serving, stir the cream into the soup. Adjust the soup's thickness, if necessary, by stirring in some of the broth in which the dumplings cooked. Taste the soup and add more salt to taste, if necessary. Add the cooked dumplings, raise the heat under the soup pot to medium, and heat through until the soup is almost but not quite boiling. Serve the soup immediately, ladling it into large warmed bowls and arranging the dumplings on top. Garnish each bowl with extra parsley. Let me know if anyone tries it before then! Deb

Carmen, I am so sorry that you got sick. I can't imagine how miserable you've been. Poor thing! Fran, take care of that sunburn! Wear long sleeves tomorrow for sure! I have to confess, I got the kids sunburned last Thursday. We set up the pool. It poured rain in the morning, stopped for a few hours so I told them they could go ahead and splash around for a while. We had heavy cloud cover for most of the time they were out with only a short burst of sun so I didn't worry about putting sunblock on them. They all got burned pretty bad. I felt like the worst mommy ever. They've been loobed up with aloe ever since. Finally, they were feeling good today with no more ouchie. What a dumb thing for me to do. Sassy, I am more than happy to see what I can find. I did a search the other night and have a couple that I am watching. I will see how they go for a bit. They seem to be older models. I need to find the name of the guy I got mine from and see what he has listed too. What?! No discount? Now that is a bummer. I bet you are loving the new sheets. There is nothing better than fresh linens on the bed. I need to get a bunch for here too. And nice fluffy bath towels. If only I hadn't spent all my money on plants. LOL! Lisa, thank you for the liriope. I will keep my eyes out for the mail lady. You are too nice to me. :O) Karen, since the clems are blooming now I would wait to do anything until after you've enjoyed them. Your Niobe bloom is simply gorgeous. I love that deep red. Beautiful! After the blooms are done go ahead and deadhead it. You don't want it working on seed production since it is so young still. Pinch the buds off right above the two leaf nodes directly below the bloom. If you only have a couple of stems coming from the ground you could (if you want a nice bushy clem next year) pinch it all the way back to the second set of nodes above the root crown. Keep pinching back any new growth for the rest of the growing season. Next year it will have amassed a very large root system and will put out many more vines than this year. It will work for all clematis types (1, 2 & 3). Your Niobe and Henryii are type 2's, which means that it blooms on old wood. After it has established more vines for you, only prune off spent flowers when it is mature. Do not hard prune it every spring like you would a type 3, which blooms on new wood only. That is why many type 3's look so leggy and top heavy with flowers, they aren't being pruned back in the early spring like they should be. I'm sorry if I am telling you stuff you already know, it occurred to me that you may or may not know which types they are and which pruning method works best. I'm going to post a link at the bottom to my favorite clem reference site. It's called Clematis on the Web. They are out of the UK and have one of the most comprehensive lists of clems. They have an A-Z name directory for all the varieties of species. There is a link for each name with the pruning type and characteristics. If nothing else, they have gorgeous pictures too. LOL! I could kiss you by the way! You just id'd my columbine for me! LOL! Cardinal bloomed like crazy this spring. It was amazing! I love your Cherries Jubilee DL. It is gorgeous! I cut the most of the pods off my geraniums the other day too. I left only one set for each plant. I am keeping the seeds to a minimum this year. I just don't have the ability to keep track of them for some reason. I end up with them in the oddest places. I must get myself organized. Your little birdy looks so sad. What was he doing down there? Poor little guy. We have a family of birds that nested by the workshop. The dad has gotten so used to me being out there with him that he lets me get pretty close if I'm out working in the rock garden. I wasn't out for most of the day and he came up on the railing of the back porch and I caught him peaking in the window at us during dinner. I guess he missed me. LOL! I am off to bed. I had a very busy day today cooking and tomorrow will be even busier. I'm exhausted. See ya later girls! Tracy Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis on the Web