Hi Sue I'm trying to think of a pink that doesn't fade in Melbourne, but there are few. Probably Flamingo and Queen Elizabeth are closest, but both grow very tall in my garden. The Childrens Rose is a pale pink to begin with, but doesn't fade. Gertrude Jeckyll doesn't fade and has a great perfume, but she''s not to everyone's taste. Gold Bunny and Friesia are very popular yellows here, but I can't vouch for their colourfastness. All those are readily available in Eastern Australia. Isn't our limited range of roses a pain? Sue

Deborah, Yes, all the roses you have listed are eligible to be exhibited. You are correct none of the roses listed appeared in past or present ARS publications. The six you mention are but a few of (by a rough estimate) of thousands of roses missing from the 2004 official "AEN" publication. The problem is that the CRL contains Roses in Commerce and Rose Registration updates. When a rose is listed, it may have a "NR" (not registered with "IRAR") or the new CRL notation, indicating rose introductions have not appeared in any ARS publications. When a rose first appears in the "CRL" with the "NR" notation, the following year it generally has an approved exhibition name "AEN". The problem is ARS does not post these "NR" changes in the next AEN publication, in the "Rose Registration" column of the American Rose or the handbook. This is preciously one reason why ARS should reinstate the Combined Rose List "CRL", as an official recognized publication to verify an "AEN" as the ARS Board approved in 1999. (Not a "temporary AEN" until the name is listed in one of the ARS publications). As it is stated, if there is a difference between what is in the "CRL" and the ARS "AEN" publication, ARS publication will prevail. Posted on the GW on 5-12-04 was a listing of all roses in the 2004 "Combined Rose List" having the new CRL notation, indicating these roses have not appeared in any publications of the American Rose Society. This only covers roses with the CRL notation. There are roses in all the back issues of the "CRL" with "NR" notation that need researching, to find out if the "NR" listing have been changed and now have a "AEN" designation, like all the roses Deborah had on her list. All of Deborahs roses started out with this "NR" notation, but were changed the following year having an "AEN". In the meantime her roses will be included in the next monthly posting on the GW of new or any corrections to the new 2004 "AEN". It may be to everyone benefit, if judges and exhibitors check their rose against what is in the 2004 "AEN" for missing or incorrect information. E-mail this information to me, and it will be on the next GW post. Waiting until the new 2005 "AEN" is published to share this valuable information, is doing an injustice to all exhibitors. The Combined Rose List is not a source for verifying AENs; it is only to be used as a reference if a rose is not listed in an ARS publication, but considered having a temporary "AEN". And as ARS stated, the handbook is no longer a reliable ARS publication as it previously was for verifying AENs. (See the post on new judges manual arrives). 5-13-04 Ronald Schwerdt

Drought Lands Doubled By LiveScience Staff posted: 11 January, 2005 9:45 a.m. ET The amount of land ravaged by droughts has more than doubled over the last 30 years, and the key factor, according to a recent analysis, appears to be the rise in global temperatures. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) studied the widespread drying trends in Europe, Asia, Canada, western and southern Africa, and eastern Australia. They found that the fraction of the Earth experiencing very dry conditions rose from about 10-15 percent in the early 1970s to about 30 percent in 2002. The researchers claim that almost half of this drastic change is due to global warming as opposed to a decrease in rainfall or snowfall. In fact, the average global precipitation has increased slightly over the past few decades. "Global climate models predict increased drying over most land areas during their warm season, as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases increase," said Aiguo Dai, lead author. "Our analyses suggest that this drying may have already begun." Warmer temperatures cause more evaporation drying out certain areas, while drenching others in rain and snow. Evidence of the latter is the United States, which has become wetter overall especially between the Rocky Mountains and Mississippi River over the last 50 years, says Dai. Other parts of the world showing a moistening trend include Argentina and parts of western Australia. "Droughts and floods are extreme climate events that are likely to change more rapidly than the average climate," Dai said. "Because they are among the world's costliest natural disasters and affect a very large number of people each year, it is important to monitor them and perhaps predict their variability." Dai will present the new findings on Jan. 12 at the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting in San Diego. The work also appears in the December issue of the Journal of Hydrometeorology.

I would like to warn everyone about Reliable Roses. I ordered $162.00 worth this year and then 3 weeks after their due date I rang to be told that they could only supply some of the roses and that they would reimburse me the $60. The roses eventually came, and no complaints there. But I had to chase up Jean Newman for the $60 cheque, which came about 2 weeks later. However, that cheque bounced, was dishonoured by the bank, and now I can't get any reply to phone messages or emails from this company. (I've been emailing them all week!) I think this is totally outrageous and unprofessional - just be warned! I think it's more like unreliable roses... Treloars are great, consistently good quality, but I wanted more of the old fashioned roses. I've had some roses from Misty Downs this year but the quality is patchy, some are powering along but 3 or 4 have suffered dieback and will not leaf up. Micko