when dealing with anything with OTHER THAN GREEN leaves... the fallback is always.. afternoon shade .. and if they would simply say it this way.. it would be so much easier to understand: leaves other than green require shade.. because they sunburn ... so the pf lotion to not sunburn.. is to get them shade in the afternoon.. this is also complicated by not being able to pump enough water in the high heat of the day making them sunburn faster .. and shade helps water movement within the plant ... and water management in the soil ... make sense??? and the high heat of the day.. is when the heat is high.. not necessarily noon ... [of course you are TX.. its probably blistering at dawn.. lol] .... ken

Old Blush is self-cleaning. If allowed to naturalize, it can be pruned some, and stay pretty low-growing. And it is always going to have blooms on it. Same thing with White Pearl In Red Dragon's Mouth. When we had that record-setting, damaging freeze last winter, WPIRDM just went right on blooming. DH had never been excited about WPIRDM, until he saw how downright TOUGH it is. It seems to remain compact (tho I admit, it's only been here 3-4 years) and is a neat round BALL of a plant. Iceberg is a GREAT rose, particularly for mass planting. It's so bullet proof in the West that it is used for gas station landscaping. But it is ubiquitous because it is good. You could use Iceberg, alternated with one of the colored Icebergs, such as Brilliant Pink Iceberg. (DISCLAIMER: I don't know if it blackspots.) Jeri

A few words about HMF and how you can use it to search for disease resistance. As many of you know, I've worked on the database for many years. Before I started working on HMF, the early volunteers did not always add the REFERENCES where they got their information. Nor, were there all of the features on the site that are there today, so volunteers are slowly going back to fill in the blanks. AND there were already tens of thousands of roses entered into the database before I started working on the database. Where disease resistance is reported for a rose, the information generally came from a published REFERENCE open to public scrutiny or the plant patent. When a member adds a COMMENT to the rose page, we sometimes ... depending on how many people are working on the database at that time, will bring that information forward to the main rose page and put a note in the NOTES section ending with "See MEMBER COMMENTS". That's telling you the the disease resistance came from a site user's experience with the rose. If you want to get a sense of rose grown regionally, there are two ways, both of which only work if site users enter their gardens on HMF. When you open a rose page, you can click on the GARDENS tab and if you see a lot of gardens growing that rose in your region, it is an indicator, yes it's subjective, that this rose is a good rose for your area. You can also tick the GARDENS tab and select to view them by a specific state if you want to view listings of roses grown in the gardens in your state. Yes, it's still kind of vague, but it does narrow down your search. Also, you can post a question on the Q & A forum and many site users will respond with their experience. The best way to do this is to go to the rose page for the rose you are researching and click the MEMBER COMMENTS tab and then the POST A COMMENT button. Another way to look is to do a SEARCH of the Q & A. The most recent posts will appear first and is kind of cumbersome, but it's a lot better than when I first started working on HMF. If you are a premium-member, you can do an ADVANCED SEARCH on more than one criteria. Yeah ... I think just this one benefit is worth the $2 per month, but that's up to you. You can select CLASS and then drop down to GROWING and select for disease resistance. It's a database. There are lots of different ways to find information. There is no staff to answer questions, so you have to do the research. The information always comes from public REFERENCES or site members. The webmaster is open to new suggestions for how to do things, but many people haven't already experimented with the tools that are already available. Even if that is true, the webmaster is very open to suggestions to improve site users' experience on HMF, but remember he has a very long list of suggestions, so you may not get an immediate response. It's a tool and you can make it better with your participation. Supporting a site that you use regularly, whether or not you use the premium-member benefits, is just the right thing to do, but no one is checking. The support for HMF has increased ... and thank you .... but, to date, it still does not cover the cost of keeping HMF available to you. Smiles, Lyn

Sorry I haven't responded here in a couple of days. I know you all understand, though. Jeanne, your photo is gorgeous! What a lovely walk that must have been. Oh, and I'll have deviled egg appetizers waiting for you when you get here. I love them, too! I have one of those storyteller candles! I bought it years ago when we were in Taos. That's where they make them. I've never lit it, though, and don't ever plan to. Here she is: PartyMusic: thanks! You're more than welcome to jump on the Holiday Bus and come along for breakfast, too. MM: too funny! I get the same way when I see pics of Huevos Rancheros. Most restaurants out here serve it all day, because so many of us love them anytime. Last night when we went out to dinner, I almost had them again but chose Chile Rellenos instead. Mmmmm! Luvs: You are always welcome here! And, scrambled eggs are wonderful with salsa or red chile on them. I always have some on the table when I make scrambled eggs. I hear you regarding Spanish pronunciations! I took 7 years of it as a kid in Michigan. Never got to use it much, because you hear more French there. But, once I moved to NM, a lot of it came back to me. The "LL" sounding like a "Y" throws most people off and so does the "J" sounding like "H" do, too. Funny! As for my seed placemats, I'm really liking them. At first, I was going to take them back as I was worried that they'd be very hard to keep clean, but they're not that bad. I just have to be careful about what I serve when I use them. Drips down between those seeds would not be a good thing! Kathleen, I'm Scot and I love them. I think it becomes an addiction when you move here ;^D When DS was in college, I had to send him chile on a regular basis. The main requests our NM service men & women have from home are canned green chiles and salsa! I can't imagine getting on without it now. OK, I'm making myself hungry! Karen: they sure can be made with scrambled eggs! Do you ever make Breakfast Burritos? You roll a flour tortilla around warm scrambled eggs, crumbled bacon, sausage or ham, add some hash browns, beans if you like, shredded cheese and then salsa or red chile sauce. That's got to be New Mexico's other favorite breakfast! Even the McD's out here serve them. Punk: I'd love to have you come for breakfast! I love the pinecone napkin rings that Jane sent me, too. They look great with three of my dish sets: these pinecone ones, the ones with actual pinecones painted on them and my green Solare dishes. They get used a lot! Glor: Yes, that dip is very popular out here. We usually add diced jalapenos or green chiles to ours. I've had it used as a stuffing for enchiladas and burritos, too. Have you ever had Green Chile Roll-Ups? They're a pinwheel-type appetizer and very popular out here. Luckygal: I don't care for very hot food either. But, what I now consider mild, I find that my Michigan family thinks is medium-to-hot. I guess I've just gotten used to it over the years. OA: thank you :~ ) Yes, that brown pedestal is from HL and was meant to hold a candle, I think. I keep looking for a more rustic one to use on a table like this, but haven't found it yet. I'd love to hear any ideas you might have for a substitute. That pedestal is probably the main thing I don't like about this vignette. The pottery comes mainly from two NM potters, one is my neighbor. I love his work and, as I've mentioned, use it every day. I feel the same way you do about centerpieces! I have several 5x7 frames with easel backs I keep just for adding an interesting card to for a centerpiece. There are so many possibilities out there these days and the frames are so quick and easy to change out. Well, now I'm REALLY hungry for something with chiles! I think I'll go make myself a grilled cheese with green chile sandwich for lunch. Lynn