I am Trish and I am a rose potaholic. I don't have a spot to grow them in the ground and I have taken up all the available spots at my parents'. Being English and Welsh respectively they have an innate love for roses so that is good. I started my rose obsession through tragedy. Our son was stillborn in the fall of 2006 (sorry to those who have heard this already) and being already into gardening in general I thought it would be nice to have something growing in his memory. I debated a tattoo but was too broke and could not find the 'perfect' image. I did a bit of research on "the language of flowers" and came across the white rose. I asked on gardenweb for recommendations for a nice white rose as some of you will remember. I ended up deciding on Madame Hardy but by then I was a goner anyway. Now I have used up all available space at my parents' and a few pots outside and still eyeing up more. Face it, we're sunk Aggierose.

Tina, I think suggesting that adults not gossip, with children, about other children, is very good advice. and it is advice about communicating with a child, which is what was asked. I also think that, judging from the response, that - Oakley's rather selective comment notwithstanding - most here had that part of the OP's narrative jump off the page at them since most clearly saw it as a pretty serious issue, which it is (again, hardly a faux pas). That, to me, did not fall under parenting advice but really was a general observation resulting from what I suspect is the reaction by a lot of people of surprise that an adult would participate in conversation like that. If I hear someone bleat out racist or sexist or otherwise offensive comments, yep, I tell them it's offensive. If you don't, as Maya Angelou said, "you are part of the problem." I don't think the OP needs to read the comments as judgmental but instead can practice some introspection, assess the comments and the sentiment behind them, and yes, learn something from them. That is a good thing. The only comment I thought was out of line was Sushi's about hoping her daughter doesn't model that OP's behavior, and that one got 3 'Lkes" (and no chastisement from Oakley!). I thought that was personalizing it and making a general statement about the OP as a person rather than the one item, so to me, that comment was wrong and crossed a line. If we go down a road of criticizing criticism, where does it end? There is no end, only potholes of double and randomly applied standards based not on a principle but on personal ego and pettiness (again, using Oakley's comment as an example).

You nailed it, though, Breton. All it takes is several million years to figure out how to be a Neochilenea up there. Maybe it's not even as nutrient-poor as it appears, considering the Flora that do exist there. The Atacama is fifth in my list of places to go to and one of only two deserts I want to see. Gobi is the other. I'm not sure if the Scablands count as desert?

Mindshift, Thanks for sharing all that with me. The seeds were definitely mature. The pods were all dried out and the seed inside was small hard dried out seed. I think the problem was the soaking thing. They swelled up after I soaked them. Then I put them in pots and watered that real well. And the soil held moisture too well. They then turned to mush. I probably shouldn't have soaked them. And before I did that I nicked the seed coat to let water in for germination. It let the water in alright, but too much. Thanks for the tip about needing very warm soil temp. I did not know that. This has been one of those ordeals, if at first you don't suceed, try again. But there's a foot note on the bottom of the page that reads. When you've had all you take, just lay it down and walk away, come back to it another time. I can't say for sure when that will be, but I do know it won't be this year. Lol, that was a sad disappointment for real. I had high hopes for those seeds.