Ingrid - Congratulations! I too am constantly asking my husband to see something amazing in the garden - he tries to be polite, but can barely stop himself from yawning. I also have a happy story about DdB. I have a really ancient plant, at least 50 years old, probably older. However, I did not even know it was there for years, because it was sort of surrounded and eaten by my huge Le Vesuve. Finally I noticed that one or two flowers of the Le Vesuve were a different color, form, etc. Eventually I realized that there was an old plant of DdB inside of the LV! You could not see hardly any of the bush, just a few blooms every year. Well, 15 years went by, and the winter before last the LV died back on one side - about the far 4 feet of its width just died. So, I cut out the dead wood. That was the side where the DdB was lurking. Low and behold - the DdB must have taken advantage of its liberation over this past Winter. I noticed a few days ago (it is now blooming) that I can actually see an entire DdB plant which is about 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall, and covered in blooms! That's why I love old roses - they persevere! Mine is the many petaled kind, and just stunning. Oh, another thought - re your comment that some bug has drilled a hole in the bud - sounds like that awful little red beetle (I forget its name). They do not come in ones, so you might want to look around and see if you see more. They look just like ladybugs, except no spots, and they have a long long nose which they use to drill holes in rose buds! You have to pick them off (they fall straight down if disturbed, so I hold a bag or something below them). You also have to get rid of the buds with the holes - they are now full of beetle eggs. Jackie

Well, I am waiting for the first blossom to open now. It is taking FOREVER, it seems like... like a child waiting for Christmas morning to come, with each day seeming like an eternity. lol :-) From what I can see, though, this first bloom will be predominantly, if not totally, a deep purple. I'm guessing it will be double, given the time that it has taken to develop. It seems to be floriferous, since it is showing 5 flower stalks for it's first bloom. This is one of the traits from Firebird I was hoping would show up in these seedlings. Almost all of the other plants have buds on them as well. I hope to be able to post a pic of the first bloom by the end of the week.... fingers crossed....

Be sure to read reviews before purchasing, and try to get an infra-red. The Non-typical Cuddeback Capture worked great for awhile, but eventually the local critters grew tired of going blind from the flash and began avoiding the area. I moved the camera and caught some of my former victims by surprise the first night but they wised up even further and with this latest camera relocation; I've had zip. As for that suspected jaguar thing, I just don't know what to think. I keep finding scratched up places on the ground-just out of camera range. I had read that researchers in Mexico use skunk glands and Calvin Klein's Obsession to lure suspicious jaguars close enough to their hidden cameras for photos. So, I bought some Obsession and sprayed it on the ground in front of the camera two days ago. Today, near my camera, but off to the side, I found another scrape and there was that same skunky, rank, salty smell I'd smelled before near the scratch marks by the pond several days ago. No photo of course. The other animals stayed away as well, I noticed. There's probably a twitter about me out there: "Danger: bright flash. Avoid plastic boxes" 3-9-09, Picazo Farm logging road, possible ground scrape From 2-24-09, Tracks and scat Unless I actually get a photo I can't say for sure what's leaving the tracks and scrapes. I sent some of the track photos to several big cat "experts" but only two answered, giving vague, non-commital answers that seemed to indicate they were as mystified as I was.

I've been watching this show again on DABL, but it is now called "Selling Houses with Amanda Lamb." I also sometimes watch it on YouTube. They are still doing feature walls with bad wallpaper, and often the clients/sellers will refuse to use the paper that Amanda picks out (she has particularly bad taste) and pick a better wallpaper themselves or just paint. I do not like Amanda at all because she can be overbearing and arrogant, but I do like the sellers and buyers. The buyers still often pick none of the three options they are given - much like "Escape to the Country" (which has much better realtors), but there is a prize (I think) for the seller that the buyer likes best, even if they do not buy. Amanda Lamb is 5'-11½" (1.81 meters) tall and often towers over others in the show, especially if she wears heels, but she often wears flats. A show I like better is The Unsellables, with Sofie Allsopp, who is much better put together than Amanda Lamb. I believe it started in Toronto and then moved to England. Sofie is 5'-8", and so she is rather tall also, and she almost always wears extremely high heel - which I like. I always notice her shoes in the shoes, and they are always very nice. Sofie gets a lot of criticism on YouTube, but I mostly disagree with it.