> "And I would add that I'm unaware that anyone has ever claimed that the Damasks have China blood" Actually the erroneous speculation that 'Autumn Damask' is a hybrid damask-china is prevalent in the standard potted "History of the Rose" that you find in so many rose books. Quoting from Krüssman, The Complete Book of Roses, p. 76: "1812 The first recurrent Damask was found in the gardens of the Palace at St. Cloud; its antecedents are unknown, but were possibly R. damascena x R. chinensis." I am not arguing against the Iwata findings about the triparental origin of the original non-recurrent damask roses. What I said was that Iwata concluded recurrent damasks (AD) arose by mutation from non-recurrent damasks (like Kazanlik) rather than by further hybridization as was formerly believed (see Krüssman snippet). What Iwata said also contrasts with solicitr's interpretation of Iwata: "a Japanese DNA study which appears to show that the Damask Perpetuals (Autumn Damask and kin) aren't actually related to the "summer" Damasks (nominally R. damascena) at all. It seems that on the seed side A.D. comes from a R. moschata x R. gallica cross, and on the pollen side the wild remontant Asian R. fedtschenkoana." Iwata said all damasks stem from the triparental cross. Recurrent damasks are genetically almost identical to summer damasks except for the gene for recurrency being switched on. There were two main findings: (1) the triparental parentage (2) recurrency (and mossing) arising without further hybridization.

Whoa Josh!!! Gee, thanks for all the neat "links" you posted for me!! I was in reading last night for quite a length of time, & there is much info on alot of this stuff! Now, I'm not sure if Missouri's type of foliage & flowers are similar to ours here in Idaho, as I think they might "differ" a bit... mostly due to our Desert climate right in our area. The MOBOT Herbarium Instruction page was a "mind-blower," as it was some really in-depth reading, and I could go for hours on that one! Wow! I was really glad to hear you know what "Prickly-Pear" Cactus' are, because they grow wild here, by the "scads," and alot of folks use them in their rock gardens & such. When roaming or hiking in the mountains or Desert areas around here, you really have to watch where you're stepping, because of the large groups of them that grow everywhere! I've even seen them growing right out of the tops of lava rocks around here... with no soil!!! Too bad I can't figure out a way to get the beautiful blossoms off of them to "press & dry!" (... that would be a real fiasco` though, because of how sharp they are!) You had mentioned the "Yucca" Plant. That is one I am not very familiar with. I did try to grow some "Yucca" at one time out here, but as usual, I had no luck. It is just too dry on our Ranch here. I will have to ask around & see if folks grow any Yucca around here. I have not navigated around on the Site much here yet, since I have been a Member, so haven't went into the "Native forum" yet... but will do that. Thanks. You are right when you stated that right now, we should have a vast array of tiny flowers & things growing out in the Desert here on our Ranch. Always in the Spring time here in our area, everything of Nature is just loaded with many unusual Spring flowers & foliage. I am hoping to get out and pick some wild "Indian Paint Brush" to press & dry, that's for sure! This was something I wanted to do over the Easter week-end, but our weather was really stormy with alot of high gusts of Wind,... so I couldn't get out to do that. I am like you Josh... not only do I like to attempt to press & dry "flowers," but I also like the foliage... alot of it, & am always so interested in dried "leaves" and such. "Moss" fascinates me too!! I was reading on some of the previous "links" you gave to me on various plants, & it was telling how to "skeletonize" leaves & such... That was quite interesting to me! (maybe something I'll have to try sometime, but realize it's also difficult to do.) As far as me "trading" any plants from your area, I would be willing just to send you some of my Western "sage" foliage from out here... because that's all it is, is "leaves," but I would have to "press & dry" some first. Let me know what you think? Thank you for responding & Posting Josh.. it's always good to hear from you, & I will be in reading more of the info in the "links" you sent to me as well. Take care, & I will anticipate hearing from you again~ Warmest regards, ~ IndianPaintBrush ~

The orange lily is an Asiatic Daylily. They are common in gardens and have escaped all over the northeast US. They don't spread by seed. Instead you could just dig up a few plants making sure to get the root which is a tuber. The second plant looks like Queen Anne's Lace. The flowers will turn brown at which point you can cut the flower head and shake out lots of seeds. This is easy to grow, and in fact is probably srouting in your garden already. THe first year the plants grow a bit like a dandelion but with very lacy leaves. They flower in their second year of growth. The third is in the pea and bean (legume) family. I am not sure what species it is. The smaller yellow ones were probably Birdsfoot trefoil, which is an agricultural crop similar to alfalfa or clover that commonly escapes to grow wild. The vine sounds like a Morning Glory. There are many wild species. Jerusalem Artichoke is a wild sunflower and could be the plant you see. Ther are other similar species of wild sunflower too. I think all are great garden plants. They will spread so give them some room, but they are easy to grow and flower from July thru September. If you are searching for info on a plant, try a search enginer like Google. Go to Google.com and enter the name of the plant. You'll get thousands of pages for almost any plant as long as it is spelled correctly.

creeping red fescue does not have the right root structure to prevent erosion. the roots are not dense or fibrous enough to hold soil. the grass itself tends to be clumpy leaving areas of bare soil exposed. where did you get the information that it was good for erosion control? the best long term solution for erosion control are the native grasses because they have deep and dense fibrous root systems that hold soil much better than most any other plantings. the native grass create a mat-like sponge of biomass on the ground to reduce surface runoff as well. the native grasses are slow growers so a typical erosion control mix contains a mix of annual rye, spring oats, and native grasses. the rye and oats provide very quick cover for temporary surface control until the native grasses get established and take over for longterm permanant soil control. the oats and rye dont compete with the grasses in the long run. a rhizomatus plant like creeping red fescue could inhibit the growth of natives and does not have the dense fibrous root structure that is required to hold soil and prevent erosion. in areas that experience heavy soil moving erosion like a creek bank or a floodplain - it is common practice to install a coir mesh/webbing over the top of native grass seeded planting. the mesh holds the soil and seed and acts as mulch until the grass gets established... once the grass is established the mesh is no longer required and eventually decomposes.