Thanks for chiming in! Sherry, I did a search on the forum and saw your post about your Francesca being zapped..glad it's recovering. I'll be planting mine where it will be shielded from the afternoon sun. As for Pharisaer, it's a gamble. I almost got Soleil d'Or until I found out it was a blackspot disaster. I spray, so we'll see what happens...being an alternate, I might not even get it. They'll be coming the last week of April. The snow and ice wasn't too bad..it takes the first "event" of the season to get everybody back into Winter driving mode. Janelle, I would love to visit the cemetery sometime. I like them, even better with roses. Judith, that's good to hear about Royal Sunset :) You feel like it about how I feel about my Abe Darbys. I love Royal's colors. The form and color remind me of some of the tender climbing teas and noisettes that wouldn't do well here. Regardless, it sounds it'll be a winner. Thanks, and love to hear more! Eric

I have zero help on what to plant but you need to finish getting rid of the Bermuda Grass first. Its an ugly process. Weeds that grow from seeds are way down the priority list compared to the problem below the surface. Don't disturb the soil because you don't want to break off the Bermuda Grass and leave pieces that are very deep and will not come back for many months. You need to water deeply and wait for the Bermuda to come back up. You can gently pull on them and see if they are shallow. Don't break them off. Mostly that is a waste of time. Hit the new growths with Round Up. Repeat until there aren't any new growths of Bermuda Grass. You will probably need to repeat this 4-5 times so you are looking at a 3 month process. If you try to do this in a month you will have lots of remaining Bermuda that will sprout. You will need to be vigilant and Round Up every new growth. If you have established plants at that time, the best way is to dab Round Up Concentrate directly on the sprout. The plants system will circulate it through the plant. An alternative process on such a small area is to completly sift the top 8" of dirt to remove all the Bermuda Grass rhizomes. I understand that the best way to do this on the other side is to mow the Bermuda short and then use lots of Round Up on it. That gets down into the rhizomes and then very little will come back. I'm not a huge fan of Round Up, or any chemicals for that matter, but this is an ideal use of Round Up. Edited to add: I forgot to mention that the rhizomes from the remaining side can spread under the walkway and recontaminate your hard work. This post was edited by GregBradley on Sat, Apr 19, 14 at 13:05

My condolences. It's funny how it seems that out of the blue, I get the same inclination to pick up the phone and give my mom a ring, although she been gone for over four years. She was a big Country Western music fan, every year she would watch the Country Music Assn's Awards show. Often times, especially since she rarely watched tv, I would call her to remind her that it was on, and I would stay on the phone with her, or go over to her house and watch with her. Mind you, I am not a country fan, but I know it gave her such a thrill. I am reminded of her now, when my wife and I sit down to watch American Idol. Now there is a show that I know she would just love... I can see her calling Simon a "big A#ole!" and giving him the finger. There were few shows my mom followed, but something tells me she would have dug this one. My mother had emphysema, and was in the hospital on life support, about eight months before she passed. She rcovered, went back home, was bound and determined to live a normal life, but I'm sure she knew her time was coming as well. She had about three real close friends, outside of family. About two weeks before she passed, she stopped and visited all three. She let them all know that her time here was short. A couple of the girls were young enough to be her daughter, and had the reputations of getting themselves in predicaments, and coming to mom to bail them out. She pretty much told them that they'd better pull their heads out of their bottoms, get their stuff together, because next time she wouldn't be their to pick them up. Mom always said that she would rather die than turn into "some convollessing old lady," (her words). I know that it was here time and she would not have wanted it any other way. you have my sympathies, --John

I slept in late, until 10 am, and now my DD and the grands are over. The two girls have gone to swim across the street, and DGS Preston has just helped us make 2 huge pans of enchiladas. He is only 4, but was a real helper, and completely understands the dangers and the joy of cooking. What a sweetie. I have one dog that he just adores, and is sure that I got this dog just for him. To watch them together is like Timmy and Lassie. So maybe I did get this dog just for him, I will never know for sure. Cute to watch them bond. Always a good day when the grands are here. Love making memories. Trin