Oh wow, better get out my flack jacket to keep off the flames. Why do you think I got the Stocktank? Exactly so that I could have fish that the racoons could not get into. The stock is too wide and has much too deep verticle sides so they can't bother the fish. I see a big difference in my "pet" fish Koi and Commet types and some feeders that I bought at the pet shop. Sort of like lots of thiongs in life. I eat beef but if I had a pet cow, I would certainly not be eating it.

Tiffy, just remember the germination databases, even the good ones, are suggestions as to what works most often, not always...there are always exceptions and rarely just one way to sprout a seed. And a lot depends on the condition (handling) of the seed. I did sow Miss Wilmott and leave her inside for 3 weeks before putting outdoors - Feb 18th and no germination yet, seeds from my own plant. On the other hand, Rosa sericea ssp. omeiensis, winged thorn, did like your eryngium and started germinating inside on my desk, in a baggie with a bit of moist vermiculite, and under a stack of mail that had been plopped on top the baggie. Imagine my surprise, and I don't mean that in a good way :(

Several years ago a generous GardenWebber sent me a beautiful double yellow brug. Since I'm in Z5 I had to bring it in over the winter. This summer, for the first time, this beauty got garganteous and bloomed for the first time. For the first time it got too big to bring in so I took cuttings.... all of which shriveled up and died. Is there anyone out there with a couple of cuttings they would mind sharing for postage? Thanks in advance. Cheryl

Re: Ventura County Rose Society. VCRS gave away its rose show materials as the cost of maintaining them with no foreseeable prospect of having a show was prohibitive. In 2001 VCRS staged both a rose show and a rose Celebration; in 2002 A rose Celebration only was presented. Should there be a sudden groundswell of support, the earliest any VCRS activity could occur would be 2006 (given budget constraints and the like). At the time of the 2001 show, half the exhibitors were from our own society (14); the other 14 were mostly from Los Angeles County. IIRC, Suzanne Horn won her first mini question at that show, but it was made abundantly clear that there would be diminished future particitipation by people not of our own rose society. While geography is one very important factor in the decision to opt for one rose society show over another, there are other factors in the minds of the more experienced exhibitors, including the quality of the competition, conditions of exhibiting, and the base and spread of the schedule at any particular show. We have conducted surveys every year but this one since 2000 of our membership as to which activities they support and value; while I believe that the educational value of a rose show should not be undervalued, that belief is not shared by our membership. The dedicated six or eight who show up to groom the Stagecoach Inn Rose Garden do not do so wtih the active support of the membership at large. And so with other educational activities that are tolerated by the membership at large, but do not elicit commitments of time and money for various projects. There is also the problem of the normal and regular turnover of membership rolls; when a group of people familiar with a rose show leave a society for one reason or another, there is no guarantee that there will remain an institutional memory capable of staging a rose show. Oddly enough, we cast about for an alternative date to have our rose show in the year following 2001; at that time all of the spring and fall dates were taken. It is only in the last couple of years that the open spring dates have suddenly become manifest. FWIW> Jim Delahanty, President, VCRS Here is a link that might be useful: The Ventura County Rose Society