Robert, Distant Drums and Honeysweet met my shovel last year, as did Prairie Star and Prairie Sunset. However, quite a few others did just fine. Quietness is outstanding. Golden Unicorn is very pretty, but the bush seems to have gotten quite large, and the blooms are smaller. Alisande and others - Winter hardy is one thing, but once the roses come out of dormancy, and have begun to really grow, does it matter what the source is when it comes to a May freeze? I don't think so, but am not an expert. THat late freeze is one of my nightmares. After the freeze you think the roses are fine, then around the end of June, you see that near the base of the rose, the canes have an odd color, and by the following year they die. I hardly ever lose the plant, but do lose major canes, and consider that a plight of living in an area where the weather allows the sudden freeze. I don't think it matters what the source is of the rose. I feel, but cannot prove it, but from what people say, I feel that the Noisettes can sustain the most damage. But even being a Buck, I don't know if it can defend itself against the freeze after the dormancy. Is there evidence to prove that the Bucks are stronger after that sudden freeze? Sammy

When you grow out Early Girl or Early Girl Improved, you'll get 25% potato leaf (PL) seedlings, indicating one of the two parent lines are PL. I don't know it Bush Early Girl will give the same results. But that might be one way to tell if Bush Early Girl = Red Satin ... if the F2s segregate similarly. Curiously, 4th of July (another variety I believe to be from the same breeder/vendors) segregates 25% PL in the F2 as well and the PLs look very close to Early Girl F2 PLs. But Early Girl, Early Girl Improved and 4th of July are indeterminates. Is Bush Early Girl indeterminate or determinate? Was Red Velvet determinate? Bush Early Girl was almost impossible to get a year or two ago. Everyone ran out of stock and said it was discontinued. Now it's available again. Another funny thing is now Early Girl seeds and plants are being sold as "Early Girl" (the previous name) rather than "Early Girl Improved" which just leads me to wonder what the heck is up with Burpee and Peto :::shrug::: Personally, I wouldn't put much stock in Burpee's public relations department emails. Nope.

LOL @ SharonH! They would be a very nice looking couple! Nicole (younger DD) graduates HS in May. She's not sure what she wants to do but currently her thoughts are either bartending or working with disabled children. She works at a camp in the summer for children with moderate to severe physical disabilities and finds it interesting and rewarding. Bartending, on the other hand, "would be cool" and she feels she could do really well with tips (and sleep late, too). She now waitresses and likes food services. She was severely hearing impaired until age 8 when she had her last restorative hearing operation - we fondly refer to her 'bionic ear'-lol. She's currently hearing at almost 100% although will need another surgery or two.

Kellyeng, I doubt you'd want to post a photo, but I would love to see your back piece when it's finished. It sounds absolutely gorgeous, and I love the symbolism and meanings attached thereto. Twelve total hours in the chair ... Now that's commitment! Dedtired, I too have considered a tat from a children's book. Mine would be something from "The Tall Book of Make Believe" which was published in the early 1950s. I spent many hours as a child fascinated by the illustrations (I had my Mom's copy that she had loved as a young girl) - wonderful artwork like this: Boop, I love your idea! What a wonderfully meaningful piece that would be for you. Of course, whether you decide on color is your personal choice. Aside from the lettering in my Grannie's handwriting (which I did get inked last night), all of my work is in color, with the exception of the black and gray Anasaszi pottery sherd on my lower right leg. I really like color myself! As for the pain factor - well, I've got ink on both legs, my shoulderblade, and now on my wrist extending up my inner arm. It all hurt, but none of it was unbearable. And I figure I can endure anything for a short period of time, if in the end I get what I want. :-)