Whew, George! Had me worried for a minute there! Yup, it's definitely cold tonight - 18° now, with a wind chill of -1°! The only annuals I have out so far are bachelor buttons and poppies, neither of which has sprouted yet. That 68 degrees the other day didn't fool me - been there, done that. Kinda ticked me off , actually, because the heat was still on full blast in the subway cars. I'll be starting more of my annuals in 2-3 weeks; hopefully, we'll be over these wide temperature swings. But one never knows ... Let us know how your sprouters fare. PV

I don't get too upset if roses die back to the snow line. That is pretty much the norm around here in Michigan with most roses. As long as they bounce back I keep them. I think recommending roses is *very* subjective as I have grown many so call "hardy/vigorous" recommendations that have failed to thrive for me but since I'm in a rural, low spot and might as well be Z4 I do make some recommendations such as the roses above. My main problem is roses that do well the first year and then just never do much after that. I rarely lose any to the winter. In fact, our most recent winter was the worst in recent times and I swear my roses loved it. Many were loaded with blossoms, throwing up alot of new canes and grew like weeds this spring. I secretly think roses love a long, cold dormancy. Predfern I've grown a ton of Bucks and only Applejack and Prairie Princess have done well for me. Same with growing lots of Austins, Romanticas and Generosas. I don't have any Generosas left, only one romantic (Eden cuz I love it so much) and several Austins. BUT... sometimes I think you just get bad clones. Some of the pathetic band roses (twigs) you get are a waste of time IMO. I don't buy them anymore and only buy roses from Roses Unlimited and Pickerings. I've tried many name brand vendors roses and they've all been shovel pruned. I haven't noticed that ownroot does any better for me than grafted. Really, I think its all a matter of "hit & miss"...seeing what will grow well for you in your unique environment.

James, what neat pictures, I never seen this before, the snow on the beautiful fig leaves, very nice, you could take these pictures, print them and hang on your wall in a nice frame, they are really pretty. Very Good. Martin, i love that song, it is so pretty and you sure know the words, Keep singing this. I find myself humming songs alot during the day, My dogs, Nigel and Clovelly and Julie want to run away when I sing. I love Dino and especially Tony Bennett. My mother never missed Dean Martins show. He was alot of fun. I wonder what he died from? I wonder how old. I know they really enjoyed their figs. My husband bought me a DVD titled, " The Italian Americans" it was interesting 3 dvd's and all the It.American stars talked about their childhoods growing up like we do. They mentioned a few things about the fig trees and figs in their back yards. Like to get a hold of one of Dean Martins fig and see what type it is. His family, i Believe his grandparents came from the same Region in Italy I come from. We'll have to see. Maggie

I have not been out, but all my plants are inside except 3 pots of basil. My plants have really taken a beating the past several days, they sat in a dark room for several days, then on the deck in strong cold wind for days. I expect to lose a few, but I have several extra. I will hold back a few because I dont have a spot ready anyway. I am thinking that I want to revise one of my cattle panel trellises by cutting it in two pieces, length wise, and making it to where it will "hinge " up high enough to run the mower or tiller under it. That way I can swing it up to work the soil, or place a bucket or mineral tub over the plant if we have an unexpected cold spell. I think that our forecast calls for a lowest of 48* for the next 10 days. I am still waiting on the carburetor for my tiller. I also waiting on another package of seeds, .I think I will be set for seed for a few years, just in case things really turn bad before next year. I dont think the economy will be that bad, but I want to prepare for it anyway. I think our economy will mostly decline for a while, maybe for a long while. I think that I have enough plants that I can save seed from no matter how had the economy gets. Madge just came in and told me that my basil is gone, so it must have gotten much lower here than was forecasted for Ft. Smith, so I guess I can just put catnip in those pots for my granddaughters and start more basil for them.