wheeze = a clever idea or joke quincunx = an arrangement of five things in a square or rectangle with one at each corner and one in the middle (I almost could have guessed this one but not really.) inosculation = join, unite shambolic = chiefly British : obviously disorganized or confused Apols = I figured it out - shorthand. wingeing = You stumped the dictionary with this one. Perhaps a typo. My mouse and my brain were really getting a workout from your wheeze...which I think is a fantastic - not fantastical - idea. Weird weather here. Days and days and days on end of chilly, cloudy wet. Then an 80 day that made my tiled porches puddle with wetness from the air that stayed for two days without drying...and since I think it's still there today, that makes three days. Yesterday was lovely in high 70s. Then around 6:00 a storm/front rolled in and through, giving lightning and thunder boomers and a deluge for about half an hour. At the first clap I dashed out to the porch to move my one-gallon things outside on the patio (brought in for the supposedly hard freeze we had on Tuesday night which didn't go hard, I think, since my new rose shoots are fine and roses are blooming but which zapped part of a hydrangea), so they got a nice drink but if they want sun, I'll have to move them. Not sure if they want it if you know what I mean. Since I am still pretty much housebound and have converted to Paleo eating, I have had to convert my kitchen also which at first was a drudge (cleaning out my pantry, fridge and freezer due to six months of non-habitation), acquiring Paleo foods and cookbooks, and then air-tight jars and shelves for all the new flours, nuts, seeds and such.) So I got to do a little bit of redecorating in the kitchen while inside, and I feel really good with my accomplishments. Bluegirl's remarks reminded me that the old me would be out digging and planting and blowing about now, but I realized yesterday that this period is a time for re-domestication, so that I will have cooking (maybe not cleaning) fully ingrained (OH! no grains!) in my psyche so I will truly be able to multi-task at some point in the future...gardening and cooking. Today it's a beautiful one, sunny in the low 80s. Sherry P.S. I dearly hope Suzi had to look up at least one word in what I just wrote, but I'm hoping in vain, I'm afraid. She is probably already completely Americanized and is obviously way too literate to be stumped. :)

I had a point somewhere when I started that thread on this subject which I can't find now. So I'll settle on Cactus Joe's thread. Anyway I came across an article on Kordes in my old Rosebank news letters. It was an article by Harry McGee in September, 1995. The occasion was a visit to Canada by Wilhelm III. It has a good history of the Kordes firm. It started with Wilhelm the first in 1890 in Hamburg. Wilhelm II joined in 1919 in Sparrieshoop. He was succeeded by a non-Wilhelm but still a Kordes, Reimer. Then came the III. All were in charge of breeding operations. Other family members ran the business side. What is relevant in all of this is that the hybridizer was preminent in the firm and therefore put emphasis on that. At that time Kordes was the largest rose nursery in the world selling 2 million roses a year. They made 50,000 crosses a year. After a rose is singled out as a prospect it is grown for 6 or 7 years of testing before it is introduced. They probably are still the largest. Possibly the odds of creating a superior rose are in favor of those who do the most crosses. Stands to reason doesn't it? Even just blind choice should produce now and then something of value. One thing Mr. Kordes said that was interesting is that many breeders have stopped breeding HT's. One reason is that fewer people go to exhibitions. The other is that they are more difficult to get anything worthwhile. Hard to make disease resistant, many are single, fragrance is rare, have fewer hips and what they have don't germinate well and finally they produce fewer flowers. The emphasis on disease resistance began as a result of the Green Parties efforts to ban spraying in many parts of Germany. Kordes then stopped spraying. The result was disaster. Their fields became nearly barren of roses. I guess things have improved since then.

Here is my June, in April 2014 soon after it was emerged. It is still in this spot, and gets morning sunlight broken by high pecan tree shade. Note the color of the midleaf, which is its early season look. Here it is May 6 2014. I added English Sunrise to make my trio of related hosta. That solid yellow is the same color that June AND Teatime share with English Sunrise. All are still in that same location, with only the sun climbing higher in the sky to change intensity of the light reaching these hosta. Then here it is another month later in June 2014 The colors again are consistent on the three hostas. I think given that your #3 plant is given more shade than the #1 plant, it would not be so white....if it were June. Here is my June in Sept 2013, in much the same location, the sun having gone back lower on the horizon and the midleaf color darkening to a greener look, not a lighter look. Have you thought about Georgia Sweetheart as a possible ID? I'll upload one in a minute.

You already answered the question Bonnie, because they're stupid and clueless. I have no idea on why they were so adamant about wanting them and then didn't do anything but yank them all out. My nasty side wants them or at least her, to get bitten by the gardening bug and then to realize what they tossed down the hill behind the house! Serve 'em right. Those pictures up there of when we lived there, were taken before we even thought about moving. So all those bags of mulch had been spread, rocks were used to outline the grassy areas. I took pictures, but my camera pooped out on me and somehow, the pictures were all lost. For a cherry tree, an absolute bird magnet is the Wild black cherry (Prunus serotina). Another good one is the American Plum (Prunus americana). On that lot, we had Northern red oaks (Quercus rubra), Sour Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and also Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata). The Liriodendron tulipifera is the state tree and one to surely have. In the back yard, I had an American holly (Ilex opaca), winterberries (Ilex verticillata), viburnums, native serviceberry. I wanted, but never bought, Northern bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) and Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). I also had Strawberry bush (Euonymus americana), American beautybush (Callicarpa americana), Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)....and I can't even think of all that I had. I still am in contact with people down there and they tell me all the time how bad that drought is. When we moved down there in July of 03, it was just after the flood! What a difference, huh? Wimpy for snow? I love snow. I think I missed that the most living in TN!! Forget my parents and my siblings and their families, I missed snow! LOL! I am seeing more and more butterflies around here. This morning I discovered a Black Swallowtail caterpillar! I'm happy ;) I think the ecosystem that exists here in this town is so out of whack. So anything I can do to bring it back, I'm doing. Bonnie, you can e-mail thru my page....maybe Rita would like her thread back....lol....Sorry Rita! ;0) Here is a link that might be useful: TVA Native Plants