WTG, Claire! Good bird mother. That's a happy thrush. Glad your power stayed on. What a relief. I can't answer nhbabs's curiosity about why we Southerners only see Hermit Thrushes in the winter, but after checking my 'Thrushes' folder, yup, all the pictures are in winter. They must summer in NH and winter in the flatlands, I guess. Today is the first time I was able to capture a RB Woodpecker twice in flight after leaving the suet cage. Downloaded a free copy of GIMP, (a free rendition of Photoshop) and tried to superimpose the two pictures. I need practice, but here it is: Jane This post was edited by corunum on Tue, Jan 27, 15 at 16:29

I still have a couple of plants hanging in there. I have been getting a few here and there, and that should continue for at least the next week, or two. This year I did a few new to me plants. I had an awesome year this year, and hope that next year will be be as good. The ones that will be getting planted again are as follows. 1 Cherokee Purple It is a returning favorite. Good production. Awesome taste. I have a nice stash of seeds for them to make sure I have enough to start next year. 2 Steak Sandwich. Production was great considering fruit were pretty large. Most were around a pound. One plant gave me well over 50 pounds of tomatoes. Flavor was very good. (Not the best. Though very good.) Fruit were a nice pinkish, near to reddish purple color.) I made sure to pick up as many seed packs as they had left on the Burpee rack. Seeds hit the shelves here a few weeks too late for my liking for pepper, and tomatoes at least. 3. Bush Goliath will be returning. Bang for the buck it is the one on top. 4. Black Prince. I get a lot of tomatoes that ripen fast. Then I pull the plants. They do not take hot weather well. Though by the time I take them out they have given enough to justify the space. When I pull them. I plant a melon vine where it was. 5. 4th of July Sure they are small. The vines get big, and long, So I make sure they get a large cage. When the other plants quit due to heat. They kept on keeping on. I am still getting more of them every day. 6. Jubilee will return. The fruit are pretty. Fairly large. Taste when raw is not that great. Though when cooked they have good flavor. Also they surpass anything you will get in the grocery store for taste. That is enough for tonight I will try to get a chance to post more when I get the time. Nate

I haven't had Teas for that long but they are definitely amongst my best roses. In my hot, humid climate (10b), my favourites so far are: 1. Rosette Delizy - I think this one is my best rose overall. I love the growth and sheer number of blooms. I don't have any problems with balling and they only burn a little on very hot days, which doesn't really matter to me as there are new blooms opening all the time. No disease and fast growing. The blooms don't nod and last ages in a vase for me. 2. General Gallieni - I don't think many people love this rose but it's imperfection is the key to its beauty for me. You never know what you will get! I love the look of the blooms on hot days, where they look like they have been painted with watercolours. Doesn't ball or burn at all for me. Took this pic not long after it arrived as a tiny spindly bare root a few months ago, now it's 5ft high and rising! 3. G Nabonnand - some days it's my favourite but the blooms aren't as tough as the others so it suffers a little in the heat. Beautiful leafy shrub though and always in bloom, like everyone says. I think it has nice perfume too. 4. Duchess de Brabant - I didn't like this one much to start with but it's growing on me! Love the perfume and the number of blooms. Gets a bit of black spot here but nothing serious. 5. Climbing Devoniensis - wow, what a climber! It's my most vigorous climber by far. Actually I'm a little scared of it. My favourite perfume from all the Teas. Also gets a little black spot here. 6. Anna Olivier - mine is still young but it's graceful and has soft full blooms. No disease, not as fast growing as others but it's slowly making a nice full shrub. 7. Baronne Henriette de Snoy - not 100% sure about the growth and how the bush will shape up, it's a bit branching and angular and sparsely foliated at the moment. I'm hoping it will improve. Love the full pretty blooms though. 8. Reve d'Or - I don't even own it yet but I love it! It's on order! I've admired the mature bushes at the rose garden for ages, I can't wait to find a spot for it. 9. Lady Mary Fitzwilliam - sneaking this early HT in as it grows like all my other Teas - vigorous, leafy and healthy. I guess I can't be sure the rose I have is Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, given the contention, but I think it could be. Never balls, never burns. 10. Mrs B R Cant - wasn't too impressed with this one until I fell in love with the reverse of the blooms! So pretty (and huge!) She is sprawling at the moment and may get too big for her spot. Not as floriferous as others for me but very good blooms for picking. 11. Souv de Pierre Notting - here this rose loves the heat. The hotter, the better. I don't have a problem with the brown ruff of outer petals unless it rains. Last very well in the vase and an interesting shape. Love the tinge of pink to the golden blooms. Healthy but a little less vigorous than others I have. 12. Marie van Houtte - I adore this rose but it's a monster! Beautiful blooms that I prefer to most other pink/yellow combinations. Nice tea perfume too but it's getting too big for its spot sadly. Should be higher up my list, I just forgot about it. Ones that haven't impressed are Monsieur Tillier (blooms fry instantly and are tiny, so disappointed with this one), Francis Dubreuil (likewise), the imposter Noella Nabonnand (floppy wet rag blooms here that don't last) and White Maman Cochet (balling a bit, slow growing for me, not many blooms so far). I've ordered loads for next year so I'm sure my list will change! I'll be adding Mrs Dudley Cross, Tipsy Imperial Concubine, La Vesuve, Comtesse Riza du Parc (whatever it really is - Dr Grill? Mme Charles?), Souv de Therese Lovet, Souv d'un Ami, Mme Jules Gravereaux, Triomphe du Luxembourg, Etoile de Lyon, Archduke Charles, Duchess d'Auerstadt, Marachal Niel, Octavius Weld and Lady Roberts. Now I just have to make more room! A Tea I'd love to add one day is David's Dilemma.

Barb, Thanks! I thought I was hardening them off by leaving them outdoors but I don't think I moved them into full sun enough. I put them in our courtyard under a tree and then moved them into a more filtered sun area with only morning and evening direct sun but not heat of the day. I was worried the roots would cook in the pots. I do have lawn chairs on a few of the more hard hit ones. The Chuckles have been in the ground a few weeks and seem to have problems when we get a lot of dry wind. I increased the amount of water going to them so hopefully that will also help. But maybe I am drowning them? Who knows. I will research each of the roses you mentioned and really appreciate the suggestions. Mordon Sunset was on my short list of potential adds but is out of stock from High Country Roses right now. Probably for the best that I test the bed for a year to make sure roses do well there. Do you have full bush pictures of your Morden Sunset and how big does it get here? Also how old is it? Right now I planted one Pretty Pink Lady and 2 Sally Holmes. The 2 Sally Holmes are on the back side and the Pretty Pink Lady is on the front. There is a ton of square footage in the middle. I also don't have a good layout yet because I did not clear it completely so have to work around a few things.