Something that bothers me in particular to this situation of mowing into the neighbor's property, is how so many people have a lawn service now. Those lawn services (at least in my perspective) don't show any regard for others properties. The yards here where I live are relatively small, yet they all use huge ride on mowers. The lawn service guy is typically a lone male having his own small business, while another might have two other guys there so, again, they created a small business with their own work ethics. I don't know what governs them and speculate they just make up their own rules. The city ordinance allows them to begin at 8 a.m. and in other area's it might be 7:30 a.m.. Here, the services across the street and next door, both sides, all arrive first thing in the morning, roaring loudly, and many times there's 4 or 5 different services arround at once! The riding mowers and the powerful blowers produce noise that is so loud, it's frightening and drowns out phone call conversations. So if the services arrive on a work day when you have a conference call, it's never good. Eagerly, I await when these loud mowers will be against the rules and outlawed. I've been reading how California is headed that route... YAY! I get why they look for fast ways to mow, but realistically, these lawns are not big enough to justify riding mowers. The one service is out there now, it's just him, so he spends over an hour mowing and blowing with professional equipment! We (neighbor and I) have side fencing. The riding mower can't get into small spaces or some around landscaping, so he just mows 4 feet, even 5 feet into my yard so he doesn't have to do any of her yard by hand. He mows so far in that he's mowed over 3 of my sprinkler heads, which are far enough away from the property line to not mow, but he seems to care none. I've gently spoken with him. He blows her yard leaves up against my home side and side fence, creating a large mound. This also happens on the opposite side of my property by another lawn service. Their services cause my property to appear to be a total of at least 8 feet less wide, at times 10 feet. They mow so low they scalp the grass, and, because of the wood fencing, it's visible they've mowed plenty over the property lines. The sad part is the lawn services do it for their mowing conveniences, so it says they have no respect for my property as long as they can more easily do their jobs for the neighbors, yet the neighbors don't ever mention it to say how sorry they are, or that they're trying to remedy it. To add insult to injury, the one neighbor has been burning pinion wood in her patio chiminera that is placed so closely to my yard and blows downwind, that my home often reeks of the burning wood. The smoke fills my yard and the smell permeates into my home. She is too close in proximity to be doing that wood burning. My home will reek like it's on fire, which I used to think it was in the walls. We are not neighbors at odds, so there's nothing going on there. She burns so much pinion wood that I wear a cloth mask to sleep in because my throat has become scratchy, and now I cough a good bit, which I suspect is due to the wood burning. My sinuses seem to be highly irritated by the smoke. My bedroom is in close proximity to her patio. I'm not far from age 70, own my home and have lived here over 25 years. Her inconsiderate styles are becoming such a pain that infringe on my life, and I'm afraid the laws don't care about me in any of these situations.

Thats close Jackie but CHAENOMELES speciosa Iwai Nishiki blooms early spring to late Spring and this has flowers in October and the reproductive parts are different. Are there any flowering Quinces which bloom in the Fall? Seems like everyone knows what its not and not what it is. LOL Patrick

I almost planted my White Pet last night after watering, but by then it was nearly dark and I'm such a slow poke. Maybe I will start by mixing the amendments in a bucket and placing some gypsum in the bottom of the hole first. Then the actual planting will go faster. Also I seem to only have size "Ginormous" gopher cages left, and only a medium size hole. There's always some obstacle/ excuse. I thought maybe my new purchase of these solar powered, beeping, vibrating stakes was effective at keeping them away. I installed them in February and yesterday I saw a fresh gopher mound. Some say the stakes work, other say they're a total waste of money. I couldn't dig up and cage everything that was already planted, and the stakes are nontoxic so I was willing to try. I still believe they have helped some. I've had far less gopher activity than most years, but this time of year is the real test. It's hot and dry out and they smell the water in my yard. If you water, they will come..... Millie went to see her Dr. yesterday and all is well. She is adapting to having only one rear leg, and she's strengthening it. For now all is well. She had another round of shots, so she is not quite as spunky today. A cuddle mood, is what she's in today. Ingrid, I hope your Tea rose pulls through. Is it Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux? I sure hope she holds on. Is Mme. Franziska Kruger the one potted on the bench? need a break. To be continued I'm back. I heard some commotion and after doing a kitty count, realized Dexter was involved in something. He had cornered a squirrel. This is the first squirrel I have ever seen in my garden. I put all my little hunters inside, and Mr. Squirrel left, cussing up a storm as he went. I hope he was scared enough not to come back to my yard. My tomatoes are just ripening! Back to the roses. I don't know which one you planted and which one is waiting Ingrid, but I hope it's ok. The black canes don't sound so good. Does spraying with water help the canes in this situation? I planted a Lady Ash(aka Dixieland Linda) about 6? weeks ago, in full sun. I finagled an atrocity of a sun block for her, but she's still unhappy. Maybe she's embarrassed:) Lady Ash is supposed to be a strong girl, related or sport to "Aloha", which I know you have, Ingrid. She has no black canes, but no growth, and tiny pale leaves. She just looks bad.I keep telling her, " Hold on Lady! It's not always like this here. Your gonna love it 9 months of the year". I'm not sure if I'm saying this for her benefit or mine. Gdinieontario, wow 18 years! Looks great. WP must handle some cold winters quite well. Does yours bloom in flushes, or always some blooming during the season? I'm so eager to get mine planted out. You may wish us a short mild summer, and we will wish you a short mild winter in return. Lisa PS. I see that your Blue hosta has also lasted at least 10 years. Nice!

It's not like armillaria is the reason behind every fallen tree or decaying log found in the forest!! Many are the result of completely natural and nonpathogenic causes. If you suspect or detect armillaria, then use the proper judgment and avoid but otherwise............ akamaine, as I'm sure you know depending on type, a 15' rhody could be a pretty mature specimen anywhere :-) Sure we have lot of mature ones here that size and much larger........but just as many that won't ever reach that size! Decaying wood assisted or not :-)