Carol, Blackspot is a big issue down here, but not mildew, so I have no idea on DollyâÂÂs resistance to that. She is fairly resistant to whatever strain of BS we have here. I do spray most of my roses as needed, but Dolly doesnâÂÂt need it often. By midsummer the hardy hibiscus and beautyberry bush that are on either side of her have filled in to the point that I canâÂÂt easily get to anything other than the front of Dolly, so I donâÂÂt bother trying to spray her at all after that point. By end of fall, she usually has some BS down low and on inside leaves, but she doesnâÂÂt defoliate from it and it doesnâÂÂt affect her performance. You could have a different strain of BS, though, to which she is more susceptible. Here she handles our heat and humidity like a champ...I don't have the problem Henry mentions of her blowing fast. Fragrant Cloud is also very good in my garden (but must be sprayed regularly here to control BS), but IâÂÂve read posts from others who have problems with its heat tolerance and blooms blowing fast. I guess heat tolerance in a rose can vary as much as BS resistance depending on your location. Cold hardiness isn't something I have to worry about down here, so I can't comment on that at all.

Hi Carmen, I love the philosphy! It kind of reminds me of the last time I was fat! I read a book by Covert Baily (sp?) a very thin little book where he talked about just getting started with fitness. He said all you have to do is get your heart rate up for 15 minutes 6 days a week. You can only take off or skip one day. If you feel ok, he encourages you to go longer but the thing is you have to do the 15. I don't know about you but 15 minutes is very, very reasonable and I found that I always wanted to get my 15 minutes for the day over with because you never could tell how you were going to feel tomorrow! But once I actually got started (& the endorphins kicked in!!!) I found most days I could do an hour or 90 minutes easy and was always "banking" my day off for a rainy day! It was enough to get me started and motivated enough to do a marathon! I'm trying to find a copy of that book again just to boost my motivation to lose the weight again again but it is definitely true that mini-goals help so much with motivation & achieving the satisfaction of accomplishment (even if it's just for having the bathroom look clean or doing a 15 minute walk!) Thanks for sharing! I definitely am going to check it out! Maybe it will work as well as Covert did last time!

These are better than those others, but not much. The blue one will not be flattering because of the way the waist is made, but the colors good on her. One of my GDs got a great one on e-bay once, and I think girls around here started favoring the tea length dresses. That's tough walking w/ all that fabric around your ankles.

"Mine has some very pink buds right now, but they look like they didn’t appreciate our recent giant rain storm. " AHHH, now I recognize her from these pictures! Yes, she balls in the rain, and in the damp, and in the cold, and under the eaves, and in morning shade even if she gets sun the other eight to ten hours of the day. In fact she seems to ball any chance she gets. Do I sound bitter? Really, I don't mean to be, but I have her in a highly visible, prime spot and she balls. Did I mention a lot? Sigh. If anybody in TN want's a very healthily vigorous 3-4 year old bare root plant this winter--and has a nice ALL sunny spot for her--just let me know. I just can't take the heart break much longer...