Since you are new to growing roses, and to gardening in general, I recommend you talk to a consulting rosarian in your area. There is really no substitute for in-person advice and experience from a local rose grower. There is never a charge for talking to a CR, and many of us make housecalls ... in fact, we love to meet and help new rose gardeners to try to keep them on the right track. The link to the CR directory for the Penn Jersey District is below. (A consulting rosarian is just a volunteer who has taken training and is sanctioned by the American Rose Society to offer advice on their behalf. We're out there to help ... that's why we became CRs in the first place.) As far as pruning, don't do it on these roses in the winter. Wait until March. Blooming forsythia is the usual cue that it's time to prune ... but pruning isn't always necessary. That's where the CR advice comes into play, again. A quick hands-on lesson, whether it's at your place or a rose society pruning workshop (most local rose societies do this in the spring) will get you off to a great start. Connie Here is a link that might be useful: Penn Jersey District Consulting Rosarians

Please forgive me if this takes the thread terribly off topic. But I hope you'll allow me to share Robinson Jeffers' poem anticipating his own end. He too had his ashes spread in the rose-garden of his home on the Carmel point. Tor House is a magic spot BTW. Jeffers was a poet of such astonishing greatness that it almost incomprehensible to me that, outside a devoted following, this giant of American poetry is today largely unknown. Sad really. Lost poets. Lost roses. How and why do we lose our culture? Bill (who doesn't mean to be "depressing") Inscription for a Gravestone I am not dead, I have only become inhuman: That is to say, Undressed myself of laughable prides and infirmities, But not as a man Undresses to creep into bed, but like an athlete Stripping for the race. The delicate ravel of nerves that made me a measurer Of certain fictions Called good and evil; that made me contract with pain And expand with pleasure; Fussily adjusted like a little electroscope: That's gone, it is true; (I never miss it; if the universe does, How easily replaced!) But all the rest is heightened, widened, set free. I admired the beauty While I was human, now I am part of the beauty. I wander in the air, Being mostly gas and water, and flow in the ocean; Touch you and Asia At the same moment; have a hand in the sunrises And the glow of this grass. I left the light precipitate of ashes to earth For a love-token. Here is a link that might be useful: Tor House Foundation

Hello Violet Lovers: As President and Webmaster of The American Violet Society http://americanvioletsociety.org, I have been supporting the continued existence of our society's website, largely at my own expense, over the past several years. Not a big deal, as the site gets a free ride on my personally contracted web server. The site has been stale over the last couple of years, prior to Tom's efforts in providing the material for New Cultivars. That can be seen at the link below. We are in the need of self starting and finishing people, to take responsible positions in the society. I am competent as an organizer and organizational lead, but I am totally incompetent in almost any area of responsibility. In particular, I am not a treasurer nor do I consider myself an extensive violet expert, beyond some level of expertise in rudimentary taxonomy. As a result, we are currently in a situation, where even when we receive donations, we have no way to accept them or process them. We don't even have a bank account! Even more important than money, WE NEED NEW MATERIAL for the web site. That brings me to another issue. I have noticed that not only is The American Violet Society largely dormant, but that it appears that "the other society" The Violet Society at: http://www.sweetviolets.com/SWEETVIOLETS/index.html is in an even more comatose state. In particular, it appears that their entire, very valuable Violet Journal, is no longer on the web. That is very sad. Over the years, I have approached members of The Violet Society, to try to get them to collaborate and pool resources, to extend the reach of both societies, but alas, I was continually rebuffed. Now, upon discovering the loss of their journal, I have tried every email address listed in their remaining site, but received error messages back from all of them. If anyone knows how to contact any of their remaining administration, please let me know. For those of you wishing to contact me, the addresses shown elsewhere in this forum are all out of date, due to excessive pornographic spam. You can reach me at: presidentXXXXXXX@amerianvioletsociety.org where the Xs should be replaced with the letters of my family's name. Alternately, continue to exchange with Tom, as most of you "know" him already. I am hoping to hold another Violet Field Event in the spring of 2009. If we find enough interest. That's all for now. I will try to stay more in touch Sweet Violets To All Gary W. Sherwin, President, Webmaster The American Violet Society http://americanvioletsociety.org Here is a link that might be useful: New Viola Cultivars

Oh, I am so very sad to hear of Colleen McCullough's passing. Several decades ago I read The Thorn Birds and enjoyed it. Little did I know what awaited her readers - several years ago I discovered her 7-volume Masters of Rome series and loved those books! She simply overwhelms with her knowledge of the Roman Republic and her research ability and her talent for inventive plots that make her characters live. One could travel in Italy for a year with only her books as guides! She had a btilliant mind. What a loss. Now I've put aside the reading that I think I should be reading (Joan Didion, Rebecca West, some serious non-fiction) and am enjoying Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Taking a break from John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series, which do sometimes venture into the creepy, but he has some delicious plots. Before that I liked J.A. Jance, both Beau Beaumont in Seattle and Sheriff Brady in Arizona. Although Jance isn't the greatest writer, Beaumont is my favorite detective. Mary52 - Both my DS1 and my exH recommeded The Golem and the Jinni; it's waiting in my TBR pile. When I told DS1 that I was reading the amazon reviews of the book, he yelled over the phone "Don't say another word! Don't tell me anything!" LOL; that's when I decided to buy it.