Hark! I've been summoned! (How did I miss this one?! I try to come here every day like a junkie needs... well, never mind.) I'm happy to report that my footie-festooned Cox's Orange is still loaded with fat little apples with the biggest being about the size of a racquet ball. It's been very dry up here in Blue Ridge GA with a significant rain deficit and I've resorted to rigging up my old spring pump to pump water up into 275 gallon storage tanks and then letting gravity feed the wet stuff down to each of my fruit trees. I've put about 800 gallons on the Cox in two months with a circular dripper hose I made from plastic irrigation pipe. I let it drip all night but it actually only takes about three hours to completely empty the tank. The Spitz and Cox are doing fine but after reading about the cracking I'm starting to quietly panic as I write this as the rain and humidity have finally showed up in the last few days. I must go down and pull off some footies and have a look and will post any changes. My mind is already racing ahead with visions of a plastic tent and dehumidifier with maybe an air conditioner to ensure that I will get at least one frickin' apple this year! Herbert

Campanula, I'm so jealous of you & your EYES FOR YOU! Now that's a rose we need to get over here in the US! But, a really lovely "similar" rose I got from Edmunds this season that did very well for me is BULL'S EYE. Beautiful Hulthemia big-eyed blooms that change color and repeat really well. Loved it! And a new one I got from Pickering from Fryer's is JAM & JERUSALEM. Lovely apricot-y peachy blooms that repeated really well throughout the season. Kind of a shortish plant, but very lovely. Yet another one I got from Pickering is LET'S CELEBRATE, another Fryer rose. This first season it didn't do all that great, but the deer got to it a couple of times. But the blooms are going to be very interesting to watch over the next few yrs as the plant matures. It's a very interesting mauve with a white reverse, and it's supposed to get all speckly and spotty. Mine did a little bit, but, like I said the deer got to it so I only ever got the one flush on it. Plus it's in a pot in a not-so-sunny area of the yard. I think I need to move it... or just get it in the ground! And a rose I got from Vintage at the end of the season here, is PICNIC. The cute little plant arrived with two whopping blooms that lasted for weeks! I'm gonna love this one!! Oh, and one of my absolute favorites from this yr was actully one of the J&P test roses. Not sure if they will every release it, but I sure hope so. It's gorgeous!! I certainly hope someone does start selling BLUE FOR YOU again soon. You guys are missing out on a truly gorgeous and verrry "blue" rose! Got mine from Cliff before he closed up, and it's been a real stunner. It's in mostly shade. Does really well!

Thank you for the compliments! These bulbs are now inside but spent the summer months outside on the deck in full sun for 3/4 of the day. Luckily, they seem to have been overlooked by the NBF!! It appears that my leaves are shorter than some of the other pictures on this thread, I wonder why? Also, my Mylan last year had longer leaves and this year the leaves are shorter, the same as my Sprekelia. My Mylan bud opened during the night to reveal 4 flowers!! Take a look, I can't wait!! I will attempt to self at least one of these flowers if anyone is interested in seeds. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that the stem coloration is a bit mottled whereas the stem on the Sprekelia is solid red. From Amaryllis Season 2014 & 2015 Donnaâºâºâº

I am so happy to hear that you revived this bulb, Old Dutch, by doing basal plate trimming. It's been a bit of a hobbyhorse of mine, to make sure that as many amaryllis fans as possible know about the potential effects of thick basal plates. You really weren't taking much risk: the bulb was underperforming anyway, so all you had left was addressing the one thing you'd probably heard about. I don't have enough bulbs nor have been raising them for long enough, to be able to state with any authority at what point thick basal plates must be dealt with. I'm the merest amateur. All I know is that it's a real issue. I'm starting to keep actual notes on a spreadsheet now, about which of my (few, maybe only 15-18) bulbs develop such plates, when I trim them, and what the response is in terms up bulb bulk-up. No promises of a report; it'll probably be for my personal enrichment only, and even if I make mention of my observations here, it'll only be anecdotal, and may not adequately account for overall care and environment. In any case: good for you. (You might want to consider taking that flower stem off once the pedicel fully emerges from the bulb, if your intention is to bulk up the bulb instead of having it send its energy toward flowering. You don't need it to flower, right? Because you know what it is, already. Just a thought.) Joan