newdawn1895 - Not only in the downtown areas, but the art district and the Riverview districts are all undergoing fabulous transformations. Chattanooga is such a neat town. I wish I had taken a photograph of my sons street. The avenue was absolutely beautiful! Most of the houses and yards were well kept, and the flowering trees were gorgeous hanging over the street. :) golddust - First of all, I wanted to tell you how much I love your dog. What a cutie! Secondly...what a tub! I love large old tubs like the claw-foot that my son has. I asked the guys if either had taken a bath and they answered "no" because they were using the tub as a storage place for their bathroom supplies. Now that we have provided a space saver tower over the toilet, the tub is now free for bathing. LOL You are so lucky to have many of the original features, like the built-ins. Your kitchen appliances are tops! I would love to know the date that my son's place was built, and also the history. Guess I'll have to ask the owners.

Various things can affect pollination......not just the availability or presence of active pollinators :-) Late winter/spring freezes when the blossom buds are forming is one of the most common. Some trees are alternate year bearers as well. Lack of suitable choices for cross pollination is another factor. If local pollinators are not apparent when your trees are blooming (and all other factors are considered), then look into orchard mason bees. These are very early appearing pollinators, typically active well before honey and bumble bees are on the scene and are extremely docile and easy to raise in home gardens.

I never read the original thread in September. Maybe I was banned in that period. We've been watching a lot of Netflix in the last few weeks since TV programming is all reruns. We watched both seasons of The Crown which we loved and both seasons of the Kominsky Method. Also loved it, but tonight we were looking for an hour-long show before bed. So I remembered the recent mention of this here and we watched it. I liked it a lot and can't wait to watch all eight episodes. Great acting. I'll have to google this and find out details.

Alana, your pics look like others I've seen of Ville de Lyon. It's really beautiful. I have one I bought as a bare root in a bag at Walmart a year or two ago. It hasn't bloomed yet but I'm really looking forward to it. From what I read it's very vigorous. At least I hope it's Ville de Lyon ...they called it " City of Lyon." Same color bloom on the package. Niobe is one I had some years ago and it seemed much darker...a very deep, burgundy red. Have a new one coming in from Brushwood soon. Your picture is beautiful, Gardengal.