An update on 'Mercury Rising'. The sprawl turned into dense plants. At present, I didn't deadhead over the last few weeks but there are buds aplenty. Prior to that with some deadheading, it bloomed continuously for two months. Overall, an excellent plant, as advertised. Even if there were overwintering issues, I would buy it again.

Well guys, I'm more than happy to enable you all! LOL I decided to change out one of the roses on that list above. I think I'll hold off on MADAME ANISETTE. Not sure where she will go. And I'm thinking maybe she'll show up at Lowes in the spring. The one I am changing to tho is COLOR MAGIC. I lost mine several yrs ago, and got a replacement one earlier this yr from Heirloom (or was it RVR?)... anyway, it was obviously own-root. Well, it died on me the other day. I think I'd rather have it grafted. Still gotta send the order in. Then, I wanna do a small order from Hortico, seeing as how they have to replace a couple from last yr that were the wrong roses. I have to pay the shipping, so figured I'll order a few more roses.... They have a bunch of DAs that they didn't have last yr. I gotta fill in the apricot/yellow bed with a couple more... Also wanna do a small order from J&P once they get the rest of their roses added on. I really don't need any more roses... LOL but I lost a very large amount this past season so I have quite a few open spaces to fill in. We'll all have to compare our PRINCESS CHARLENEs next yr!!

Sooz, I only got a picture while it was freezing, I sent that stuff home with Ashley because it's sure not allowed on MY diet. Later, though, for some holiday or another, because I have that stash of cherries in the freezer..... OK, enough coffee and enough fiddling around, I have gardening to do while it's still only in the 80s. Tomorrow it's back above 90. It's not supposed to be above 90 here in Michigan, that's why I live here. I hate heat! Annie

I'd been looking at shower systems for months - there's a lot of info out there and a lot of different brands. Read every post and review I could find by plumbers, homeowners, designers, etc. Went to showrooms all over South Jersey. The best info and discussions I came across were on Houzz and the best resource for companies/products I found was Starcraft. Finally decided that In2Aqua was the quality and design that I wanted. Their website was so easy to use and I could create my own project list of the products and design I wanted - so easy to use!! The only time I ran into a problem was finding a showroom/dealer in the South Jersey area that I could purchase my shower system from... Here comes the part about the extraordinary customer service and support that this company and their dealers provide...So - I contacted In2Aqua directly via email. OMG - I don't even think it was a half hour before I got a response from Chris Marshall from Germany! Chris is the Managing Director of In2Aqua and opened with "Greetings from Germany!" and then got right to the point - gave me the name and contact info for their North American Manager, Greg Polkowski. But, he didn't expect me to contact Greg, he said Greg would be contacting me. And Greg did - both via email and phone! Wow, just wow. I couldn't get this kind of personal service and support when I was physically present in bath showrooms! I spoke directly with Greg, explained how I was having a problem finding the parts any where in my area for the shower system I wanted and told him I'd created a project list - he asked me to send it to him and I did - super easy via email! Within a day, Greg called me back, had reviewed the products in my list and made recommendations to change out a couple of parts and he had already contacted a dealer, Gene Goforth with Architectural Hardware Designs to get me the parts for the system. Ivan works with Gene at Architectural Hardware Designs and called me directly to say they got the info from Greg and were getting the parts I needed for the system - Gene then called and reviewed all of the parts to make sure I had everything I would need and guess what - good to go! Received EVERYTHING from Gene & Ivan about a week later - each piece in a soft bag inside it's own box (wow..) , every single part is beautifully made, heavy and of the highest quality and the price, get this, was more than a thousand dollars less than any of the other "high-end" shower systems out there - and in my reserch, I read many use chaper materials and have had some big quality issues. Here's my take on that - the business model that In2Aqua uses allows them provide the best, and I mean best quality products, at FAIR prices because they work directly with their showroom dealers - this savings is passed on to me and you and boy is that nice!! In summary: Best customer support and service I've ever received! KUDUS to this entire team: CHRIS MARSHALL, In2Aqua Managing Director - thanks for super fast response and support: to Greg Polkowski, In2Aqua North American Manger, thanks for the excellent support, time and assistance: to Gene Goforth and Ivan, thank you for the fantastic customer service, advice, the great packaging and for getting my order mailed to me so fast! This is my first post on Houzz - I read so much from others on Houzz and really appreciated the details and time people spent sharing info that I just had to give back and hope this helps others. If you are thinking about or planning on a new shower/bathroom - I cannot recommend the people and products from In2Aqua enough! Hoping that the construction and new bathroom we're putting in will be finished sometime over next few months - once it's finished, I'll update and try to post pics. Stay safe and Happy Holidays to all :)!