Things are still very warm, another hot spring day coming tomorrow. Again, I'd rather the cool stuff, but that's OK, the sprouts are doing fine so far. The Amaranthus showed up yesterday. Hoping I can keep these going! Bonnie, Try to make sure the air is circulating around your gardens. That will improve the condition a lot. Since we raise Monarchs and other butterflies here we have gone organic as well. Also, I firmly believe that gardeners should feed the soil so as to feed the plants. The better your soil, the less pests and diseases. I make my own compost year round for the gardens. The only commercial thing I use is Organic Bone Meal. I mix it with alfalfa pellets and corn meal in a small bucket, apply to the soil around the plants, and then mulch with compost made primarily from used coffee grounds (filters included), shredded leaves, seaweed, banana peels, and grass clippings. The soil here has gone from a light brown colour to a dark rich colour in a few years and we have very few problems.

Well, I did something yesterday that could be considered uh... "eccentric". I mean, what's wrong with postponing breakfast for an hour and a half to take pics of my 2nd instar BST cats??? It seems some people think that to be strange... Oh, well. Maybe through our good examples these [odd] people can be brought to see the light... p.s: I am quickly deciding that the phrase "like herding cats" should (and does) describe multiple situations. It's amazing how hard it is to get 5 BST cats on the first inch of a finger to photograph. After yesterday's experience, I decided to compose a song to the tune of "We Three Kings". It goes something like: We 5 caterpillars of doom/ We'll annoy you greatly/ When you try to take our picture we can move very fast/ chorus:/O-oh, we will move far away/ From where you want us to be/ We'll come and annoy you greatly/ We 5 cats of doom! -Jmcat

Although most of the above are good, to me the most important lesson I've learned is that the best things in life truly are free (or at least fairly cheap). Good conversation, watching a sunrise/sunset, watching nature at its best, a snowfall on a peaceful night, waves rolling in, a sincere compliment, a hug, a pat on the back for a job well-done... An insincere thank-you is worthless. A sincere compliment is priceless. Money's nice but it's a tool, just like a drill. You don't buy a drill because you want a drill. You get one because you need a hole or drive a screw or something. Few people eat money. So many people have their priorities misaligned.

Oh, Desertgarden, the Summer Uglies are here as well, and I share your pain. That flush of May sweetness has passed. June's miserable trifecta of high heat, blasting wind and unrelieved sun has yet to be buffered by the afternoon thunderstorms of monsoon season. At least we are getting some afternoon clouds now that July has arrived. This year, I've been seeing what the garden will look like without deadheading the perennials, as Piet Oudolf would do. At least that's my excuse. I'm not sure that I like it, but it sure satisfies my lazy bone. I'm mostly in awe of photos of other people's roses (that Laguna! that Purple Lodge! that Sharifa Asma!), but the topic of this thread is what roses I'm most in awe of that *I have*. Tied for second place are Bishop's Castle and Munstead Wood. Bishop's Castle for vigorous growth and production of vast numbers of fragrant flowers. It gets a second place standing since once the heat arrives, all growth and bloom ceases. Munstead Wood for continuous growth and flower production. It gets a second place standing because flower form turns semi-double and size diminishes greatly, also because unlike other descriptions, it has barely any fragrance in my garden. But what I am most in "awe" of right now, is Bolero. After years of complaining about this rose, I discovered that my problem with it wasn't the rose, it was simply a faulty watering system. Now that I've corrected it (oh, my aching back), Bolero simply shrugs off 90-100F heat, and continues to grow and bloom, producing flowers of consistent beauty and fragrance on a compact plant. As Hoovb has mentioned, it outperforms any other white rose that I have, including Iceberg. Indeed, it is outperforming almost any other rose that I have, with Marie Pavie being the only competition in terms of production (great in production and fragrance but far down in the "awe" factor in bloom form, color, leaf form and bush). And to think, I was just a hair's breadth from removing all of my Bolero's due to "poor performance." Hopefully there will be more competition next year, once my new roses grow in. Here it is today, after temps in the upper 90's. It's supposed to be 101F today.