My great grandpa saved some old melon seeds (watermelon and cantaloupe) probably over 20-30 years ago. Having been my first year gardening (I'm 15 now.), I was rather excited to try to grow those seeds when I found them packed away in our freezer in old glass Gerber jars wrapped in orange and blue napkins. As soon as I popped the lid the smell hit me. It smelled amazing! Anyways, almost every seed has germinated, and I've got beautiful, robust melons climbing up a trellis. They're the healthiest I've ever seen actually....I also planted bush beans that I found alongside the melons, likely saved by my great grandpa at the same time as the melons. I got 100% germination and they're the healthiest bush beans in the garden. Not only were they the first to germinate, but they also have had the earliest blossoms! It's amazing if you ask me. What's exciting is that my mom has stated over and over that the melons my great grandpa grew were the best she'd ever had.

That would be a very interesting piece of information to find out about, Lynette. Remember, it was Hortico who "introduced" so many of his earlier roses in to North America, prior to obtaining any licensing from him and selling them to the US. That is why all those varieties were sold under their breeder's code names, such as AUSpat, AUStamora, etc. Once they've been introduced, there is a finite time in which to patent them and recoup any costs through royalties. Hortico jumped ahead of him by selling them so the only way he could benefit from their sales was to trademark their names so a retailer would have to pay to use those names. The roses could be sold under any other name you wanted, without paying any royalties, but if you used the trademarked names, you owed Austin royalties. I heard stories some years ago about a very "heated" face-to-face Mr. Austin reportedly had with the head of Hortico about that very subject. It would be QUITE interesting to know the back story whether Hortico's decision not to offer the newer types had anything to do with that issue, or if they simply chose not to offer the more expensive types as Pickering and others have. Kim

Karen, Thank you for helping me look! I'm looking it up right now, and... argh! It is so close! 'Elizabeth Francis Woodall' has black tips on the stamens while mine seem a brownish/orange and a EFW has a very light yellow edging to the ruffles. The rest of the coloring is dead on. Going to check out 'Broadway Pink Slippers' and... that is much pinker than mine. Thank you for the name of that daylily nursery. I'll keep looking through their dl's. What a great assortment! Alana, I love baby shops. When Gymboree opened here I was having a blast picking up little outfits for my daughter and niece. Love that girly stuff. I hope things go quickly for you in Dayhoit. Never heard of it either. Thanks be for Google, eh? It has helped me get in and out of places that were too small for most gas station maps. Hurry home and keep an eye on these thieves. Hey Vic! We have rentals here in Cleveland and Lakewood. One is our old house that we used to live in. The guys are usually late with the check and it takes a phone call or two. Once they switched to new cell phones and I did have to drive over there. Nothing like me showing up with a van full of kids to make them want to get that check there a little quicker. Want me to drive to Michigan. Shouldn't be more than a couple hours. I'll threaten them with having to babysit. That might do it. I'm sorry about what happened with Jamie's job. Ed's customers are pretty slow paying right now. I told him he better start getting some money up front. It drives me crazy when he floats the cost of materials and they take forever to pay him at the end of the job. He is finally starting to listen to me about it. Deb, I think no one wants the game to end. They all know it's over when your box gets grabbed. LOL! Does the garage sale start tomorrow? I hope you have a great turn out and the weather stays beautiful for it. Sweet Dreams! Nighty night Sassy, sweet dreams to you too.

Dirtex???? Sheesh...I've even seen at some grocery stores 'round here! Yeah...we DO tend to throw around some acronyms! Signs I've been here too long... * When one of our decorator's is visiting with a customer, I find myself thinking, "What would Funcolors do here..."? * ...if I stare at a good-lookin' Lady (SLYLY of course!), and then suddenly duck, 'cuz I think Moonshadow will throw a frypan at me... * Wondering why I felt like I had to "check-in" with my GW-friends...EVEN WHEN I WAS AT THE Maui Four-Seasons!!!! * Wonderin if I've started anyone saying "UFFDA" yet... ;-) Faron