Thanks everyone! Enjoying all your posts..

Prayers Lisa!

Lisa, I can hardly believe your niece is already home. That's a good sign they didn't find any reason to keep her there for more poking and prodding or observation.

When I had the regular The Fairy, it was a prolific suckerer, too. I was digging those little plants up all the time. I got rid of all of them a couple years ago. Mine were the worst examples of that rose. Almost a once bloomer, almost white, almost single. Nothing like the beautiful 'real' one. It was one of my oldest, and probably the result of poor planting on my part.

Could it be that Millie's cold has her feeling not as energetic as usual? I have a couple of rice bags that I heat in the microwave and put under a blanket for Daisy to lay on. She loves the warmth. My daughter has made several for my back that have removable covers for washing, but the quick way is to just pour a tube sock about half full of rice and knot the end. Those fit nicely in a kitty bed and they can snuggle up against it.

Toolbelt, I'm with you on the alfalfa tea! I don't do it every year, but when I do, you can almost hear the roses saying Thank You! I've made the tea and also used the dry pellets scratched into the soil. The tea definitely gets faster results.

Diane, I keep coming back to that pic of Clancy in his winter sweater. So sweet. From previous pics, I didn't realize he is so much smaller than Finn. All these years, I've had their names reversed. How did they get their names?

Only 70 days until spring officially starts. We can do this!

Lisa, I was pleasantly surprised too, that your niece is already out of hospital. How strange about Sebastian and the Labrador not moving! Had a chuckle over your "Nasty Fairy'. So sorry to hear about Millie dragging her hind leg. I hope flowers is right, and it's caused by her not feeling well. And flowers, what a great, and simple idea for a heat pad.

flowers, I hadn't realised either that Finn was so much bigger than Clancy, and yes, how cute that he adores his much smaller friend.

I'm a fan of alfalfa tea too, toolbelt.

Diane, you've been quiet. Are you ok?

jc, I was very impressed by your comment about Iran. What a wealth of knowledgeable people there are on this forum. I hope your climbers take off this year.

I hope Millie feels better Lisa!

Best wishes Lisa!

Lisa, glad to hear your neice already got to come home.

The tree is likely Jatropha multifida and a nice specimen. Look at this video and see if you think that might be it.

https://youtu.be/RykIHeSVQ0w

Very interesting, Sultry.

Thank you Sultry! That’s definitely it! We’ve wondered for years. Excellent! I had a feeling you’d be the person to ask. Thanks for solving our mystery. Lisa

I love the tree and it"s awesome flowers!

Trish, it was you who inspired me to start using alfalfa tea again last year. It had been quite a while since the last time I did it, and it was the first time I brewed it myself in a large trash can. Previously, I'd purchased the Haven brand alfalfa tea bags and made it in 5 gallon buckets. That was convenient, but became too expensive as my garden grew.

It was a very beautiful and sunny 45˚F here today. Minus 2 and several days of snow is predicted in a few days, but I doubt that will happen. The small amount of snow we've had melts right away in these higher temps. It is normally hip deep and cold this time of year.

Jim, that's such a pretty soft yellow rose you posted above. Must be Campfire? I see a little pink on the lower petals.

You all are tempting me to try alfalfa tea, but I’m afraid of making my roses grow any larger. Lol

MJKJ, I have always been fascinated by the Jaropha multifida tree. I like its architectural frame, and that it’s see through quite a bit of the year. It also doesn’t grow huge. I only wish it went with the colors in my garden. I keep looking for spots where it might look alright, but every thing here is soft colored, not to mention, packed with roses and other flowers. I’ve always avoided that red/orange color like the plague, but remained intrigued by that tree. I’m so glad to finally know it’s name. I’ve noticed it can be a bit of a messy tree.

My niece is doing well. She’s at her mom’s today while hubby is back on the dairy. My sister said she hadn’t even taken a single pain pill. That sounds much better than her first surgery after the first episode.

I love your idea about the heated rice, flowers. Last winter, Millie quickly took over the seedling heat mat I was using for seeds. I need to get some more rice. I’d like one for each of us. It could very well be that her dragging hind leg is due to her upper respiratory infection. She’s starting to improve from the antibiotics already. My heart dropped the day I heard the nails of that single hide leg scratching along the wood floor. I didn’t say anything to my son, but he later brought it up himself. I had hoped it was a one time incident. It’s so hard not giving her treats when she begs, but I want that leg to hold her up for as long as possible.

Not much is blooming around here, atm. Molineux seems to be trying to open blooms constantly. The Santa Ana winds dried a few open blooms, but temps are down again with some rain coming this afternoon. I’m so impressed by the constant blooms on Molineux! I keep wanting to prune it down from its mighty 6F height, but I’m loath to lose the blooms.

PS. Diane my snapdragons from last winter are still green, but not blooming. I wonder why that is?

Hang in there Jim!

I’ll gladly trade weather with you, flowers. Only for a week or so, though! Lisa

Lisa, so good to hear your niece is doing well enough to forgo pain meds. Such a good, hopeful sign.

I'm all for the weather trade. That would be a treat for me. We can start the trade tomorrow. The weather people seem to be serious about the 7 days of snow starting in the morning, however, I will be surprised if we get much.

I also think alfalfa tea would make your roses go absolutely crazy with new growth, which you don't want, but it does produce lots and lots of blooms. If you do it, you should take time lapse photos. I've heard of cats pushing aside plant trays and curling up on the heat mats. They know what they like!

I'm going to the grocery to stock up just in case the weather service is right this time.

I’m so so far behind but wanted to come on and say hi !! I’ve been busy with the kiddos and trying to improve my little garden . I so enjoy reading those thread daily though !!

Deborah , thank you so so much for the kind words !! What a blessing your words are to me . ThanK you!!

Jim you are in my prayers everyday, and I hope to hear an amazing victory story soon !!

Please forgive me for not being able to keep up .. soon enough I’ll be able to write better ! I’m just so thankful for all of you here !!

Here’s a couple pics for you , first some clotilde soupert taken either this week or last

Lilyfinch, I've never given much thought to Clotilde Soupert until seeing your photos. I'm not sure she would like it here, but I am going to do some research. What a beautiful rose!! And, YES, I would love to pinch those cheeks and cuddle that baby boy. What a delight he is. Both your little ones always look so happy.

Flowers, that rose was Prairie Harvest a old rose I once had here....

Thank You for the prayers Lilyfinch! Thanks everyone for prayers and concerns! Appreciated!

Jennifer, I would love to pinch those sweet baby cheeks

He looks so happy.

Your Clotilde is really beautiful. Is that a recent picture?

Yes the first two photos taken last week and the last photo taken 2 days ago. We

have had cold temps at night and close to 70 daytime .. now in low 60s. It’s really prolonged the blooms and enhances the beautiful color! I bought a lovely pot for it at Home Depot.

Made my first window box , snapdragons violas , cheddar pinks, and dusty miller tucked in too. It makes me so happy!!

I need to prune my roses today but I feel a hobby lobby trip coming on instead ;)

Going back to an earlier part of our conversation -- jc_7a_MiddleTN -- I planted Koko Loco this last year because Cori Ann kept posting these gorgeous photos! I put it toward the back of my border b/c I wasn't sure I would like it, and even then I wasn't certain I wanted to *call attention* to it. then my ribbon bush kind of overtook it. So...what shall I say after having it (sort of) in my garden for a year? I like the novelty. It's a beautiful bud, it's such an odd color. The tan doesn't clash with anything (it actually looks rather nice right now with my pastel snapdragons -- chantilly peach). But I also think it could look very nice next to a hot cocoa. I haven't grown Cinco de Mayo simply because I first grew Hot Cocoa. I have found HC to be super healthy and vigorous and a great bloomer. I was so sad when gophers got to mine year before last. But I was also somewhat relieved that now I could start over with it - I had planted it next to some true reds (Love's Promise), and I did not like the combo of Hot Cocoa with the deep red at all. So, now I moved Hot Cocoa to the back of the border (it got quite tall for me in its original location) between Dee-Lish and Marmalade Skies. And I have a violet/purple salvia nearby. I figured it could be a bridge between my one orange rose and the interesting color variations of Dee-Lish. And the purple brings out different color tones, I think. Not right in front but sort of in front of Hot Cocoa I have my two Distant Drums, which have a little bit of the tan element, along with the gorgeous orchid pink color. So-- this year will be the first year (fingers crossed) that I will have all of these bushes more mature and ready to really bloom. Then I'll be able to really see how all they work together. And as I write this I think maybe I should have put Koko Loco closer to HC, but I didn't think of that then. Right now it's nearest to Love Song (I thought the lavender and buff/tan would go well together, and I think they do). I gravitate to cool colors, and I prefer the cool, deep reds (like Munstead Wood). But HC performed so well in its original location, and was, by far, the most healthy and most vigorous, and most often blooming rose -- so I became a fan. I only planted Marmalade Skies because my husband likes the bolder, more daring warm colors, and he picked that out of a catalogue. I wanted him to have one that he could love. But everytime I point out that it's "his" rose and he just nods. Oh well. All this to say -- I think KL would look good next to Cinco de Mayo. I love the buds on KL. The tan doesn't make me swoon b/c it's so beautiful, but I do like the oddity of it, and look forward to the day when I can make an interesting bouquet of KL and HC. Is that a long winded enough answer for you? ha!

The Way They Were...Love's Promise on far left, then Hot Cocoa, then another Love's Promise & a Double Delight . The gophers got both HC and DD. Didn't replant DD b/c it bloomed great in spring, but hardly at all rest of year. Still trying to get this front to look good again!

Maybe this year. You can see the true red of LP on left, but the lighter, warmer red of HC (esp. in 2nd photo), which just didn't "go" with the LP red...Hence the change. We'll see!

Add me to the list of people who can't "like" any posts. Phooey.

Lisa -- glad to hear your niece is doing well. Jim, glad you're hanging in there. Lillyfinch -- did you make your window boxes from scratch??? Lisa, we must live pretty close to each other. Getting same weather patterns. Though our rain yesterday lasted about 2 minutes and I think we got one hundredth of an inch according to evening news. Yesterday was 2 year anniversary of the debris flow that followed the tea fire (happened about one mile from here -- and all of our local roads/stores were blocked off and had no power or water for a while. I talked to one man who had 6 feet of mud in house and barely escaped it all. Now he's back in his house, but if a truck rumbles by he immediately jumps up (at all hours) to make sure the wall of mud is not headed for him.

How do I go about alfalfa tea? And, is NOT a good idea in some situations? I have more alkaline, clay-ish soil (highly amended, but still).

Deborah I had a question about something you said regarding Deelish. You said it’s “color variation”

I just planted this last year and had one dark pink rose. What kind of variations did you have or should I expect?

Thank you!

Deborah, I have alkaline clay. I just add a heaped bucketful of alfalfa chaff to a wheelie bin of water, and let it brew for 3 to 4 days. In warm weather it starts to ferment in a day or two. I stir it in daily by hand, ie, I break up any lumps and sink the chaff. It becomes easier to sink it as time goes on. I'd maybe remove Marmalade Skies and put it in a container away from sight, and see if your husband notices.

I still can not like posts...

But I have read them and enjoyed! Esp all the wonderful photos!

I still cant like anything either. My phone is a Samsung Note9 but I also cant *like* on my newer ipad. I tried on my laptop a few days ago and it didnt work. I refuse to pull out one of the old desktops to try because I hardly ever use them anymore anyways. I am almost always posting frm my phone because half the time I'm not at home when I post. Its really a bummer not to be able to like anything. I hated the *like feature when they first added it. So now that I like the * like feature they took it away. Boooo Houzzz!

Don't bother with the desktop, sultry. I use one all the time (as a guaranteed old fogy), and I still can't like anything, either. I wonder how some of us are able to use the like button, but not the rest of us. Diane

I guess we just aren't special enough lol!

I was in a physician waiting room almost 2 years ago, and picked up a magazine to occupy the time. I believe it was Time. The feature story was about social media sites, their abuse of personal information, and techniques used to keep users coming back, again and again. It might have been here that I first read the observation that we ” ... are not the customers; we are the product”.

The reason I bring this up is that I recollect it cited an authority in these matters pointing out the “ like” feature ( both the ability to “ like”, as well as to receive ”likes”) as one of the most successful techniques used by sites. To encourage regular “ checking in”. “Powerfully addicting”.

The most memorable photo in the article was of a group of teens sitting on a bench in a place like the Louvre. A famous masterpiece hanging immediately behind them. All heads down, gazing at glowing rectangles on their laps.

Well, rifis, again I tried to like your comment. I'm not really hung up on likes and never look to see who likes my comments--really. I also don't patronize the social media sites--I abhor Facebook, and think they have too much influence on our elections. Same with all the others. I guess you could consider the Rose Forum as a social media site, but not on the same all pervasive level as FB, etc. Yes, there's nothing like being in a nice restaurant, or any other place where people should be socializing with them that brung 'em, but instead all are looking at those !@#$ glowing rectangles.

Sultry, we are too special. That's the problem-ha. Diane

Trish, where the heck do you buy alfalfa chaff--especially in a big city? Alfalfa is grown on farms all over the place around here, and it's sold by the bale to cattle feeders and horse owners, but I've never seen chaff for sale in this area (not sure what it is, either, and I grew up with horses). I admire all you workaholics that make the alfalfa gruel. I draw the line on that one. I'm already a slave to those dang plants as it is. As you can tell, I am grumpy as all get out and sick of winter. It's so ugly around here, I grit my teeth when I step outside. Most of my roses don't look dormant because it hasn't been cold enough, though they are slooowly dropping their leaves all over the place. We've had a steady bit of snow that melts promptly, and the ground is a muddy swamp--in the middle of a desert......how are you doing? I can hardly stand to read about Australia's situation and the horrible loss of animal life. To cheer myself up, I will think of all of you diligently making alfalfa soup. Diane

Social media irritates me when it's overused, but it has its perks.

I am able to keep up with family and friends that I wish I could see regularly, but rarely do.

Is that a form of efficiency?

Not sure.

If my Tamora had facebook, it's status would be: called child services today. i'm still a baby and this guy constantly abuses me. i'm always thirsty and only get to see the sun for 2 hours a day.

Jc - you cracked me up - thanks! Poor tamora.

I had a procedure on my toes & was in the waiting room when I typed my previous entries. I think I was so nervous I was babbling!!! It’s been perfect weather for pruning, but I’ve been laying around, reading & looking at tv.

What i I meant by variable color on Deelish is that it’s not a “traditional“ color, and does kind of change for me as it blooms. Not as novel as koko, but not a traditional pink.

I thought i was able to like w my phone - but now I can’t tell. Definitely couldn’t on my iMac.

Thanks, Titian for both pieces of advice! Marmalade has grown on me & its toward the back of the border. Trying an alstroemeria (sp?) next to it this year...

ok - back to tv...

Like. Like. like like like like

Hi Deborah, I hope the toesies are doing well. I love your front area shown above, and am sorry about the gopher problem. Love's Promise is especially beautiful. Do you have a battle plan to use against the varmints? The thread on voles taking out a rose has lots of suggestions.

Lilyfinch, I love your white window box--I've always wanted one of those--and the cheery plantings are so refreshing to see. I'm dying for some color right now. I am amazed at how much you accomplish in your garden. Love those baby cheeks--does he like Hobby Lobby? And Clotilde is just gorgeous.

Lisa, I'm thinking of you and your niece, and hoping for a good outcome after her surgery. Has Millie recovered from that cold? Oh, I hope so. And Molineux looks fabulous--like it was spring time. I think your snaps will bloom around March. Mine are green, too, but won't bloom until late April/early May. Snaps aren't true perennials, if I'm correct, but will often live about three years max in our climate. I'm not sure about California, though. After three years, they get really woody and I pull them out. You should see the big long roots they develop. Most of my penstemon stay green unless it's unusually cold, well below zero. They bloom just a bit later than the snaps. Should I send you some of my Dara seed since it seems so eager to sprout?

Here is another rose I no longer grow, but dearly miss, Frederic Mistral. He was severely damaged in our awful winter of 2016/17, and was struggling to recover the next summer. I think part of the graft union was killed. At the end of the summer, I removed Fred. Now Twig Darby is in his place, and I'm not happy about that. Diane

Pretty roses, are you living where your roses are still blooming? If so that"s awesome!

Enjoying all the lovely pictures! Lilyfinch, I love your window box too, so pretty! Elijah is so adorable, he looks so happy!

Diane, your Frederic Mistral was the Inspiration for me wanting that one. I’m sorry that you no longer have it.

Not anything particularly great looking about my 2019 spring flush, I feel like my lack of design leaves something to be desired, but my roses are fairly healthy, so I’m pleased about that. Looking forward to rose season, as usual!

Thanks, Diane. Toesies are getting better. Husband is being very solicitous. Not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Your Frederick Mistral is like a dream! Wowza. Good thing I’m out of room & not able to dig things up right now or I’d be all over trying to make a way to grow FM right now. Speaking of diane the pusher - do you know anything about or recommend peter at freedom gardens For own root Augusta louis?

re gophers - all but one rose bush are now in 5 gallon gopher wire cages in the ground. And I regularly set traps (latest is the gopher hawk). I also had a great blue heron show up in my meadow just around thanksgiving & Christmas - neighbor said he saw the bird eat three gophers!! I guess they’re ideally built to stalk the varmints. The last year or two I’ve also had bunnies & ground squirrels wreaking havoc & eating roses & veggies. Let’s just say that the ...removal... of those was traumatic & fraught.

It's another boring, interminable winter day here. We're finally having a major snow, and it looks like the kids won't have school tomorrow. At least it's pretty and covers up the brown. I still cannot like anything, so bear with me.

Deborah, I think Fred would do very well in your garden. He's fairly cold sensitive and is basically a zone 7 and up rose, I think. I grew him for about 10 years, and he does attract some thrips. His glorious scent makes up for it (I read that his parentage by The McCartney Rose has something to do with this scent). Fred becomes a very large rose, so space is a requisite. I don't know anything about Freedom Gardens and their Augusta. But Tantau may not like them selling her unless they have a legal agreement. The name is trademarked. I think there is some variation in the quality of the plants sold by Palatine, but I won't say more than that. You certainly are taking on the gophers and other varmints, and I stand behind anything you've done. Our bunnies were not a problem. They were very small--crosses of the pygmy rabbit, which is endangered in Washington. They mainly ate grass in winter. Then the foxes arrived several years ago, and wiped the bunnies out. I was not happy about that at all. Plus the !@#$ foxes then moved on to greener pastures. At least the coyotes didn't wipe out the bunnies. We have great blue herons around here, andthey eat fish from the river, and ruin people's fish stocked ponds. I love them, though, and am glad they eat gophers. It's a wonder that any of us garden with all these challenges.

Sara Ann, your rose garden is wonderful, and you show plenty of design sense. I especially like the roses growing against your house. Most the time, in a small garden, all you can do is just fit things in, and not worry much about color clashes and a design. But it still works out just fine. Nature does much of the designing. Thanks for your comments on Fred. I would love to grow him again. Diane

Augusta in previous years. The first photo is an extreme close up. Diane

These pictures make me SO excited for Augusta L!!!!!

Diane, your Augusta Luise is so beautiful! Sure enjoy seeing those pictures. We had probably not more than about two inches of snow. It started Friday night into early yesterday morning. It never got above freezing yesterday, but began rapidly warming up today, the snow has already disappeared. We’re supposed to have mild weather for the next few days. Sometimes I think a big snow that would hang around for awhile would be beneficial, that’s very rare here, I’m not used to it. Thank you, I appreciate those kind words about my roses. I had almost the exact varieties of roses I wanted in the big bed and they did pretty good through about 2015, then a few of them started growing backwards, so I keep replacing them. Most of the ones planted along the front of my house seem to be hanging in there. The roses shown are less than half of the roses I have.

Here‘s one that I hope gets with it next year. I’ve seen pictures of this one in full bloom that look so gorgeous!

CRAZY LOVE

Photos and posts are popping up randomly, but, Diane, I want to let you know that I am wishing I had ordered about 2 dozen Augusta Luise bushes after seeing the photos you posted.

Sara Ann, I mistakenly thought your Crazy Love photos were more Augusta Luise. It is an excellent substitute for anyone who can't get Augusta. Now, I'm wishing I'd ordered more it that one, too.

Sara Ann, I'm thinking whoever hybridized Crazy Love had Augusta in mind. They look a lot alike. Yours is beautiful. What do you think of CL? I'd like to try growing it, but I need space! Is it very large and how big are the blooms? Love it! Our so called big snow, stopped way sooner than predicted--of course, it may start up again. It's melting like crazy, of course. But Jemma made an igloo and posed inside it with her legs sticking out. We got photos which will be an update of the 2016 igloo pic that I've bored everyone with every year since. Diane

Thank you flowers and Diane. Diane, so far my Crazy Love has grown to a little over 3 feet tall and about 2 feet wide, pretty narrow so far. The blooms are between 3 - 3 1/2 inches, a nice size. I’ve blamed a lot of 2019 rose issues on our over abundance of rain. Several of my roses that hadn’t done a lot after the first flush and through most of the summer began doing good during late summer and early fall, and Crazy Love was one of them. I do think it has also gone through some transplant shock too, first year it was in a pot, 2018 was put in the ground, hopefully it’s adjusted by now.

Flowers, I wish I had a couple of more Augusta myself. I guess Tim Kordes was the hybridizer of Crazy Love, and of course, they won't reveal its parentage. That seems very common now, but wasn't years ago. What kind of weather are you having? I was hoping for Jemma's sake there would be a snow day, but it surely doesn't look like it. But snow is predicted all week. And local predictions are not overly accurate when it comes to snow around here. I hope to post more photos of cats, snow, and Clare's art later tonight, and in the coming week. I'm getting even for all the cute kid pics that have been posted lately. Sign me, competitive Grandma--hahaha. Diane

Being a Kordes, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best for my Crazy Love. Kordes are iffy here. I was thinking it was from Weeks. Mine is a band, planted last year, and didn't do a single thing until fall when it put on some new growth, but no blooms. Pretty sure it'll stay small.

I'm looking forward to the new igloo. I'd rather see Jemma's face, but her legs will have to do. I love seeing Clare's work any time you can post some. Your snow photos are always interesting with that expansive view beyond your garden, and yes! more Clancy and Finn.

We have 2 days worth of snow on the ground. The predictions change by the minute. Supposed to be 8 days of snow, and lows have been upped from 2˚ below to 12˚ above. Warmer temps forecast for next week. Now, the fear is the dreaded freeze/thaw cycle.

Sara Ann, I've seen some pics on HMF of Crazy Love that would not prompt me to buy it. If mine doesn't have the Sara Ann appeal, it's leaving the premises.

Flowers, I agree that Sara Ann's Crazy Love pics are the best on HMF, which I just checked. It seems like the people on the Roses Forum grow much nicer and better photographed roses than the average we see on HMF. I like an honest photo, so I trust HMF to show what a rose will look like in a typical garden, not some photoshopped thing on the seller's website. I do see some wonderful roses grown by Eastern Europeans and Russians. Those guys know their roses. I always think of Russia as so cold and inhospitable, and unconducive to rose growing, but that's not the case at all. Well, back to finish up cooking dinner. Diane

Fantastic photos everyone and great posts! Truly enjoyed them all! :-)

Crazy weather here...Try 60 degrees yesterday and today...woooo weeee sweatin in January...lol

I STARTED A NEW THREAD...

click below

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5850906/winter-is-here-seasonal-thread-part-3