Kenneth, you are an example of strength and perseverance. God bless you and your precious little boy. Your story is one of hope and faith and remarkable accomplishment.

I'm crying over here. This is what we need more of in the world.

Kenneth, Lelan is so fortunate to have you in his life. I love that picture of him.

Kristine, what you’ve shared with Kenneth is so meaningful. I am truly moved by you both. Sheila said it all!

Last night I was in bed praying and thinking about all of the children that just need an advocate. How much difference it could make to have someone in their corner.

Kenneth, I speak for us all when I say that you are an overcomer. You have a strong spirit and whatever you have gone through has made you the kind caring man that you are becoming.

Remember " God don't make junk "

An old saying from the 70s

And now you have a bigger family than you could have ever imagined and amazingly enough we share an amazing love for beautiful gardens. That really binds us together

Awww you guys have all made me cry with your kind words . Im a softy ... Im so lucky to have Lelan - I have always loved him from the minute I got the call from DCS but I didn’t know how to love him ... my mom never was nuturing or loving so I struggled with that . Lelan taught me how to love , how to nurture and care for someone other then yourself . Lelan healed me and im forever grateful to GOD , he put us in each other’s path . Lelan’s mom also abandoned him , he’s the sweetest most caring animal lover kid . In my life time I fostered 4 other kids and it’s a sad world I stopped as I couldn’t do the back to parents and 3 months later another call that there back in the system . It started disrupting my house and Lelans life so I had to stop and it
broke my heart .

I miss Arianna & Her brother Tyrese .

Kenneth, we also adopted our youngest through foster care. She was the thirteenth baby that entered our home and we also had to stop because of the continual need for the system to put the bio parents needs above the child.

I am so happy your son found you. And so thankful you were open to growth so you could be his best parent. I often say I earned my parental stripes with my youngest. She made us open our minds and hearts that you can’t parent all children the same. Different kids and personalities have different requirements and to be a truly good parent you must be flexible.

What an incredible inspiration, you are Kenneth! I’m sure your being blessed because of your wonderful heart. I see so much bitterness in some people that they let their past destroy their future. I’m truly humbled by your words. Lelen is lucky to have you, and you him. I love hearing such wonderful outcomes. You are indeed a precious gift to the world. Kristine, I always admire the way you stepped up for Azalea. I know. How could you not? It’s still a wonderful, worthwhile sacrifice you’ve made for her.

Sara Ann,I was going to suggest the sand thing, too. I also have thick seedlings coming up everywhere. Some, I just yank out by the handful, and more “special” ones I trim off at the soil line to thin. Cutting them off makes for much less disruption to the nearby seedlings. I have used a damp toothpick for picking up tiny individual seeds. It’s a pain, but it works.

Isn’t Honey Dijon wonderful? I’m so glad some of us are lucky enough to have it. I just love the antique colors of Honey Dijon. Lisa

I wish i can hug you guys all . Kristine can tell you im always looking for positivity ... in my other group Kristines a. Member also I always put on my post (no negativity or ill block you ) I don’t allow that in my heart god has shown me his mercifulness and I’m humbled and don’t want to allow that it clouds the vision and it’s not healthy . These winter seasonal post have been such a breath of fresh air . Love reading these and talking to other rose lovers , I’m grateful I found y’all . Thanks for welcoming me .

-Frida Kahlo

Thanks for the Frida photos I've been curious to see more of what she looks like.

Brb im in trouble .

Run Kenneth run

Kenneth, I think you've outdone yourself with Frida. Yours are some of the best pics of it I've seen. I've so enjoyed having you join us so I hope you'll stick around for the long run if you can! : ))

Vapor you have no idea the magic im working . Can’t wait to share with y’all .

Looking at those two other precious children in the system was almost too much to take in this morning. Whatever they were looking forward to that day shows in their smiles. I hope and pray they have found a home and are loved. I have much admiration for those of you, oursteelers included, and others who have not spoken up, who have done your part in helping to alleviate this blight on our society.

I just called Northland and had them hold 2 more Honey Dijon bands for me. You all know I don't do yellow well. What's come over me? I love it in other people's gardens, but I just don't know how to pair it, so I steer clear. I was the same way with red until I realized it's just not that big a deal. I hope I don't mess this up.

flowers,I think so long as it's a more subdued yellow, it's easy to blend in. I was pleasantly surprised how much Molineux added to the mix. I'm currently helping a friend find a healthy yellow so hope to get some response on old threads I'm resurrecting.

More of Frida Kahlo I love her cute self .

How was ya”ll Sunday? . I pruned my M anisette and trained her real nicely . Soo clean ! I go hard on my climbers because down here in TN they take a life of there own .

Gee Kenneth, you really do trim down your climbers. Here’s my modern art masterpiece, entitled ‘Eden on Obelisk’

I pruned Mme Anisette today, too! It’s dark outside, I’ll take a pic tomorrow.

Kenneth you have overcome alot! Great job and great attitude!

Going through things right now myself! So I really enjoyed reading your post!

Wonderful photos everyone! :-)

Ben I told you I don’t play .. gives them more room to breathe and watch how beautiful it will bloom this spring . You need to prune more on a that eden !

Ben how big is that obelisk ... 64 ... 72 ... 84 ... 96 ?

@ Jim thank you !!! Life is a boomerang ! Hang in there !

S-A, I forgot to say that your granddaughter is adorable and Kenneth your son looks so sweet! Also, I posts some questions to old pots in the Antiques Forum that I'm hoping you guys can help by taking a look. Pretty please! : ))

Vap, I hope you're right about Honey D being easy to incorporate into the garden. I just saw a rose on Instagram that I thought was HD, but was, in fact, a Japanese rose, not on HMF, and the owner said she didn't know how to use yellow, but this one was easy to blend in. Kind of like Koko Loco, it's a muted shade that might take on the colors around it. Can't wait to find out.

I want honey Dijon ... why you think it will be hard to incoporate ?

Thank you Vaporvac, I appreciate that, you’re sweet!

I noticed something today on my established Beverly. It has a couple of thick canes on it. With the exception of OGR and climbers, Kordes roses are the only roses I have with those thick canes, probably 1 1/2 inches in diameter would be my guess. Before now i’ve never noticed any new growth on those really thick canes, but did today on Beverly. Is this growth healthy and will it produce blooms? This probably seems like a strange question, but this is a first. To be perfectly honest I don’t think I prune Beverly and Poseidon enough, but I’m not sure how to, they both bloom good, but all the growth, especially on Beverly has been up high. I need advice from those who are use to growing very vigorous roses!

Kenneth, I'm sure Honey D will not be hard to mix in with other roses for most people. It's just me and my weird problem with yellow.

I love zinnias!!!

Me tooo !!

Me three

Dr phill will not approve of today’s purchases .

Me 4! Some random zinnia that just showed up.

Wonderful photos!

I love zinnias too, and they’ve been fairly easy for me to grow, just haven’t done it for awhile, but plan to this year. Kenneth, you’ve got me thinking about dahlias, I looked up different varieties yesterday, there are some real beauties available! I need to not get so carried away (I already have, Lol!)

I guess it’s okay for Moms to brag, one of these days I’ll get a good current picture of my daughter, this is her senior picture. My daughter Kim is 41 now, her job is full-time wife and mother, a job she loves. And her husband is awesome. She’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

Sara ann your daughter and granddaughter are both beautiful! I bet they take after you!

I just got the 'heads up' email from David Austin that my order will be shipping soon! Yeeeaahhhhh

Thank you sultry! How exciting that you will be receiving your David Austin order soon, I will admit that this time of year I get a little envious of those of you who are in warmer zones, but only because I get anxious, but I’m really happy for you!

Why are ranunculus so expensive . In stores you can get the plain mix color but online you pay a pretty coin for those corns ... y’all know I do cut flower and rannuculus look beautiful in arragements . That’s the price of a bare root . Y’all see the struggles I go thru !!!

What do y’all think of this color ???? I was thinking for my yellow arragements and to mix with orange and yellow toned roses .

What do we think about these ? Im dogging this striking color

Ooohh. I love the Cafe Au Lait!

Wasn't there a Cafe Au Lait Dahlia that someone used to post a while back? I can't remember if it was Lisa, fragrance Nutter or pretty petals

I wish i can give y’all
Flowers !!! I love having flowers all over my home it lights up my house it makes me happy .

They were a little on the orange side, for me. I was hoping they’d be a little more coffee colored.

I got this rose in my garden he’s highly fragrant ... lilyfynch thinks it’s Thomas A Becket . And I think it is he’s smellsss soo good just looking at him I drool and he drops over just like the catalog ... thoughts ?? Lol I got him for 10 bucks . But no label but it was a david Austin gallon .

Kristine I were you serious about bein my grandmother lol your so cute !!!!!

Does it climb? it kind of also reminds me of Tess

Kenneth , Everyone needs a granny

That Thomas A Beckett is a glorious color

Aww Kristine your the cutest !!!

So what do we think about this color ?????

i love Ranunculus you guys all show grow a pot of some there the most prettiest flower next to roses . They look like mini roses in a sense

I like that color Lisa!

Wonderful photo of your daughter Sara Ann!

I hope everyone is doing well!

No updated news here yet...Sort of hanging in limbo for now...

I STARTED A NEW THREAD...

click below:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5859126/winter-is-here-seasonal-thread-part-5

Thank you everyone for making these seasonal threads such a success! :-)