Hi Everyone! I have a new flower to share. Now some may say they're not real inviting, at least not the fragrance, but she sure is pretty! Just bloomed this morning. I need to find out which one it is now. lol! I've been waiting since mid Nov. for it to bloom. :) It's only about 3" across. A nice little one. :) Nancy~ Hubby and I both love the new photos of Max. Boy does he look comfy in his little blanket, and clothes. LOL! and I thought mine were spoiled! lol! Jodi~ Our grasshoppers can get a little mean, just like the mantis, so they eat what they want! LOL!! Hi To everyone else, I need to run! JoJo

I feel your pain. I always lost gorgeous dahlias each year myself until I found a product through Gardener's Supply Company. They sell tomato and vegetable ladders (one is tall, one is shorter). See the link below. They sell them in groups of 5. Your hubby has to realize that you must have some staking system with dahlias, but I know where he's coming from. I always felt that it looked like a graveyard in my beds until the plants grew up. These ladders were the least obnoxious and most sturdy that I've yet to find. This was my first year with them and I can't recommend them highly enough. You can weave the plants through them as they grow or tie them onto the cage easily. These ladders are so much more stable than stakes or the usual tomato cages because of the way they are designed. The Achilles' heal of most staking systems is that the plant is a lot heavier than the stake that is used to support it - which is why they fall over. Not true with these ladders - they are substantial. Once you push them into the ground, they don't move. Plus the green coloring blends right into the plants; and you can attach your plant tags easily to the frame. I can only grow 10-12 dahlias in my yard, so for me they are worth the one-time investment. For people that grow more, it would probably be too expensive - it really depends on how many you need. We've had some large wind and rain storms recently and they have not budged. They're good with any plant that needs support, not just dahlias or vegetables, so they have multiple uses. I used one to grow a clematis against my birdfeeder pole and one for a morning glory vine, and you know how big and heavy those can get. Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato and Vegetable Ladders

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Debra, Thanks for your comment on my UFO seedling. That gives me a little more confidence to hang on to it at least one more year. Rita, Siloma Cinderella is one of the few DLs that give me re-bloom in this harsh climate. But only if we get lots of rain in Aug. and Sept. (which happened last year.) This year, well, only time will tell. Tom, Thanks for your comment on my "Greenthroat" I wouldn't mind seeing a whole clump of that one in a few years! Jean & Jan, Priscilla's Dream is one of my favorites, because of the 'geometric' patterned EZ. But she's not the best increaser, and not a real high bud count. Have to be patient with that one! Kathy, Judge Roy Bean was planted last year, and bloomed a short distance off the ground, with very small petals. I wasn't impressed until this year when it shot up to a height of about 40", and a bloom size of 9"! hosenemesis, Gee, maybe I should register that one (Greenthroat) in a few years! Thanks again, all, Julie

Mantis, you are right! On the last set the first has a wrong color of the eye, not as purple of course, so the cell phone got it right, it's just not as bright, and more pink like my old camera captured. None of this added warmness, yellowness. My Yoke is Easy No.1 is right. I should have chosen something else to compare though. Yeah cell phone pics are crisp and detailed, i just do not understand this need for vividness and enhanced colors. My flowers as pale as they are are beautiful to me. I did read in one review that f/ something matters, but not sure what it is and how to change. The camera was overexposing and underexposing, too difficult to get a nice pic. It shouldn't be like this. Yes of course I was waiting for the green light. Kate, thanks! She is our senior kitty and she sleeps a lot. Your phone takes very nice pictures! They look very natural to me. Oh even a quick resizing and tagging that's nice. How interesting that your brother said so. I actually played with a portrait mode on the phone, I like the background blurred but it makes the file size significantly bigger, like from 2MB to 10. Still couldn't get a natural color )) Used to have a Noid just like this! It was pretty. Thanks Brad! That's a nice return policy. I resize in Win10 Photos app. I just need to go one by one, and after the latest unexpected and unavoidable Windows update our laptop got so slow, so that's why it takes forever, Other than that it resizes them to a pretty good size.