New growth -at least for a while- will all grow at the same rate and so the new stems will all look to be in sync. And that makes the new growth look "nicer" and "better". When "dead sticks happens" due to winter, I would prefer to immediately prune all the old dead looking stems, whether they are dead or not to maintain the nice look. But I do not do that sometimes because, in the case of non-rebloomers Macs, cutting the old stems could result in zero bloomage. So I live with a weird look that is not at its best of course but, at the end of June, I have enjoyed the bloomage some and so I prune to get the old stems to get them in sync. With non-rebloomers, I could have avoided all that work but I just want the bloomage so bad that I will live with shrubs with stems growing out of sync for a few months. With the rebloomers, I prune them early on to keep the nice look since I know I will get bloomage afterwards regardless. That being said, now watch me forget it to prune at the end of June. Hee hee hee. ;o)

I live in Central California Valley, and most of the shopping centers in this area, have the shelves stocked with fall merchandise, and the display windows dressed with fall and back-to-school decor by mid July. I noticed that most neighbors start to put out their fall decorations, mums, etc. the day after Labor Day. Halloween decorations are added to the fall decor during the first week of October, and sometimes even sooner. Almost everyone in the Central California Valley starts decorating for Christmas right after Thanksgiving Day. Since we don't get snow in the this area, it's really a big deal to put up elaborate holiday decorations (including fake snow)!!!

Yes vesfl, my Mary rose is nice and saturated deep pink. I believe this is because it only receives morning sun. I really like the nonstop blooming. The fragrance is actually pretty good, needmore. I just never cut any anymore, because they only last about a day or so cut. That's a real bummer, because cutting is a at least half the fun for me. I like to enjoy my blooms indoors, especially when it's too hot to be out much. My Mary Rose is VERY heavily virused, but still blooms really well. I am LOVING this cooler weather! I cannot remember it ever being like this in midAugust. I sure hope we don't get a furnace blast of heat after this, but it's likely. We are supposed to have a week of mild temps. Then September will probably bring our Santa Ana winds, heat, and fire. I dread that, but at least my water and electricity will get a break this week. Ingrid, I know what you mean. It really is always something, isn't it? Goodness, I think if everything was ever all perfect at once, I'd invite everyone I knew over for a look! I'd also make a utube video and post it here:) I don't have any raidiating heat, like you do. I know makes a big difference, plus the temp difference is substantial considering how few miles we are apart. I'm no fan of those LONG MRI's either. I've been putting it off, and it needed to be done. Yesterday I was worthless afterwards, as they had given me Valium in the IV. I've had lots of muscle spasms lately,(always worse in the summer heat) and they needed me to be still for two hours. When I came home, I was still dopey and dumb. Best not to garden like that. I'm thankful it was such a cool day, and not even the pots required water. I just watched some TV with Sebastian. Interestingly, I have found he will lay on the bed with me if I remove the comforter. Following the advice of someone here,(sorry name escapes me atm) removing the scent of Millie seems to help. He does however, continue to lose weight. I'm going to have to send him back in with my son soon. It's just so hard. In order to get the 75% discount,(which I need) he has to go to work with my son all day. Sebastian gets squeezed in for his tests or exams whenever they have time. He hates it there, and I feel terrible sending him all day long, adding to his stress. One day, he even came home without being seen at all, because they were so busy. I can't complain though, this would already have cost me thousands instead of hundreds, and I'm so grateful. The scary/confusing thing is that he has lost nearly 5lbs in 2 months. He is VERY sensitive to my health and emotions, plus Millie is bothering him. The head vet there says that amount of weight cannot be emotional. Yet, they are not finding anything. It's very troubling, and just adds to my stress, which in turn, probably adds to his. He really does stress out when I do. Sorry guys, I probably should have emailed that to Ingrid. I didn't intend to go into all that when I began. Cassandra, I'm not 100% about what I'm going to use. I know I need to do it fast, before my whole garden is affected. I don't spray or use chemicals either, but I'm going to in this barrel. I was just in no shape to have my dad stop somewhere yesterday so I could look over my options. I'll research and update it here. I know exactly what you mean about a bell going off on n your head. I have all sorts of bugs, and I complain about them, but most of the time I don't even identify them because I'm not going to do anything to them. When Jim posted pictures, I heard that same dingdong:) That's why it's never bloomed! When I looked, sure enough, the ends looked burnt and they crumbled off when I touched them. The midge can get into your whole garden and all your roses. You could have no blooms, and no new growth. Whatever we do, we need to do it fast. It's something like every 14 days the larvae hatch out of the soil and start eating and multiplying again. They can devastate an entire rose garden. Let me know what you do, too. I'm going to research and do something today. Lisa

I doubt most would wait long on purchasing something else strictly on a photo of a view, and no idea about the house. If they don't drive by to look, they are going to google whatever old street/aerial view is available. And how those images come across, is going to be their impression of your property when you do present it. Even if it has been fixed up to be fabulous, they may remember what it used to look like and wonder if the work was make-it-look-good flip, or quality. That isn't what you want them to be thinking about during a walk through. I like a good puzzle challenge. A photo sans listing address, I would try to figure out the property from the view photo features just for fun. Providing house size and details, sans address, just makes that all the easier. Not providing those details, and people will assume the odds are that the house wouldn't be the proper size, BR/BATH etc. to wait.