I'm getting my first flush now. They should start opening the end of this week. I'm not happy about the bud sizes of some plants. I believe it due to that long dry spell we had

I'm very new to roses, but what I've been told is that the rose puts out new growth once the roots get established enough to support itself. Someone who's more helpful will chime in. I had the same concerns, but turns out on top of that, I was letting my canes dry out. (Newbie Ignorance)If yours aren't drying out, I don't see a reason to worry. :) P.s. My 'Dick Clark' is REALLY bushy and growing like crazy, where my 'Distant Drums' Has a few canes, putting out blooms, but has a long way at being a shrubby plant.

That IS a fabulous price, I'd also stock up. Here I only find crab legs, frozen, and they're always about $10 a pound. As for the lemon brownies, here's that recipe originally posted by Marilyn. I double the lemon juice because I like an intense lemon flavor and I add 1/2 tsp of baking powder because Ashley likes them a bit lighter and less dense. The baking powder does give them more of a cake like texture and less dense than brownies, so it depends on the texture you're looking for: Lemon Brownies 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter; room temperature 4 eggs Juice from 1/2 lemon Zest from 1 lemon 1 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Additional lemon zest for garnish Preheat oven to 350°. Line the bottom only of a 9X13X2-inch baking dish with Parchment paper and spray with Pam. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt; add butter. Stir together eggs, juice from 1/2 lemon and zest from 1 lemon; stir into batter and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. When brownies are cool prepare glaze by stirring together powdered sugar and 2 tablespoon lemon juice; drizzle over brownies and sprinkle with additional lemon zest. These are really good too, originally posted by Carol (dishesdone): Lemon Custard Cakes Unsalted butter, room temperature, for custard cups 3 large eggs, separated 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 to 3 teaspoons grated lemon zest (1 lemon) 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon salt Confectioners sugar, for dusting Preheat oven to 350°. Set a kettle of water to boil. Butter six 6-ounce custard cups and place in a dish towel-lined baking dish or roasting pan. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until light; whisk in flour. Gradually whisk in lemon juice, then milk and zest. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Add to lemon batter and fold in gently with a whisk (batter will be quite liquid). Divide batter among prepared custard cups; place baking dish in oven and fill with boiling water to reach halfway up sides of cups. Bake until puffed and lightly browned (but pudding is still visible in bottom), 20 to 25 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners sugar. from Everyday Food It all sounds delicious, from the crab to the lemon dessert, yum. Annie

I think Patty your winters in Illinois may even beat our winters in Wisconsin with the cold. I've always used collars around my bushes and filled with initially soil, then the last number of years--leftover cedar mulch that was laying around my 12 bushes. I have one David Austin all by itself further back in the yard protected by a garage. That I just dumped mulch around it and patted it down. That one (Pat Austin) never enthralled me anyway--long spindly blooms that bowed over and didn't last & not many of them either. Sad to say, it wouldn't break my heart if it died. The other bushes are a mixed bunch. When we bought our home over 22 years ago, it came with about 13 bushes lining the South side of our brick home. I knew nothing about roses, but thought they were lovely and tried to glean as much as I could about roses over the years. Many of the original 13 died over the years, but I have some bushes still doing well from before we bought our home--maybe about 4 bushes. Some are probably about 10-15 years old, and others are newer. I planted a Dick Clark last beginning of June that bloomed and bloomed and bloomed--gorgeous tons of blooms. Also a Love Song that took its time blooming, but had a lot of gorgeous purply lavender blooms. The people who planted the original bushes I don't think knew all that much about roses because they planted them almost against the house. Being a novice, I did know they loved water, but did my watering in early-mid afternoon so I wouldn't encourage mold & blackspot. I used soaker hoses. I then learned by our contractor--have beautiful roses and ruin our basement or compromise. Again they never should have been planted almost touching the house. I now water when it is hot out, and when we don't get much rain. They do fine with that schedule. I also stopped putting topsoil (which someone told me to do) in the rose collars in the winters for protection. What started happening is the soil started to form a slight hill and was sloping downwards. I now use strictly the old cedar mulch to fill the collars with some healthy dried leaves.