Hey all! I am liking this tablet but am missing a key board and mouse. I must be old fashioned, lol. I am trying to stir up a twitter hashtag for us #gwroses but I'm not sure it'll work. I hope it does I really miss the old days here. Y'all became such great friends. I do get free books with kindle, but no free rose dictionary yet...here's hoping. Florence, each day has been a struggle but my family and roses are my reason d'etre. How are you feeling???? I truly hope all is well! Rosy hugs, carlota or @HobbesCarlota on twitter.

I'm very sorry you lost your friend, Jeri is right, when ever you garden she'll be closest in your thoughts and memories will surface. Why don't you get a rose and plant it in her memory though, doesn't have to be one named for her, just her favorite color, pink was it? It'll give you pleasure to see it grow and be a living thought in her memory. Gardening and roses were my grandma's favorite activity and reason why I do it and though she's been gone well over 20 years now, I still hear her, especially when I'm out working in the roses. Leslie

Good looking tree. If you notice the flowers, they seem to have very little or none of the purple associated with Meyer flowers; that sometimes happens with quite young Meyers and those flowers without the purple rarely set fruit.

Hello, All! Hope everyone had a nice holiday season! Like Rosey, I managed to suck up all the local germs while visiting my kids and grandkids... the younger of which are walking virus factories interacting daily with all manner of other neighborhood children and schoolmates... and came home with a nasty chest cold/flu combination. The old guy and I are both sick. I'm glad for things like Vick's VapoRub and antibiotics! I'm a believer in modern pharmaceuticals, as long as I know what they contain and how they work, and whether or not there are more side effects than good effects! My grandson was full blown sick while we were there, complete with fever that makes your ears red and hot, a horrid cough from a tight chest with infection, packed sinuses, runny nose, chapped lips, the whole nine yards. It's the kind of sick that makes your skin hurt! You know you need to eat, but you can't stomach anything. We felt so bad for the poor little guy... and now that we have it, we know what a trooper he was! I'm off to a bad start with the new year... my monitor burnt up, I got sick, and to top everything off, I managed to leave my camera behind when we packed up to come home. I think I did, anyway... I can't find it. On the positive side, H. "Minerva" has kindly waited for me, and is just now starting to open her large buds! And nothing died while we were gone, meaning that my orchids hung in there with the watering I gave them before we left for Christmas. I also have a Gloriosa vine growing tall and looking to bloom, I think. I had thought the corm died in the pot, but when I gave it a small drink to moisten the medium a bit, it began to grow! It will be interesting to see if it does bloom, as it's growing in an east facing window. Nice photos, everyone! Josh, that is such a wonderful Catt! Well... trying to get caught up with reading and posting, taking my time through this cold. I sure hope no one else gets it... it's a nasty one! Talk at ya all later!