Location, location, location. Spotting depends upon which of the five races of black spot you have locally and which the particular rose is resistant or immune to. It's also entirely possible what you are seeing isn't "black spot" but a similar appearing disease. What spots for you is often totally clean for me and vice versa. "Disease resistance" is only applicable for the exact race of the disease you have where you are. Think of it this way, you may be immune to Russian Flu, but nearly die from Bird or Swine Flu. They're all considered "flu", but each is a different type. It's precisely the same with black spot, and there is very often a great deal of overlap between the various races in any one location, just as it often is with flu. Add weather changes, plant positioning, positive and negative cultural practices, age and maturity of the plant and you have a virtual lose-lose situation. Actually, it's to the credit of how persistent roses are that they grow as well as they do, as often as they do, in the pretty awful positions too many put them. "Full sun" could actually be a part of the problem with your roses. If that sun is extreme, they could be stressed by the intensity of the heat and light and that might actually suppress their immune systems enough to force them to contract the black spot. Just as by putting them in too little heat and light they can be forced to contract mildew, or by keeping them continually severely water stressed they can be forced to mildew; planting them against a hot wall or in the middle of a wet lawn might force them to be unhealthy. There are MANY potential causes of each performance and disease issue and they may take some thinking outside of the box to figure out. "Roses like full sun" is the urban legend plagiarized from one generation of "expert advice" to the next. Perhaps they did, in London, in the Nineteenth Century, and considering the HPs, Bourbons and other old European garden roses they grew when that advice very likely originated. They probably still do in Seattle or somewhere else cool, rainy and often foggy, but seldom where it gets HOT and the sun can be intense. A rule I often use in situating a plant is, if it is too hot for you to spend much time in that spot, it's likely to be so for the rose. Kim

Lars, thank you so much for your help! They are great suggestions! Linda C, I wrote down the ingredients for the custard as I watched it. So don't fret! Here is what I have written down. Please bear with me as I'm not used to writing recipes like this one. This may help answer further questions/concerns. 1 cup glaced fruits (she didn't say how many cherries to go on top but they looked glaced as well) 1 quart of milk 5 whole eggs plus 5 yolks 1 cup of sugar 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract Store bought pound or sponge cake (the rectangle ones) Chopped almonds (optional;to go on after it's all done) Glaze (Optional) 1/2 cup apricot jam 1 Tablespoon sugar Soak fruits in hot/boiling water for a minute to 2 minutes. Drain. Set aside. Heat milk over the stove (hers was hot enough that a skin formed on top). Break eggs and yolks into a large bowl. Beat in 1 cup sugar gradually. Then add the milk gradually. Add vanilla. Line an 8 x 8 pan (two inches high she said) with wax paper (she took the wax paper and set it against some blue paper and drew lines so there are nine servings). Lay cherries onto each square as you like (decoratively). Cut off the sides and bottom of the cake, then cut the cake into half inch slices lengthwise, then into squares. Place a square over each cherry section. Ladle custard over cake carefully. Spoon fruit over first layer evenly. Repeat until pan is filled. Place the pan into a pan of water. Water should be halfway to the custard pan. Set oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about an hour. A special note she said was to keep an eye on the water so it doesn't bubble rapidly. Rest for about 20 minutes or even overnight was better she said. Now for the glaze. Strain 1/2 cup of jam through a sieve. In a saucepan, add jam and Tablespoon of sugar. Let it boil until it gets sticky. This can be made ahead and reheated. When the custard has set, flip it onto a plate (or whatever you have that's large enough). Peel off the wax paper. Cut into slices or leave whole if desired. Brush with glaze and add almonds and serve. Whew! Julia sure knew what she was doing! Sorry for the length but this was an entire episode of The French Chef. Brad AKA Moonwolf

I was shocked when I saw her kitchen (on some forum - could have been here) for the first time a few months ago. My grandmother - born in 1904 - adored Julia Child's TV show...I have such happy memories of watching my somewhat bitter old grandma sitting close up to the TV to watch Julia Child and she'd laugh and laugh and smile and smile and take notes. She just came alive. It's only now that I realize she must have been imitating Julia Child (or maybe just that era) cause she had such a similar kitchen w/ that peg board and big table to work or eat at and so much more. Julia's kitchen makes me feel so at home I could cry! That's all those women needed - Julia and my grandmother: to be able to reach out an arm like an octopus and grab what they needed. Love it! Yes it's a bit too cluttered for my taste as well but it's a different kind of eye candy to me. :) Man I wish my local wood countertop supply stores had better samples (they sorely lack in that department and I can't make such a big commitment without it being local and without having good samples to take home)...I'd love to have that butcher block countertop look - whether the kind you cut on or not.

Yes, CindyMac, I know it's in France. The title of the thread starts with "French kitchen...... The pictures are wonderful. No small European kitchen for her! I'm pretty sure I'll never get back to France, certainly never see her French cottage kitchen. The closest I'll ever get is the exhibit at the Smithsonian. It made me smile. Ms. Child was very happy in her kitchens, and brought us a lot of joy.