I'm sorry to hear that. I tried growing bb tomatoes last yr, w/ little luck. I've given up trying to grow them. It could be that the tomatoes were already diseaded w/ that when you brought them home from the greenhouse, nursery or wherever you bought them from. I won't buy veg plants from the box stores like HomeDepot, etc., as I think they don't care for the plants too well at those kind of stores. We have had a lot of rain storms here in PA, also this spring, right up thru June. I am kind of wondering how well a tom plant will do that I bought, also. My cherry toms are doing great in their little container, also are my patio toms in a container. You never know from yr to yr! Good luck w/ the new ones. I'd be interested in hearing how they do. I might put one more large tom plant in my veg garden if I see something this week.

Don't apologize for what you plant. Only you know what pleases you, grows well where you grow it and cooperates with your gardening style. Some here like futzing with their roses, some don't. I know people who micro tend them unmercifully, but that's their style of gardening. I also know some (myself included) that show no mercy for any plant which requires intensive care. Whichever type you are is your business and right for you, no apologies required. They're your choice and your right to make them. Initially, Knock Out was a variety, like Iceberg, Queen Elizabeth, etc. It has been massaged into a brand like Austin, English, Carpet, etc. The initial cultivar does have superior to all other roses released prior to it, resistance to the five strains of black spot we have in this country. Its creator deliberately exposed his seedlings to all five families, strains, types, populations, whatever you choose to call them, and selected the roses which held up best, longest to all five types. This isn't to say they WON'T get spots, but it takes significantly greater disease pressure to cause them to collapse than it does any other cultivar previously created. They represent a compromise, as all improvements in anything do. The best compromise we have been offered to date. Some roses may resist spotting in some places longer than Knock Outs may, but over the long haul, Knock Outs retain much more of their foliage, longer and provide more color, longer than any other rose previously released, over the entire country. They aren't perfect, no plant is, but for the most consistent resistance to the greatest number of black spot strains, over the longest period of the growing season in the greatest number of places, Knock Out and its variants represent the best we've ever been offered. Of course many will become bored with them. Familiarity breeds contempt. See too much of anything, and you begin resenting it. Icebergs, Carpet Roses, Knock Outs, oleanders, box woods, you name it, see it everywhere and you tire of it. But, if it works... I don't doubt one of Tom's duties, if not initially, probably eventually, will involve fund raising. It's the nature of the beast, unfortunately. Betsy, I don't have the information to what extent any of the issues which have caused the collapse of our rose industry have affected other rose markets, but I would venture a guess they have. The same major issues which are killing the ARS have already killed the Royal National Rose Society in Britain. Disposable income is dwindling globally. "Leisure time" is diminishing globally. Land and water prices are skyrocketing globally. Availability of all resources is diminishing the same everywhere, greater in some places, less in others, but we're all feeling many of the same squeezes for many of the same reasons. Many fertilizers and other chemicals require petroleum for their creation and distribution and we all know that story. More and more municipalities and countries are banning the use of synthetic chemicals on ornamentals. You aren't going to grow what demands the chemicals you can't get or can't use even if you could get them. Personally, I was much more willing at $2 (and less) per gallon of gas to hop in my truck and run down to pick up a $6, 2 cu .ft. bag of potting soil or $6, 20# bag of rose food than I am at $4 - $5 a gallon for a $15 bag of soil or $20 bag of rose food. MY income certainly hasn't kept pace with those prices, and I would hazard a guess that most of the world's population's haven't, either. I'm fortunate to have area in which to garden. It isn't perfect, and much of it is too steep for my energy and abilities these days, but even if it wasn't, I used half the water last year than I did the previous year and it cost the SAME amount as I paid for the greater usage the previous year. I'm sure similar issues exist in the other markets. All of which put very similar pressures on the sales of "past time" expenses no matter what country you live in. If similar declines haven't occurred elsewhere, I'd bet they are headed for them. Kim

I don't know when the last time I have posted on GardenWeb but a search for Maskotka brought me here. I picked up a plant of Mascotka late in the season for pollen purposes. I crossed it to a number of my specialty tomato varieties including my SHADOW BOXING tomato. The three way hybrid will be grown out this fall in Hawaii to get a number of clones with F-2 seed. I should be able to get lots of container type tomatoes next season out of these F-2's. Here the fruit of Shadow Boxing with the crossing tag that indicates that Maskotka is the male parent of the F-1 seed inside the fruit. I extracted the seed earlier today. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/dbV6h5f.jpg[/IMG] http://imgur.com/dbV6h5f Tom Wagner This post was edited by tom_wagner on Fri, Aug 23, 13 at 1:28

I've been listening to that show for years because my husband is a car person. I would even listen to it when I wasn't with him because they were so funny. Both were very sharp witted and quick with the comeback. So sorry to hear of Tom's passing. I feel so bad for Ray, I'm guessing they were very close. Although with Alzheimer's, perhaps their relationship had changed. So sad.