Awww....thanks everyone for the kind comments. I'm continuing to read about how to care for the roses on this board and actually recording what I need to do on my outlook calendar so that I will always know what to do every year. lol Kate, I love Salsa too....I tend to lean toward pink roses, but it's so nice to break it up with a splash of red. Thanks, Socks....I do believe I am addicted now. Hehehe Greenhaven, yes that's my hand under the C.M. I took very close up pics so that I could capture every nuance of the flower, so it may look larger than it actually is. I have the roses scattered all over the yard, I have about an acre, so that means I....ahem....have enough room for more. lol Hoovb, thanks....I think that I pruned my roses a bit too severely last February, especially the T.S. because it's growing very slowly.....I will definitely try to learn to prune so that my roses will look FULLER next year....with the exception of the Nearly Wild rose, all of the other roses are fairly small....and I may just be rushing things...they are less than a year old! Oh, the strange thing about the Tuscan rose is that it looks like the pic for about a week or more then it turns PINK!! Wonder why? Rose, thanks! I had been reading that alfalfa tea was good for roses, sounded strange to me at the time, but I thought I'd give it a try because I treasure the advice that is offered here. I was even happier when someone said just place the alfalfa pellets around the base of the rose...I truly believe that is what made the bloom and the foliage look so beautiful. Zepiris, Chuck and Artemis...thanks for the encouragement! I will soldier on!

I think you should make cuttings. It was hard for me to stop getting my large tulip hoard every fall. I had to dip them in fungicide, pack them specially and then refrigerate them in a small refrigerator I bought just for cooling bulbs. I could do 3 batches a year. One batch for the ground ( early ) one batch for pots and the last was the late season for the ground. Finally, I had to give it up. The neighbors were unhappy about it but it got to be too expensive as nothing returned and had to be purchased again every year. Now I go to Descanso for my tulip display every year. I know how exciting tulips can be. And around here, nobody plants them in any quantity. Maybe you will see a pot or two but that's all. Daffodils are more likely to stay here. Seeds don't excite me like small plants do but I know a man who is the wizard of seed starting and he's awash in wonderful rare things so I keep on trying to get better at it. It's a patience character building thing to wait on a plant from seed.

Khalid: I agree on that. I quit my job as a computer-programmer to stay home and take care of my family ... best choice ever ! I treasure every minute with my kid, since the day she was born. Lots of people advance professionally but don't take the time to mature spiritually or emotionally. Good choices guide us toward the right path which leads to heaven & eternal life. One of the book I read was a comparative study between Western vs. Eastern on marriage. The West focuses on "Love as a feeling", people get married out of "romantic-love", or "being in love", then divorce when the feeling is gone !! In contrast, Eastern countries get married on "choice", the parents choose the mate for one's son or daughter. Psychologists did a survey: those who were pre-arranged to be married end up happier and stay with each other MORE SO than those got married through feelings of "being-in-love". Why? Because they form good habits of choosing love everyday, rather than do things only when they feel like it. The minute they don't feel attracted to their spouse, they find someone else. When people base things on "feelings", they become fickle, unstable, weaker, and betray each other. Only in my 50's that I realize love is a choice, rather than a feeling. I was in "mutual-in-love" relationships when I was young .. it lasted 1 year the max, typical of "in-love" relationship ... like sweet frosting on a cake, but the cake crumbles. Love is a choice builds a solid cake, and the frosting is a by-product of the loving actions. It's stronger than "love as feelings" because the commitment lasts forever. An excerpt from below link on making choices to love our spouse better: "Love is a choice, not a feeling or an emotion. It’s a decision you make every day of your life. Even when your mate doesn’t take out the trash, or spends too much time at the mall, or when poor financial decisions set you back—you can still decide to love. Love is for better or worse. And when you choose not to love, you’ve given up and given in." http://tinybuddha.com/blog/love-is-a-choice-30-ways-to-love-in-action/ The Bible, and what Jesus taught also point to Love as a choice, rather than a feeling. “just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love.” (John 15:9) John 13:34-35 “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.” John 15:12-13 “My commandment is this—to love one another just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this—that one lays down his life for his friends.” Luke 6:27-28 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. Deuteronomy 30:19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! http://www.redeemingmarriages.com/love-is-more-than-a-feeling-its-also-a-choice/

Perhaps try to contact Maya Angelou's family/estate and make the suggestion to them. The Coretta Scott King rose was named after her family sought out a receptive hybridizer according to Paul Zimmerman: "A little background on this. I'm involved as the King Family contacted me to help them find the rose. I contacted Christian Bedard of Weeks Roses and he is the one who bred the rose. This rose was already slated to be released by Weeks in 2014 but had no name. Bernice King picked it out of photos. So this rose had already been through all of Weeks trials, tests etc. Since it did not have a name they agreed to name it after Mrs. King." http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1580418/coretta-scott-king-grandiflora