A lot of gardeners don't follow the USDA guideline on curing...they just warm/dry them out. I do the high heat and some humidity by heating up a small bathroom and hanging up wet towels.....88°, 88%, and 8 days!! I have individual room heat and thermostats.

Hey Annie, Is the trip to CA still on? Gotta be, right? FWIW, I'm used to country driving/small city driving and I drove in Orange County with no trouble. (Preferred it to what I'm having to get used to in Baltimore!) Also, Laguna Beach and Crystal Cove are unbelievably gorgeous. You can escape to nature in half an hour/an hour while you're there. You'll be fine. You might even like it. 8^) Just wish I could meet you there. ~Amanda P.S. LOVE the wedding story and pictures! Michigan... Texas... apparently they're the same! Here is a link that might be useful: Irvine to Crystal Cove

Thanks for the good wishes. We all had a wonderful time. Jenna,(the bride) will have quite an adjustment to make, after the honeymoon. She's going from living on a large dairy in CA, to Chicago, IL. She spent the past year in charge of the calves on the dairy, starting at 4:30am each day, bottle and bucket feeding hundreds of them. She worked very hard, physically. I'm sure apartment living, Chicago winters, and office work will take some getting used to. I don't know who did the flowers, Diane. I'm guessing a local florist, and not a family friend, or I would have heard about it. You're right, Carol. I've never really thought about it, but roses do play a significant role in many ceremonies. I wonder how that began, and why roses in particular? Cath, that is sweet about your late MIL. I just know someone who would do that, HAD to be a special woman. The fact that your FIL was willing to stop for her to do so, tells me he's probably a sweetheart, too. He must have loved her very much. This rose in one of the arrangements reminds me of a cross between Abraham Darby and a large size Earth Angel bloom. Yes, Kristine. Here's a picture with my daughter and SIL. Lisa

I have a couple that are under rated. One is Medallion. I got my original in a body bag from KMart years ago. Of course at that time, I did not know that roses needed 6 to 8 hours of sunlight and that they should be on the East side getting morning sun. So what did I do, I planted him at my office on the west side of the building. I built a little retaining wall right up next to the building over part of the black asphalt parking and filled it with dirt.... yes a bad idea, but he doesn't seem to know it. He doesn't get sun til about 2 and when he gets it, he has to deal with the heat and reflection of afternoon sun off a white building. He is a TROOPER and puts out beautiful large blooms. Doesn't get black spot. Though I guess, I just learned he will never get to be a queen because he will never have a high center, but he will always have my heart for those huge buds and flowers..... my 2nd under rated would go to Regatta, because I have friends who shovel pruned theirs, but mine is putting out bloom after bloom..... The only thing about her is I wish I would have put her in a different spot, because she gets BIG and she has thorns.... lots of thorns, and she is right by a doorway.