CI, TZ, SdlM all growing nicely now. I think this will be a good fragrance bed. I put Lion's rose in the back to add beauty and a good leafy background even though it isn't much on scent. I think if the base gets shaded by the others, it won't get disease. There's room to the right of Abe Darby for one more big rose. I think it's going to be Evelyn. Hopefully, it will work some magic for me. This is a good morning sun spot and gets shade in the hottest times of the day. My summer is a little hotter than Hoovb's but maybe it's close enough. I'm going to hope for the best. The only downside to this location is that it will take the full force of the Santa Ana wind from across the street. We are along the Santa Ana river channel and the wind blows strongly through the gap. It seems to be shifting later than Halloween now. I used to call it the Halloween Wind.

It so happens, Kim, the Zalud House in Porterville WAS on my list to visit this past year -- oh well. But, it's definitely still on the list, so this year. -- I see they are opening up again tomorrow. The strange history of the house itself is interesting (how about those paranormal tours), but I was also interested in seeing if "Shingled Raspberry" is still there, and what else, rose-wise. Congratulations on getting Oneto Home Saffron and Lady Roberts! Is that OHS in the pot in your photo? If so, it's already large for the variety, unless Anita's been growing it for years. I got Oneto Home Saffron from Vintage as a band in 2012, so I've been growing it for 9 years now. I totally agree with what Malcolm Manners says on HMF: "This is the slowest-growing rose I've ever grown." Mine is now 3' wide and 2' tall (in the ground, just measured it) and that's after a "spurt" of growth the past year or two. Its natural smallness seems so odd for a tea -- even the relatively diminutive and demure Madame Bravy was 4 1/2 - 5' tall or so. But, it's otherwise healthy and repeats well. Maybe I should try grafting it onto Fortuniana, see what happens...LOL. Actually, it's kind of nice to have a tea that's not going for world domination, for once. Lady Roberts was on my maybe-kill-for list for years and finally I got it year-before-last -- every bloom a heart-breaker, and my favorite color.

Pete, I think that water is water, food, means food regardless of the language. If you love roses, you will have no problem admiring them. The people growing them will, like most rose growers, be glad to share. As to our own country, people to tend to isolate themselves, which is silly. My AA sponsor told me to stop watching the news as it was making me nuts (at least more nuts than I am.) I was still able to catch the big stuff like 9/11. If you are a member of a local ARS club, what is a better way of trying to get new members. Our gerontic members are slowly dying off. Bummer! Not everyone is Jack the Ripper. Last night I was riding my motorpickle home and it was wind gust city. I have a large faring on my BMW. I was stopped at a red light with the weight on my left foot. The wind blew the motorpickle over to the right. I had a knot in the end of my shoelace of my John Deere boot. The wind whipped it into the float snap of the carburetor. I went to put my right foot down and I broke the carb trying to get free and rolled over anyways. I was unable to stop the flow of gasoline out of the carburetor, so I turned off the gas at the petcock. The engine had died as I had it in first with the clutch in. I was swarmed with well wishers. The bike was "up" in no time. Fred, a stranger just driving by with his son, was towing one of those low trailers and told me he would pull off at the next drive, we loaded the bike and he took me home. He would not take any money, but I cut him some roses I still had blooming for his wife. Yes, those "Just Joey" ones I had been babying covering at night. Thank God I grow roses! Foghorn

Be cautious with the porcelain roses you buy at a thrift shop or garage sale - check the back for a trademark first! I went to a garage sale last month and bought a beautiful pale pink rose for 50 cents. Tossed it into a plastic bag with some other stuff (unwrapped) and flung it on the floor of the car. Got it home and looked on the back and it is a Boehm Peace Rose and is probably worth several hundred dollars (it was a limited run back in the eighties). As soon as I figure out how to take really clear closeups with this camera, I plan to list it on eBay. And to think, I bought it to mosaic it onto a birdhouse!