Auteck, I've been warned against afternoon "watering" as opposed to light "misting". Which one are you doing? I will try to get some updated pictures for you. heelsfan, I just came back from columbia, SC which is only 4 hours drive from here and what a difference in climate. It has rained here twice in the last 2 months yet yesterday in SC I got thunderstormed on 8 times in one day. It was like a rain forest. That is the kind of humid coastal plain weather that puts that tropical swamp grasses into high gear and we haven't had that here and we don't normally even get that kind of weather until August. If you're having or have had that kind of hot humid weather with temps in the mid 90's and above then that really isn't what I'm having to contend with. I did see some tall fescue that actually looked like it was in excellent shape though.

We were in that part of the country late October several years ago. The state cemetery in Frankfurt (the Capital) still had roses blooming including Old Blush. North of the Ohio River, in the town of Madisonville Indiana, a historic home called Lanier House is down on the river and has a historic rose garden and a really lovely setting. In Lexington KY, if you want to see thousands of different roses, the Arboreteum across the street from the football stadium has a huge collection of all the classes of roses that will grow there. There collection of species roses is neat and the big roses are worth visiting. This could be a neat circle drive from Louisville up to Frankfurt, to Madisonville, to Lexington and then fast drive back to Louisville.

I must say all of you make me very emotional. I feel like you are all my friends, how very nice of you to give me all these compliments but if it werent for all of you, I would have bought an inappropriate dress. Let me explain a little. First we got to the derby at noon, it was cold, damp and rainy, but I felt good about our horse, my hat and outfit so I just said I was going to make the best of it. My husband was a little crabby guess it was nerves, most of the men were stressed. We were going up the elevator and as I said this sweet girl wanted to take my picture but my husband was kind of rushing me said the lady was trying to sell me something. I just ignored him. When we finally came home he went on the site and found me, I hadnt had time to view it because my kids were over and we just put our 3 yr old granddaughter to bed it was her birthday today. I'm so happy I was able to have this experience and wanted to share the excitment with anyone who wanted to be a part of it. I havent had time to download the pictures but I cant wait to show you the picture of Pete and I holding a trophy. That was truly amazing. Cant imagine if MI won the derby. He isnt hurt there is a picture in the Kentucky newpaper that shows him about 4th around the first turn and Rajiv was turning looking behind him, could have been that time he should have been looking forward. No excuses, we must move on, the best horse won. We are not sure if he will be entered into the Preakness, I'll let you know. Meanwhile hopefully I can download the pictures. The hat was beautiful! I got compliments all day long, even men came up to me, it was comfortable and different and didnt see one like it, although I must say there were many many beautiful hats, especially where I was sitting. One of the partner's wives bought one for 750.00. It was a silk overlay and fitted perfectly for her head. I was just as happy with mine, bought it for 200. Thanks again, I cant wait to show you the rest of the pictures. Oh Hi Moonshadow, of course I remember you - you helped so much with my house. Talk to all of you soon.

The secret to summer weather in Kentucky and Tennessee is altitude. The lower parts of these states can be humid and oppressively hot in July and August. However, go up in altitude and you may get night time cooling and that can make the climate bearable. The higher elevations are at the eastern part of these two states where the terrain rises to meet the mountains. The winter on the west side of Appalachia is more harsh than the eastern side and that has an effect on rhododendron. There are two distinct species of rhododendron that grow in these mountains. The western side has the species that is more winter hardy. There is a lowland section of Kentucky that is river bottoms on the south side of the Ohio river and south of Illinois and Indiana. This bottom land is extensive, maybe ten miles wide and the summer is hot and humid there. It floods often. There is a bridge crossing the Ohio R. at Henderson. The highway crosses this bridge and continues south across the bottom flats. There are tall stakes with depth markings placed periodically along the side of this road. These stakes are there to show boatmen where the road is located. The area around Bowling Green, KY and Mammoth Cave is karst landscape and has underground streams. The Corvette Museum was destroyed not long ago when a sinkhole opened under the showroom floor and swallowed the entire collection of Corvettes on that floor! I believe the collection has been largely restored. Outside interests came forward to help. The main competitive sport in Kentucky is basketball. A major crop is tobacco.