Hey everyone....Thanks for all your tips and experiences... Larry....How are you? lol..You are too funny...I once almost hired a kid to water mine until he watered my fakes plastic ones too... Danielle..Congrats on that...If I meant away for a week and someone forgot to water my plants for just two days, many would croak..I've thought of having just succulents, but I can't seem to do away with my fragrant ones... Linda..Yes it has been a while..What's happening? I hope your fish made it this year..Boy it was brutal...All mine did. The water never froze because I kept it turbulent..Thanks for visiting and your ideas.. I'm sure you would do that for me. You are so kind:-))) Planto..Thank you so much..Yes, it is a bummer..It makes my heart heavy with sadness..Such a good guy and destroying his family...I hope he recovers. He loves my plants and the thought of taking care of them got him and I excited.. Purple...I am so glad you got to go away and came back to no issues...That's my plan...I hope you had a great time..You needed it I am sure.. Yes, being able to wake up and go to bed any time you want is something I have not done in years...Not to have to look at the clock is a luxery..I miss those days. I live in Northern Ma...Just on the border of N.H almost near the coast....So it can get cold here still by May which leaves me no choice except to wait until the end of May when all are safe outside. Ia m hoping to go to Florida..Far from here. I tried that stay home and relax thing and it did not work out. All I wanted to do was work on the house and more..Not good. I am talking about sleeping on a beach for days or reading a book on a chair at teh beach or by a pool, maybe Pugs house, Laurs or Patty's..lol I get up at 5 every day, run a cleaning buisiness, then work full time..Work out 4 days a week after work at 8 pm and then care for my parents about that. I also care for my home, feed the birds, cat, fish and plants...lol MIke

Annie, I'd like to hear about that Montreal garden too. Ann, it sounds like you are right about it being R. bruonii. It was definitely huge, and no blooms at all that day. Thanks for the info! Malmaison, I was surprised at how much I liked MAM, they had several specimens and they all looked great to me. One of the happiest looking plants in the garden, and a very shapely bush habit. Bon Silene was as big as an ornamental tree. It was a huge plant, perhaps the biggest tea rose I've ever seen. Nur Mahal was grown as a free-standing shrub. The plant was wider than tall, with an open habit and arching canes. I thought of a fountain when I looked at it. It is not a huge plant, and will fit nicely in my garden. Just guessing, I'd say maybe 4 ft tall and perhaps 5 ft wide. I was like a deer caught in the headlights will all these old roses around me, I'm afraid I didn't sample the fragrance on this one. A guy walking around alone in a giant rose garden in Texas could get beat up for looking like he's TOO interested, so I didn't go out of my way to stick my nose into too many blooms :-) In the book, 'The Organic Rose Garden', Liz Druitt raves about this rose's scent. MadGallica, thank you for the info on brunonii ... I am sure you are right. A person could have crawled up under it and been hidden from view it was so mushroom-like and massive. In the step garden area, I think the designer was going for a "knock-your-socks-off" view as you enter the garden from above. That would explain why they had so much of one variety in that area. It is definitely impressive from that vantage point. Valerie, I felt really fortunate to have seen that many old roses in one day at one garden. It says volumes for the city of Fort Worth to offer something like this free to their citizens. Randy

I have had great experience with Epimedium sulphureum, or Yellow Bishop's hat, being very tolerant of dry shade. It was a staple at Fearrington Village when I worked on the gardening staff there for just this type of challenging spot in the garden. The rocks will make for good mulch of a sort, believe it or not!! I also have used: -Cyclamen hederafolium (sp?) -Ajuga 'Caitlin's Giant' -Mazus japonicus -Creeping Jenny - Lysimachia nummularia both golden and green forms I have even have had regular old oregano be dry shade tolerant. -Would hellebores be too tall? They are doing just fine in my dry shade bed with so little care it is almost abusive on my part :)! The Bishop's hat has shocked me with its beauty and tolerance of all sorts of conditions. Hope this helps!! Am so envious of your rocks!!! Have a great gardening weekend! -amy

Have they all been brainwashed? Well, there's more to it that appears on the surface. Some, yes, definitely have been brainwashed, I'll agree. However, going to the tap and taking a whiff of some of the water in this area, well, the smell alone could about knock you out. And then drinking it? Well, I've had the Hershey Squirts enough from bad water so I'm a bit careful. Woof, that's not good! As far as well water being free, well, (no pun intended) I had a well put in at the cabin... far from free. And if I could have that water available to me at all times, great, but you can't compare that I can get it free at home when I'm 200 miles away and thirsty. You can get food at home cheaper but when you're away and hungry... well, you get it. I've been drinking a lot of water since long before it became fashionable. I have always liked water. When we'd eat out, I often ordered water to drink even if I had something else with it. Always had a good thirst and after getting sick of soft drinks ("pop" as we call it around here) I drank more and more water. Then the prices of soft drinks skyrocketed and I knew water was a better choice. I do splurge by buying bottled water. But I refuse to pay more than $1 for a 6 pack. Normally I want the price about 10-15¢ per 20 oz bottle (or less) and I'm willing to pay that for the convenience of leaving it in the vehicle and also the consistency so when I'm out and about I don't have to risk indigestion. I travel a lot and rather than buying single bottles or buying pop, juice, or whatever, I'm saving money when I'm out and about. I also have it with me so I don't have to buy something or search for a drinking fountain to take an aspirin or ibuprofen. I did start out buying one or two and refilling them often from my filtered water at home. But you really need to clean the bottles for sanitation purposes and I am not into that much effort for such a little return. Given the other savings, and additionally I make coffee and take a thermos with me which is a great savings so I'm satisfied. I realize water is generally a filtered municipal water. However, it's generally a municipal water that is good to start with and then filtered, so yes it is different than the average tap water. Especially different than many areas. It's also more consistent than municipalities which vary so much from area to area and even from well to well. Some cities just take the water from the local rivers. My city water has changed dramatically over the years as they put in a new well. There are big differences in water! When I go camping or something, I take a 5 gal. jug and fill it with my home tap water. Great for washing and is drinkable. But I usually take a couple gallon jugs and fill with filtered water for drinking. For that matter, when we were in the Boundary Waters, we just used lake water for drinking! Sadly, that's getting worse in latter years though. So there's always going to be the argument that it can be cheaper if you... but I since I have a large thirst, especially in the summer and know how much pop I used to go through, I'm saving big bucks by spending a few bucks. Could I save more? Maybe, but then again, I might wind up being able to sh*t through a screen door at 20 paces from drinking water that doesn't agree with me. I don't consider great discomfort to be a good tradeoff for a few pennies in savings. Like I said, I'll splurge in this area and make it up in others. I'm just upset that water drinking caught on. It did raise prices but there's still good prices if you watch for sales.