I'm gardening in an old river bed, too, Jim. I know all about it. It's naturally occurring cement with a clay layer beneath. I run it through a screen and throw away the chunks of rock sand/clay. Then I mix it with horse poop. I dig a big hole and stir in everything i can get my hands on. I gave up being an organic gardener. Now everything gets fertilizer once a year, but not Miracle Grow. I always thought Miracle Grow mutates plants, and did find a scientific explanation once, how it changes the cell structure. Anymore, though, they have cranked up the nitrogen on all the brands. I finally thought I'd check lawn fertilizer and it was the worst of all, 20 percent nitrogen or some darn thing. Here's what Botanica's Roses says about Fritz Nobis. "This is one of the most aesthetically satisfying roses ever raised, seeming to have every leaf, flower, and petal in the right place." And goes on talking about it in extremely glowing terms. It and Alchemist have been crossed with rosa eglanteria. I have Alchemist but so far the jury is out. It was a foot tall this spring, no blooms and some other northern gardeners said they didn't have good luck. I wish the Kordes company would write a book about their old roses. Which ones do you think get the least cane loss?

Congrats, Randy. I'm sure that Amber was a very proud Mama. Can you give me a count of how many eggs that you raised? Was that around April 1st? And, how many Monarchs that you have released? So that I can can let Monarch Watch know about how many second generation that you have released? I did not have near the egg laying that I've had in previous years. But, I did manage to find 6 eggs that I brought in. They are presently making their chrys. You and Marilyn take the prize this spring for the outstanding numbers of egg laying!!! Marilyn did share some of her hungry cats with me. :) I was really surprised how well the Viridis held up as cuttings. The plants that I transplanted last spring happily came up this spring! Did you have success with yours?

Eileen, That is great news! You have definitely been blessed. I know you have had hard times personally but nothing can take the place of a good bill of health. My sister-in-law has been in Stage 4 colon cancer for almost 6 years. She has recurring nodules on her lungs. They can't operate because they are too small and there are too many. Thank God, they respond to chemo and fade away. The distressing part is they come back. She has a great oncologist and a great attitude. She is a fighter for sure. You would never ever know what she is going through. This is why I know how fortunate you are. You are a hero just as she is.

Marsha, Can't really tell if those are 30s repro prints, colors are similar, but I don't think I would use 30s prints in my version of SBS. I would use medium pastels not super pale pastels. I love the border! And figured out that it is probably two 3-inch 9-patch blocks, one on top of the other consisting of HST patches, solid white patches, and 1 center square in each block. So simple, but so pretty! I may be getting the book at some point. But I'm not sure if I would make an entire bed quit, maybe a wall hanging. I would give myself lots of leeway as to how often I sew a block. And if I didn't like a certain block, I would feel free to substitute with another block. I'm usually not hung up on reproducing something exactly, but changing it a bit here and there to suit my taste and color placement. And I have a trained puppy to snoop out the Quilt Police. ;o) Teresa