I couldn't get the link to work for me, but did try Googling Brownell roses to see if I could find the article. Nope. But I did find this article by Dan Russo http://www.heritagerosefoundation.org/4resources/Rosa%20Mundi/3/RM3_Russo.pdf and it brought up an interesting point that we had been discussing on another thread about the fact that some roses are/were not intended to be grown on their own roots. The article states "When grown as the Brownells instructed in their catalogues, i.e., grafted on multiflora rootstock with the bud union placed several inches deep, they have indeed proven to be very long-lived, floriferous roses." Even though this has been mentioned very recently, it had not truly registered with me that a rose might actually have been designed to be grafted. Wow...sorry, but that's a mind bender for me. I'm still only gonna grow own root roses, but a serious crack in my mental fortress has been noted.... Here is a link that might be useful: Dan Russo article

Buford stated: "RRD does cause excessive red growth that last longer than normal along with soft thorny canes." H.Kuska comment: I suggest that the above be modified to: "RRD may cause excessive red growth that last longer than normal along with soft thorny canes." The reason for the modification is that both Ann Peck and others show RRD infected roses without the red color. In the Pathologist's article linked to here see the growth on the left side of the picture labeled: Leaf and flower deformation (L); Red coloration, shoot elongation and hyperthorniness (R). (note there are 2 sick branches or roses, the (L) stands for the symptoms of the branch or rose on the left, the (R) stands for the branch or rose on the right Now, with that modification there is still a problem with the "last longer than normal" part of the statement as the point is to remove the cane with symptoms or bush early before the "possibility infected" bush becomes a source of further infection in one's rose garden. --------------------------------------------- Regarding "Hyper thorniness" Ann Peck's book states: "Hyper thorniness is not a dependable indication of RRD, it does alert rosarians to be vigilant. It appears on some HTs, but sick OGRs and roses related to 'R. multiflora' may have thorns no denser than ususal. Further confusing diagnoses, many classes of old garden roses are extremely thorny and no one could look at a sick rugosa, damask, or spinossissima and declare it�s hyper thorniness to be aberrant. Likewise basal breaks on some healthy HTs appear thornier closer to the bud union, but become less thorny with increasing healthy growth. This year, I have also seen a characteristic of some roses from cold hardy breeding programs to have denser thorns near the base; these roses have a built in rodent deterrent that I had not noticed until a question from New Brunswick about the possibility of RRD in that part of Canada."

Ah, newspaper articles. This is something our county has just started at the request of the locale Lifestyles Editor for the paper. The Master Gardener coordinator asked for volunteer writers and I am one. He figured if 10 volunteers wrote 5 articles each then he could write the other two which would cover every week for a year. As with anything this has its good and bad points. The good point is it will give people experience and exposure, the bad thing is it relieves the paper from hiring someone and paying them to write gardening articles. The way it has worked so far is the coordinator has published more of his articles than any other single author. All articles are sent to the Extension office where they are edited by the coordinator and the county agent to make sure they conform to Extension rules and regulations, then they are sent to the paper for further editing. Everything goes forward. There is no feedback to the writers on how their articles are edited or even as to when and if they will appear in the paper. Not the Master Gardeners but other editors have edited my work to say "Eddie was born and bread in Georgia" I'm sure you see the error there and another editor corrected my spelling of Callaway Gardens to Calloway Gardens. Of course Callaway is correct. I have had people change crape myrtle to crepe myrtle, not that many know the difference from what I see on the Internet. I was reading one article in a newsletter and thought "Wonder who wrote that?" I was surprised to see my name on it. Thereafter I referred to that particular editor as the butcher. I sent in my quota of five articles for the year in a matter of days then when the newspaper editor decided on a whim at the last minute she wanted an article on Poinsettias for the Christmas issue I had it submitted 45 minutes later. But there is dissention among the volunteer writers simply because there is no feedback and we have asked for a meeting but none have been arranged, so as always the system may have to once again deal with attrition, at least in this small area.

Talley, Enquiring minds want to know--how do you spend that down time? You know, the time you are sitting at the kid's lessons, those 10 min. while you are waiting for the pasta water to boil? We have a regular coffee klatch going while waiting for the kids to practice Irish Dance. Everyone brings some type of handywork and it creates ways to develop friendships. The mom who sits in the corner punching her PDA makes it pretty clear she's not interested in getting to know us. Her loss. I'm not there. I'm at work. And I don't have a PDA, cell phone, etc. If I *am* there, I just talk to people, or I watch the kids. I don't DO anything. I sit there an enjoy the down time, and listen, and talk. Believe me, nobody gets a message from me that says I don't care. I sometimes bring a book, but if there are people there, I don't read it. I'm not even the one waiting for the pasta water to boil, LOL! (If I am, I'm cutting up veggies while I wait.) I'm not anti-crafting. I just see so much of it as creating something that will turn into "clutter" quite rapidly. And so I have a huge caution about it. Scrapbooking in particular sets off my alarm bells--and really less because of the clutter factor, and more because I think there's a sublimation of the important stuff--the memories--to the unimportant stuff, the embellishments and creativity of the creator. And while I admire the skill of crocheters and knitters and embroiderers, etc., very few of them produce anything I would want in my home. It's mostly too ornamental, and not practical enough. Or it reflects THEIR tastes, and not mine. (The days of my grandma embroidering a book on a pillowcase because *I* like to read are over.) And sometimes it reflects what they *THINK* my tastes and interests are, which only makes me sad to realize how little they really know about me (yes, I collect penguins, but that doesnt mean I want a penguin pillowcase). Which is why I keep my fingers crossed that no one will give stuff like that to me. I'm also tired, I confess, of having my home NOT reflect me. I want stuff *I* picked out. I don't even want to have to display stuff my KIDS made me anymore. I want a streamlined life, that pleases MY eyes, and seven pieces of lumpy kid pottery are seven pieces more than I want in my living room. And an afghan that's wonderful to sleep under, but misshapen and pieced together isn't what I want on my bed, even if Nona Rosa DID make it. (I'm sad about that particular one, bcs if she hadn't pieced it together to get it the right size, I'd use it daily instead of keeping it for a spare, bcs it's so warm, and because she DID make it for me.) As Maura said: "I cherish the one-of-a-kind items given to me (luckily not too many)." I *do* crafty stuff. I just spent the last week 1) making a dragon piñata, complete w/ pipe cleaner/tissue paper wings, plus papier-mâché head & tail; 2) finding a dragon picture to reproduce on the top of a cake; 3) making shields for all the "young knights of the realm" to decorate; 4) figuring out how to have jousting in the church fellowship hall. I steer all my creative impulses into birthdays and holidays, so that I can use up the stuff I've created. I go way overboard for Halloween costumes, spending several lunch hours scouting fabric, and discussing how to recreate Link from the Zelda video game, etc., with my kids, and with my colleagues. Also, if the act of knitting, and the creative work of picking a yarn, and a pattern, make you happier, then your craft is NOT a waste of time. But *I* don't want to have to speak in hushed tones, and treat your end product as though somehow it must be more valuable to me simply because you made it. Somebody designed and made that Pottery Barn afghan too--and it's prettier, and more to my taste!