That's great to hear Sara! May your roses keep blooming!

My roses and blooms have been already "harvested" and in bouquets for the last week or two. Things have been just too iffy here with temps all over the place, and I've enjoyed the bouquets so much. Some years I forget to do the bouquets, and I regret it. I still have quite a few annuals and perennials blooming, including hollyhocks, verbena, snapdragons, nasturtiums, alyssum, penstemon, rudbeckia, Rozanne geranium, and others, but some things are over, or had quit blooming before mild frost hit. Hope those buds open, seil. Diane

Yikes, I meant Sara! You have to forgive me. I just turned 70 yesterday, and I'm still shock. Diane

Hope you get some more blooms, Sara. The last ones of Fall and the first ones of Spring are always the most precious.

My roses, especially my teas (the precious fools. If only they knew what was coming!) are still blooming their silly heads off. We're three weeks past our average first frost date, still without frost, and I have IMPATIENS in bloom! This is the latest I can ever recall being frost free. Usually by this time I'm throwing sheets over the camellias to protect them, lol. But we're looking down the gun barrel: it's supposed to be in the 30's next Saturday and Sunday mornings.

John

Happy Birthday for yesterday, Diane.

Sara, I hope you are able to harvest your roses before the cold really sets in.

Melodye.

Thanks, Oz. I had a lovely day.

John, impatiens, no less. Your frost date must be about the same as ours, which we passed several weeks ago. We have had a few light frosts in the last couple of days, that took out hot peppers and morning glory. I did tear out veggies and basil to get it over with. Diane

Sara-Ann, I hope all those blooms get a chance to open for you. That would be quite a farewell to the season. Make sure to take some pics for us.

Happy belated birthday Diane!

Mb

Hope it stays away from you for a while. We had it in Oct. and this morning was a sea of white. Finished off the rest of the daylilies.

Thanks, Mb. I'm adjusting to the decade change...

Patty, sea of white? As in snow? Or frost? I guess at this point it doesn't matter so much, unless you do the shoveling. Sorry about the daylilies. It's sort of a slow slide into winter with the weather picking off things one by one. I don't think the plants mind, but we do. Diane

Well, good for you, Jim. Your plant looks pretty good, too. I think the frost was just fooling (it will be back, unfortunately). Diane

Thank you everyone! Diane hope you had a Happy Birthday!

Diane, a bit off topic, but happy belated Birthday! Sounds like you made it a special day, just as you are special too. Congrats on a wonderful milestone in your life. I wish you many, many more!

Happy Birthday Diane!!! :-) 70 is the new 50!!! Be wild!!!!!!

Happy birthday Diane, twas a sea of white thick frost. Not far behind you on the birthdays so thank heavens I still do my own shoveling. DH gets the front and I do the back. Another frosted landscape this morning and the darned Alyssum is still looking great.

A very happy and wonderful but belated birthday, Diane. You don't sound 70 and probably don't look it, either. It's only a number and therefore meaningless. I think we gardeners stay young longer anyway.

Patty, you have alyssum??? Mine quit at around June. Location, location. On the other hand, I'll probably still have roses blooming at Christmas, which is a good thing after our everlasting and brutal summer when nothing bloomed.

Thank you all so much for the happy birthday wishes. You are such "uppers" for me. And I, too, am still digging all my planting holes--just dreading this spring when so much needs to be transplanted. And, yes, I still have alyssum, too. It's one of the last to go, Ingrid. Southern Cal is probably on a different alyssum "schedule" than up here. But it should reseed a lot for you, though. Diane

PS--I truly believe we gardeners do stay a bit younger (or I want to believe it). We have the emotional respite of working in the garden, the extra exercise, and most of all, the faith that the garden will be even better next year. There is always something to look forward to. Diane

Happy belated birthday Diane!

Thanks, Jim. I'm still working on some fancy chocolates and a big batch of spicy pecans that my daughter made. Groan. Diane

I've only just read this thread... so a very belated happy birthday Diane! Hope you stay healthy and strong and beautiful like your Julia Childs. :)

Thanks, fragrancenutter, and I hope to continue enjoying the beautiful photos of your roses. Diane