They are perfection. I don't know how you do it when our weather is so awful right now. Diane

I didn't see any ash...but then I have a hole in the center of my vision in one eye. LOL And my eyes twitch. :)

Your Touch of Class is, well, classy. :) It's wonderful!!! They're all great!

Your Touch of Class is fabulous .

We have so much smoke today .that you can taste it.

They are fabulous!! I love your Bill Warriner, you've had some amazing pictures of him to share this summer!!

Thank you for your kind words everyone! I will post more pictures in just a sec.

Intrigue

Tiffany

Peace

Bing Crosby

Iceberg

Not sure about the name of this one. It smells just like jasmine.

Marmalade taking a catnap by the pumpkin patch. He looks like a little pumpkin himself : ).

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

damask_rose : )

Awww...I love the name Marmalade for an orange ticked cat! What a cute kitty!!

What do you think about your Bing Crosby rose? Oh, I see ash on your Peace rose! I was thinking, "ash?? What ash??" LOL That's a lovely, lovely, lovely Peace bloom!!!!! Oh my!!!

In the first Intrigue picture...is the rose on the top left an Intrigue bloom too? Love!!!

Mmmm....lovely roses!!

Thank you so much @rosecanadian!

Marmalade really seems to like the pumpkin patch for some reason. When the pumpkin plants were just sprouts he managed to squeeze through the fence and started running around and playing in there, and nearly trampled them! We put the fence there for the very purpose of keeping him from trampling the sprouts. Cat logic, go figure. The forbidden is always more desirable : ). Since the pumpkins grew and filled up the space, he is now content to just sleep next to the patch...and trample my winter flower garden instead. With a face like that, I can't help but forgive him though. He's just too darn cute. And he knows it too...and uses it to his advantage. He's very spoiled. <3 =^..^=

Haha, I was thinking the same thing after I posted the photos. I thought "Where'd the ash go?! I know it was there a minute ago!" : ) My phone camera blurred out the ash on most of the roses, so it only showed up in the pictures of a few of the near-white roses lol. The pictures of Bill Warriner, Touch of Class, and the first picture of Purple Tiger I took the day before the ash started coming down heavily.

The Bing Crosby roses came with the house when my parents bought it. They are really nice roses, and they are named after one of my favorite actors from the 50s : ). The blooms are a beautiful scarlet-red color, and they have the perfect form. Both Bing Crosby and Touch of Class would make good show roses. The blooms are also heat-tolerant and last well in a vase. The bushes are very vigorous and healthy and they bloom a lot. When all of my other roses are taking a break from blooming after the spring flush, I can always count on good old Bing to be blooming away. The fragrance of the blooms is moderate, but really nice. This rose has two major flaws though. The blooms break off in strong winds. This is the only rose that does this for me. It doesn't have weak necks, but if it gets really windy the blooms will just snap and fall. If you live in an area that gets strong winds, I wouldn't recommend this rose. Also, it is really, really thorny. Even more thorny than my OGRs. My Bing Crosby roses are the thorniest roses I have. Other than that, they are really nice. I have some more pictures of them from the spring, I will see if I can find them and post them later today.

In the first Intrigue picture, the bloom on the top left is also an Intrigue bloom, and the pink blooms in the back are from Tiffany. Intrigue's blooms start out as a deep reddish-purple, and then they fade to be more purplish than red.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

damask_rose : )

Damask_rose - yes, I did have a wonderful day! I hope you did too. :)

As to Bing Crosby...I would never find it in a million years...plus...we get a LOT of really strong winds...so now I won't pine after it. :)

Marmalade likes the feeling of new growth under his paddies.

Damask, I'm following Carol around the forum. I just love your photos of the pumpkin vines and dear Marmalade. He's got character and a great name. I'm partial to any cat that is part or all orange (or red as they call Persians that color). My Finn boy is all orangish. I grew pumpkins for years, and my young granddaughters and daughter loved them. We covered the porch steps and all down the sidewalk with Nana's pumpkins. Then the deer problem got worse and those varmints started leaving teeth marks and damage all over the fruits. With that and the neighbors growing trees casting more shade on the punkin patch, I was forced to retire from pumpkin growing, and I miss it. Boring cukes are just not the same, and they have been a distaster this year. I agree that there is something attractive in cuke and pumpkin patches. Our cats pester the small cuke plants, too, and I have to protect them until they are bigger. Diane

Hey Diane - long time no "see." LOL I grew a pumpkin once...and the vines went everywhere...it was really cool!

Thank you @rosecanadian! My day has been pretty good : ). The air quality has improved and I can finally see blue sky! I can't wait for the first rains to wash the ash off everything.

Bing Crosby is a nice rose but the thorns and easily wind-snapped blossoms are real dealbreakers. It is an older rose, so perhaps there are new and improved roses in the same color category.

Haha, Marmalade likes to get his paws into whatever he's not supposed to : ). He's abandoned the cushioned bed we got him and now prefers to sleep on the patio furniture cushion.

Thank you @Diane Brakefield!

What a beautiful memory! I hope that one day my pumpkin patch will grow to be as plentiful as yours. I think I planted it a bit late, on the last day of July instead of in early July, so I'm not sure if they'll be ready by Halloween. They're mini pumpkins so I'm hoping that they'll ripen faster. When I was a kid my uncle planted a big pumpkin patch at the farm. That Halloween we couldn't go trick-or-treating because of the swine flu pandemic, so he woke up before the break of dawn and hung candy bars on all the fruit trees and hid some among the pumpkins for me and my sister to find. It was one of the best Halloweens we ever had.

I love growing cukes and pumpkins and other vining plants. I love their curly tendrils! They're so beautiful. I have to agree, there's just something special about growing pumpkins rather than cukes. I'm so sorry that you've had to retire from pumpkin growing because of the deer and the shade. I have a similar problem here with the gigantic redwoods and other trees behind our house, and with the squirrels eating all our fruit and gnawing on the pumpkins. Have you tried vertical pumpkin growing? It would have to be done with mini pumpkins, but perhaps you could plant them and have them grow up a trellis or an arch so the deer wouldn't be able to reach them and so you could fit them into a small sunny spot.

Finn sounds like such a sweet kitty! I absolutely love orange cats! And cats in general <3 =^..^=. Ever since I was a kid I thought that if I had to choose a cat based on color, it would be an orange cat. It's kind of funny how we acquired Marmalade. Actually he acquired us. He just showed up one day and never left. I saw him sitting under our mulberry tree one day, and we went to the store and came back and he was still there, and I went to sleep and woke up and he was still there in the same exact spot. I asked my mom if we could feed him so we went to the store and got him some cat food, and he's been with us every day since. He used to be feral, but after two and half years he finally let us pet him, and now he's been with us for 3 years. I had been praying for a cat of my own for 10 years prior. He's a little blessing. I call him my angel with a tail, because he's sweet yet mischievous : ).

Sorry for the long post, I have been rambling again.

I hope you have a lovely evening everyone,

damask_rose : )

Ooh, more yummy Marmalade of the cat kind. I loved your rambling post, and the story of how Marmalade adopted you. You were chosen, and so are very special. How old do you think Marmalade is? I am currently growing the awful cukes on trellises which I've been doing successfully for years. But the last two years have had cuke problems, particularly with the pandemic, and I couldn't get the right plants. The seeds I used were disappointing, too. My other trellises are being used as barricades around my bird feeders (not a classy look) to ward off deer, and it has worked. I have one super dooper bird feeder that is deer proof, squirrel proof, and quail proof. It really saved me this year. I hope you end up with lots of mini pumpkins. I loved your story about your uncle and the candy bars in fruit trees. I would like that for myself. Here's a pic of Clancy, an old frail kitty being warmed by his large, chubby friend, Finn. Diane

Damask_rose - what a cute pumpkin/Hallowe'en story about your uncle!! Well done, uncle! Ooooh!!! I love that picture of Marmalade!! Orange cats are supposed to be the most friendly of cat colors....not that colors are friendly. LOL

Diane - ohhhhhh!!!!! That almost made me cry...and I'm not a crier. How adorable!!

Haha, thanks @Diane Brakefield! I feel very lucky to be chosen by Marmalade. He's one special little guy. I'm not quite sure how old he is. I don't think he's very old, but I don't think he's very young either. My guess is that he's somewhere between 4 and 7, but I'm not entirely sure if that's correct.

I'm so sorry about the cukes not doing well. I have tried growing many different varieties of cucumbers, but my favorites are the lemon cucumbers. They are very prolific and have a sweet, crisp flavor. I let a few get really ripe and collect the seeds to plant next year. What is your favorite variety?

I could use one of those super dooper bird feeders : ). I can't have any bird feeders other than the hummingbird one because the squirrels eat everything and anything they can get their claws on. I hate squirrels so much! There used to not be that many, but a few years ago they had a population explosion and now they're ravaging the garden. Marmalade chases them away every once in a while when he feels like it, but mostly he just watches them and then goes back to sleep.

Thank you for your kind wishes! I can see some small green pumpkins growing along the vines. I can't wait 'til they're ripe! I'm so excited for Halloween! We started decorating today. The only sad thing is that there will be no trick-or-treaters this year, but hopefully it will still be lots of fun.

That picture of Clancy and Finn is too cute for words! What sweet kitties! I want to rub Finn's fluffy belly! <3 =^..^=

Thank you @rosecanadian! Hopefully we will be able to go to the farm and visit my uncle this weekend. I can't wait!

Marmalade is kind of a shy guy. He gets friendly when he's hungry lol. Every day he gets a little bit friendlier. We still can't carry him yet, but he loves to be petted and itched under his chin and behind his ears, and he's started coming up to us to be petted. I can't wait for the day when he's comfortable staying inside.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

damask_rose : )

Sure had a nice day today...wonderful weather - 20C/68F...perfect!

That is wonderful! The weather has improved over here too. We got some brief morning rain yesterday! It washed the ash off the roses and the smoke out of the sky. Thank God, we really needed it. I hope it helped the firefighters some. I took a picture of a Rio Samba bloom covered in raindrops yesterday morning. I love the way roses look after the rain. She looks like a princess adorned with glittering jewels.

Damask_rose - Oh that is the best news!!! Rain!!! And I agree...really hope it helped the firefighters.

Beautiful Rio Samba rose!!! Those colors!!!

damask_rose, I loved your long post. They're such lovely stories about your uncle, and Marmalade. How extraordinary that Marmalade sat in that spot for so long. I think he must have known he'd come to a good place.

On the pumpkin note, I thought I had a pumpkin vine a few years ago, that must have started from the compost, but it turned out to be rockmelons. Had them for a couple of years.

Diane, I'm glad little Clancy has Finn to snuggle up to. And that you've created a sooper dooper bird feeder!

Our much anticipated rain appears to be a bust nut the smoke has cleared enough to open up the windows

I am on the waiting list for Bill Warriner at Rogue valley roses. I sure hope they come through. I have a perfect place

What a beautiful rose Damask

Thanks for sharing your beautiful roses

Kristine - I sure hope you get rain! We could use it too...1/4" since the end of July. But we don't have fires, etc. So it's not necessary that we have rain.

Damask, your Rio Samba is just stunning perfection. What a photo, and the moisture does indeed enhance the rose. The kitties thank you. They spend a lot of time sleeping in that funny circle, though Finn is more active when they go outside. I found a poor vole that had his appointment with doom yesterday, via Finn. Just thinking of all the damage voles can do makes me appreciate kitties. On the outside, they may be cute and fuzzy, but inside they have a small heart of a tiger. I hope you get some nice orange pumpkins from the little green ones. I like them in all colors. My special bird feeder was given to me by my kids. There is a heavy round cage that surrounds a tube feeder where the seed goes. It has a heavy metal double lid, and we hang the whole thing from a sturdy long metal hook. I haven't had a single animal get into it, and I've seen squirrels try in total frustration-hahaha. The deer don't even try. Say "hi" to marmalade from me.

Trish, how interesting about the rockin' pumpkins (that's a bad joke). But what are rockmelons? Our neighbor has some nice zinnias growing that came out of his compost pile, and he's never grown zinnias. So where did the seeds come from? Birds, I'm sure. I got a couple of small sunflowers from bird planted seeds. And the birds know exactly how to peck the sunflower centers out. Very smart creatures.

Kristine, I'm sorry your rain wasn't much, but glad the smoke is better. All evening and night we've had wind that's blowing the smoke out. We're supposed to have some Idaho "rain" spit tomorrow. We'll see about that. Diane

Thank you @rosecanadian! Rio Samba is one of my favorites! Although I do have about a half a million favorites lol. I hope you get rain too!

Thank you @titian1 10b Sydney! I'm so happy you enjoyed the stories! I just got back from seeing my uncle at the farm today. It is the peak of the pepper-picking season and he has been busy harvesting peppers for customers. It is a special type of Assyrian pepper from Iran. After a long day of pepper-picking we sat together outside and reminisced about old times. I wish we could go the farm more often. With all the weekend homework I get it's a struggle to find time to go.

I can't believe how Marmalade came to live with us. He's a little blessing <3 =^..^=. Although he is very picky ; ). We've tried giving him 10 different types of cat food, but he only eats Fancy Feast wet food, chicken or fish flavor lol. He's got plenty of cattitude ; ).

At first I wasn't sure what rock melons were, and then I looked it up and realized they are what we call cantaloupes in the US. That's so cool, I didn't know there was a different name for cantaloupe in Australia. The only one I had heard about was aubergine vs eggplant. I love the surprise seedlings that come out of the compost pile. One time I got a tomatillo plant, which we hadn't grown or bought from the store and buried. I'm guessing the seed came from the birds. They are really good roasted made into salsa with some avocados.

Thank you @Kristine LeGault 8a pnw! I'm so happy your enjoying the pictures! My garden isn't half as lovely as yours! I'm so sorry about the rain. I will be praying for some rain to come your way. I hope Bill Warriner blooms beautifully for you! I wish it was more widely available, it is a great little rose.

Thank you @Diane Brakefield! Finn and Clancy are the cutest little sweethearts ever! It is so true about cats being cute and fuzzy on the outside, but having the heart of a tiger : ). Haha, many creatures have had their appointment with doom scheduled by Marmalade. He likes to leave little gifts by my doorstep to surprise me in the morning lol. It's not the gift but the thought that counts ; ).

The pumpkin patch is coming along pretty nicely. I harvested the seeds from the decorative squash and pumpkins I bought last year from Safeway. They are growing slowly but steadily. I can't wait!

That bird feeder sounds super dooper! Haha, I would do anything to get back at those pesky squirrels.

Marmalade says Hello! Give my best to Clancy and Finn! <3 =^..^=

Thank you @Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal! Marmalade thanks you too! You are absolutely correct, Marmalade was part of a TNR program before he made his way to us. I agree that it is a much better alternative to euthanization. I think they should make euthanization illegal unless the cat is really sick or dying. What a sweet story! He sure did come to a good home. What is his name? He is such a good-natured cat to become friendly in 6 months. It took forever for Marmalade to become comfortable with us petting him. I'm so happy that he is finally allowing us to! Give my best to your kitty! <3 =^..^=

Have a lovely evening everyone!

damask_rose : )

Stephanie - that's really interesting about feral cats and the ear notch.

Damask and Stephanie - you both have a loth of patience to tame feral cats. Well done!

Damask, we had two little gifts today--a tiny mouse, which I felt bad about and a huge vole, which I didn't feel so bad about. Your post reminded me I was supposed to dispose of the larger gift. I hate those tasks. We've been doing lots of pepper harvesting around here, too. I grow hot peppers for my son in law and also for cooking. This year we tried some Japanese peppers (not hot) that are the "in" thing with foodies. They're like small green bell peppers and turn red when ripe. They are lightly grilled with sesame oil, soy sauce, and other seasonings, and are great for snacks and appetizers. I've never had so many harvests of those peppers from just two plants in big pots.

Carol, in case you aren't hungry yet, we had a big cucumber sandwich pig out for dinner. They are labor intensive because you have to cut out dozens of little bread circles (special little cutter for this), spread a delicious cream cheese filling on each little circle, and top with a slice of cucumber, which has had a bit of a soaking in vinegar/water. We went through dozens of sandwiches, washed down with hot tea. Yum. Diane

Oh, now my stomach is growling and is complaining MUST HAVE CUCUMER SANDWICH CIRCLES!! LOL Instead it's getting Fiber 1 cereal. LOL

Oh boy do cucumber sandwiches sound delicious!.

Thanks @rosecanadian! It takes forever for Marmalade to reach a milestone. When we first met him he used to walk in slow motion when he was around us. It was so funny. I looked it up one time and found out that this was to show that he was just passing through and didn't want to cause any trouble. It took a month or so for him just to walk normal speed around us lol.

Mmmm, you're making me hungry @Diane Brakefield! Grilled Japanese peppers and cucumber sandwiches, yum! I've had cucumber sandwiches before but I have never tried soaking them in vinegar. Sounds so good! I'm off to go make one : ).

Damask, slice up the cukes first and soak them in a solution of 1:2, vinegar:water. If you like a more vinegary taste, just soak them longer than 30 or so minues. If you want the easy filling recipe, let me know. I grew up eating "limped" cukes soaked in this solution. Love reading about slow walkin' Marmalade. Diane

Damask - I didn't know about the slow walk. I do know about the slow blink...means I love you...Jackson Galaxy (cat guy on t.v.) said that.

Damask, I see my comment disappeared. But I get lots of slow blinks from my "step son", Finn. I totally agree with what Carol said. Diane

I would love if you could give me the filling recipe @Diane Brakefield! Awww, Finn is such a little sweetheart! <3 =^..^= I get lots of slow blinks from Marmalade as well. I call them "kitty kisses."

@rosecanadian, I love watching "My Cat from Hell." Jackson Galaxy is awesome!

Damask, I didn't realize there was this thread of your roses. Where have I been?!

Your kitty is so pretty. Feral cats can turn out to be the best pets. My grandson fostered 3 feral kittens when he lived with us for school, and kept one. She has been his constant companion through school here, then in Boston, and now in Michigan. She is used to a lot of travel back and forth to his home in SoCal and adapts well to different environments. I hope your little punkin will come inside and love the warmth and comfort of being out of the elements.

Now, the roses! OMGracious! You have some great ones. Is your Intrigue a good bloomer? Bing Crosby looks like a big bloom and such a vibrant color. You should enter that pic of Rio Samba in a photo contest. It's stunning!!!

Diane, your pic of Clancy and Finn make me even more sure Daisy should have had a friend all these years. I still love the photo of Finn and Clancy together in their window hammock best.

Thank you so much @flowersaremusic z5 Eastern WA!

Marmalade is blushing from your sweet compliments : ). This winter I hope he will get used to sleeping inside. He has a plush cat bed to sleep in, but on some winter nights the temperature goes down into the 30s and I get worried about him.

Daisy is such a cute name for a cat! She sounds like such a sweet kitty! <3 =^..^= It is so wonderful that she is comfortable traveling. That's a hard quality to find in a cat. Marmalade doesn't even like to travel from one end of the backyard to the other ; ). Give my best to Daisy!

Intrigue is an excellent bloomer and has a great fragrance too. The blossoms are a beautiful red-purple color and have a velvety quality to them.

Thank you for your kind words! Have a wonderful evening,

damask_rose : )

Diane - do you slow blink back at him? :) Cats are such beautiful creatures!!

Damask_rose - yeah, he's amazing!! If I had a cat, I'd drive my husband crazy with wanting to "cattify" everything! LOL

Hi Carol, yes, I'm up and waiting for some wash to dry. So, as usual, I'm following you around. I really don't plan this. Yes, I slow blink back at Finn. We also call this "kitty kisses". If I talk in my special kitty voice, saying ridiculous baby talk things, he really does the slow blinks. I'd die if anyone recorded some of that nonsense talk in the ridiculous voice. Do you do special "doggy talk"? And I never talked baby talk to my daughter, either. Lucky her. Diane

Diane - yes, I do talk doggy talk. And I have utterly ridiculous words for "don't do that" "Dabba, dabba, dabba." and "abba!" I mean who says these things? LOL I can't believe I mentioned this. LOL

Yes, you and I stalk each other. LOL There used to be a show starring Darren McGavin called The Night Stalker....terrified me. :) He played Kolchak. I'd love to watch it again. :)

I remember Kolchak, but I don't remember the show terrifying me, but I was an adult at the time, and you were probably still a kid. Glad you do the "doggy talk". Boola, your are a goood kitta kitta. Diane

I remember Kolchak, but the one my teenage daughter and I used to stay up 'til the wee hours to watch was with Diana Rigg and other British actors. Ohhhh, what was it? The Avengers! Also with Patrick Macnee. Loved that.

Flowers, that was one of my all time favorite shows, mainly because of Diana Rigg. And sadly, she died just a week or two ago at 82. Diane

I did not know that, Diane. I'm sorry to hear it. She was why we loved that series so much. They should replace the new stuff with some of the old series. I shouldn't say that because I have not seen any of the new series, but I am willing to bet they're not as good as the old ones.

I don't remember The Avengers or Diana Rigg. But, I would love to see Kolchak again.