Deborah, no wonder you love Distant Drums. What a beautiful color!

Deborah, wow, your gorgeous Distant Drums are at least a couple of weeks ahead of mine, just up the road from you! I love Distant Drums so much. And yes, please, can the winds STOP... enough already. I have the EXACT same statue in your last pic in my back yard :-D

Deborah, what a stunning rose with its color variations, and interesting shapes. I love the central heart shape in the second bloom photo. And your setting is so lovely and peaceful, enhanced by St Francis. I'm sure he enjoys being among the roses. But....it's not even quite spring yet, and you lucky Californians have blooming roses. Mine are barely breaking dormancy. It hasn't been warm here. Diane

So lovely!

Wow, what a beautiful rosebush @DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) , that color is really special! And the bloom shape is gorgeous!

So pretty! And so nice to see on such a grey day!

Thanks, Kristine. Yes, the changing colors, the ombre colors, and the final version of a softly flowing peachy-orchid-pink. I just love love love it.

Susan - when did you prune? I did mine first week of January -- but Distant Drums is nearly always my first bush in full bloom. We must have bought St. Francis at the same place? I'm thinking either Terra Sol or La Sumida. We should get together sometime! Maybe when the Mission garden is in full bloom we could meet!

Diane - I feel like we're skipping spring altogether! We've had warm temps and high winds and no spring rain at all. My rain gauge has measured 0 since our big deluge around Christmas.

Moses -- yes, it's nice to look at our roses and feel some cheer -- better than looking at the TV and what Putin is doing in Ukraine. Not to mention the many other conflicts raging on in other parts of the world.

p.s. I included the shot of the pretty flowers -- they are supertunia vista silverberry by proven winners. This plant is just knocking my socks off. This one and Night Sky are just amazing. I don't know who's been doing what to the petunias -- but these new ones are just so lovely I can't even begin to tell you. I never was interested in petunias before, but these are really special.

Deborah - your DD is really something special!!! Those colors and petals and it's a blooming machine!!! Well done!! I especially love that bud!

One more Distant Drum shot:

@DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) So sorry I missed your post from 8 days ago. I can't remember where I got this St. Francis, but I don't think it was Terra Sol or La Sumida. My all-time fave St. Francis was bought somewhere along the 101 in upper Central Calif many years ago when we stopped at a roadside pottery place. I got him, and a fabulous matching pedestal he sat on for many years. During one of our horrible storms, he keeled over and was literally decapitated... it was awful. I still have the pedestal, which I always put a pot of something on. I'd love to meet, but this spring is iffy, since I'm recovering from recent eye surgery that left me blind in one eye for a month. It's improving greatly the past week or so, but I'm not doing a lot of outings at the moment. I did notice today that my Distant Drums has buds that should open in a week or so! And hooray for our upcoming predicted rain... last thing I saw was 1.5 inches!

Oh Susan -- I hope your recovery goes quickly and smoothly. Do you need anything?

How traumatizing to see St. Francis with his head lopped off. My step-brother used to work at Disneyland and was either Chip or Dale in a Main Street parade. Some teenager tripped his fellow chipmunk, and her head came off and rolled down the street. I can only imagine how parents had to explain what happened to their small children!

I like my St. Francis -- but I have my eyes peeled for a decent gargoyle. I have a very small one. I'd like a little bit larger one.

Deborah, thanks, but we're hanging in there! And my eye is making great progress the past week. Unfortunately, my poor husband has a kidney stone and a hernia that he's put off dealing with b/c of my eye. But he had the stone blasted last week, and has been in rough shape. We often joke that between the two of us, we currently make almost a whole person :-D

I think maybe I got my current St. Francis at Smith & Hawken. Remember when they used to have an actual store in Paseo Nuevo? They used to have the greatest flower stake loops that I bought all the time. Metal covered in plastic, various lengths, and I still have most of them. Indeed traumatizing for kids seeing the chipmunk's head rolling down the street!

Deborah, have you checked Design Toscano for gargoyles? They've been making and selling them for many years, plus I noticed that Etsy, Amazon, and others sell them. I love gargoyles but don't have the garden space for statuary, except for birdbaths. Diane

I took these two shots at a Baton Rouge garden center yesterday, and popped them up on Facebook saying i thought about it but didn't buy it.... *Immediately* one of my best friends called asking me to go back to get it for her. Lol she's driving over from Mobile this weekend to come pick it up. :)

Went back this afternoon to take her home. :)

@Diane Brakefield - There are a few I like in that catalogue... but the big ones are expensive! I have my little "Emmet" -- wish he was a bit bigger.

@Matt C. Deos (9a/south Louisiana) - I don't see your photos...

@susan9santabarbara - Hope your eyes are doing better, and that your husband is not in pain any more. Ugh. I saw a shirt (or a hat?) that said, "growing old is not for sissies!" You must be of hearty stock! I don't remember that store -- but I rarely went to Paseo Nuevo. I always feel like it's a hassle to go to State St. And when I *do* go, I think, "this is not so bad! It's rather pleasant!" But then I don't go for months on end (or years in the covid case!)

My Distant Drums is in its second year!
Carla in Sac