I love it!

Ok, so my compost is doing what it's supposed to do, and decomposting, and the soil is experiencing subsidence. I'm not imagining anything. The soil isn't washing away to neighbors, friends, family or coworkers. It's just settling in. Not even turning into silt headed to the Mississippi.
Our ground has shifted quite a bit in the last year here. This house was built in 1967, but the last 2 summers have been so dry that the foundation is moving again. If ever we get rain again, I may find leaks in the basement. hopefully not! I have a french door that won't latch. my dogs love being able to come and go just by pushing on the door. I hate finding it wide open with the a.c. running full blast.
The cracks in the yard are 2" wide in some places. The only places without cracks are the flower beds where I've added compost and top dressed with mulch again and again. Of course, that's where I'm watering also.
I think I will keep adding to the flower beds, and cover up the bud unions as much as I can. We just may have a real winter this year, and after all the stress the plants have gone through this summer, they'll need all the help they can get to survive the winter.

Did someone say donut tree??!!

Calif_Sue said:Did someone say donut tree??!!

Great pic, Toni!
But aren't those known to be hazardous in the State of California?
In Kansas, they are considered essential food. We force feed them to kids right before they take their achievement tests. (NO LIE. I complained and got nowhere. The schools give kids orange juice and donuts before state tests and finals. My poor underprivileged kids got sent to school with bacon and eggs in their stomachs, no sugar allowed).
I have never witnessed it, but maybe that's what's happening at the voting precincts in Kansas. Voters show their state-issued I.D., then get fed a donut and instantly lose 30 I.Q. points. We're at the extreme end of the extremists here. Oh Sorry, off topic again......or not, we were talking about compost, right?

Skiekitty said:

Sweet! And from a highly recommended 'seed' supplier!

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CindiKS said:Great pic, Toni!
But aren't those known to be hazardous in the State of California?
In Kansas, they are considered essential food. We force feed them to kids right before they take their achievement tests. (NO LIE. I complained and got nowhere. The schools give kids orange juice and donuts before state tests and finals. My poor underprivileged kids got sent to school with bacon and eggs in their stomachs, no sugar allowed).
I have never witnessed it, but maybe that's what's happening at the voting precincts in Kansas. Voters show their state-issued I.D., then get fed a donut and instantly lose 30 I.Q. points. We're at the extreme end of the extremists here. Oh Sorry, off topic again......or not, we were talking about compost, right?

completely off topic, but a gazillion years ago when I was taking the ACT test for college, I had a raging infection. I was misdiagnosed and given the wrong medications. The medication I was prescribed was a pain medication and some kind of antibiotic (not sure exactly what.. this *was* a long time ago). I just remember that I was completely and utterly stoned out of my gourd. I had to hold the pencil with all my fingers rather than how you're supposed to hold the pencil because it kept jumping out of my hand. The walls were undulating in beautiful wave-like motions.

Scored the highest that time than any other time I took the test.

And everything's hazardous in the state of California. Things that are not a known carcinogen anywhere else is a known carcinogen in California.

Hmm.. maybe that's what J&P is doing: handing out donut coupons to people who order their roses? (that's the way you tie the two threads together!) I've posted this before, but it's still a favorite. Please enlarge to understand the whole joke.

Cindi,
One of the reasons I engage in this forum is because I doing so reassures me that there is intelligent life in Kansas.

Toni,
I just have to remember that when faith in that fails completely, there's still donuts. Do you still have any of those donut tree seed packets left? I don't actually live in California, but I've always thought I'd like to. Maybe I could plant them, watch them grow, and harvest something that I wish was a donut.

Hi, I've experienced 'Crescendo' and 'Soft Whisper' at our local rose show this year. While they share the same parentage and date of introduction, there are quite a few differences. Crescendo has a darker edge blush and Soft Whisper is a taller, more high centered bud / bloom with lighter edges. Also, Soft Whisper is more fragrant. Definitely different cultivars. J&P is offering both in the catalog this year.

Oh Wow, a blast from the past, a 2012 thread resurfaces!

This is a great post! Donut seeds!!! Decomposing!!!

Okay, now I'm confused. Not disappointed, necessarily, just confused.
When I decided to get involved with the roses, following the passing of my wife, I went with J&P. I didn't consider any thing else. Because back in the 60's and 70's, my mom (and her mom before that) considered J&P to be EVERYTHING when it came to roses.
After I bought and planted J&P bare root roses, earlier this year, they appeared to be doing well, except the "Mr. Lincoln".
That's when I found this forum and joined. Right away I heard from some of y'all that J&P isn't what they used to be. That is what it is.
However, my confusion stems from, how can they (or anyone) call a rose by a name, that it's not? Isn't there some kind of rule/s within the Rose Society, that governs that?
I purchased a couple of the roses specifically mentioned above, from J&P. How do I know that's what they really are?
On the other hand, I am not disappointed with the roses I got (except the Mr Lincoln (if indeed that's what it really is)). BTW, they did give me a credit for that one.
But specifically, I bought "Soft Whisper", "Perfume Delight" and "Double Delight (and a couple of others). They seem to be doing well. Now I'm just wondering if that's what they really are .

Moondog

https://www.latimes.com/busine...

Moondog, this was referring to roses developed by J&P and then renamed. Didn't apply to roses sold by them and developed elsewhere. In 2012 they were emerging from bankruptcy. I ordered from them this year and everything was accurately labeled and has performed well.

Wow, just wow. Adapt or die, I guess, but what a shame to lose all those varieties. I must say, I do understand the desire to stay away from HT roses, having killed a few in my garden. When I "tried again" with roses, I planted non-HT's, except for 'Buxom Beauty', which I was talked into for its toughness (no lie, it's doing great, no spraying).

Sorry, Matt, we crossed... my response was to the article linked above

Good News, is A lot of those feared "lost" varieties from the 2012 article are being offered again. I spray certain favorite roses, like Peace, a moderate amount. Some are worth it and some are not.

I didn't think to check the date on the article. I think the "best" roses must be growing in enough gardens that they can be re-discovered by the trade and propagated again, too, sort of a natural selection process for hybrid tea roses.