Hmm.. I wonder how I should respond.
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Hello skiekitty,

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I renewed in May. I rely on the plantfiles and the garden watchdog and still have friends there.

Of course, the rose forum isn't the same without zuzu, ca sue and cottage rose among others too numerous to mention.

Useful...yes, still useful.
Friendly.....not as much as it used to be.

My comments and pictures of Wildeve, an Austin rose, were removed. I thought that was odd. I had posted pics and initial comments 2 years ago and a followup last year. Yes, I am blond but much too young for "oldtimers" disease.

Hi - former lurker on the DG rose forum here.
I, too, received the same notice a few weeks ago as my renewal was due the beginning of June. The circus that ensued at the end of May helped make my decision not to renew. I had simply had enough.
I do miss certain aspects, mostly the folks there. But I don't have enough time to play there & here. So I chose here.
I am glad that others have stayed on - it's a great site that offers much. But I rarely used the other features, so it was easier for me to move on.
I must say I am thoroughly enjoying all that is here at this point, and look forward to much more. I have no doubts that this forum will achieve excellence, due to its contributors.
Thanks for all your energy & efforts!

It is that time of the month and I forgot to activate my b*%$h filter.

The PEOPLE at DG are still very friendly. Just went to my first swap and met the nicest people, many of whom are also here.

CORPORATIONS are by nature not friendly. This particular corporation has made some unfortunate decisions which have already been discussed elsewhere.

Most of you know that I stopped posting in DG long before NameMedia sold the site to IB, and while I do agree that this new corporation is swinish and deceitful, I have to say that some of the people in DG are not friendly at all.

I'm sorry your Wildeve photos were removed, Andi. I wonder why that was done. Terry deleted whole threads of mine, with dozens of rose photos, just because people posted after I left to say they missed me.

Kate, is that a Ridgeback in your avatar? Is it the Maukahound? I have a cat named Mauka.

Toni, I received a note like that a couple weeks ago and I let it expire. The features that I used are free (plantfiles, watchdog). I honestly haven't missed it since I didn't use the paid benefits much anyway.

I don't know, I don't think it was personal. Austin blooms can vary a lot with temperature. Maybe they thought that I posted the wrong rose. In cool weather, the yellow tint at the base of the petals is more pronounced, making the blooms look more peach. In the summer the blooms are more pink like the Austin's site. Perhaps they thought my pics were the wrong rose. No big deal.

I am sure that people miss your gorgeous pictures. Who knows why they deleted entire threads of pictures. Quite a few people are announcing that they aren't renewing their memberships. I am sure it is not fun being a DG moderator these days.

I haven't been back since the last ruckus, and it all started after I had renewed. What a waste of $20.

Does anyone know what the status of Cubits is now? Is the threat over?

There are still some very good posts in some threads over there. And I like being able to access info on plants far afield of roses. The AZ gardening forum is one I've participated in there and is still alive, though many of its members are on the Cubits AZ gardening forum. So I'm still visiting both. So far, I have mostly dodged the worst stuff there. (The removal of threads, though, strikes me as insane. Why not just remove offending entries?)

There are still some pretty good discussions about roses, but the best photos are still definitely here. And the level of knowledge here is much higher, so a lot of the sillier questions don't get asked. The tone here tends to be more collegial, too.

Zuzu - yes, she is a Ridgeback - Ruby. (I am the Maukahound!)

I too, saw that posts were deleted, but not necessarily "offensive" ones, as most would think. Was this some sort of subtle retaliation? No logic there...lack of rational thinking.
I did not comprehend that this was happening to others until the veil was lifted from the entire mess. Thankfully, there were people savvy enough to capture much of this information as proof.
I prefer the calm here - very nice!
Oh, and your pictures are fabulous. Now if the sun would grace us with its presence, and the rain would cease for a bit, my rosebuds would open! Ah, the elusive sunshine in the PNW!

Ruby's beautiful. My cats would never put up with a dog, but Stella, a neighborhood Ridgeback, has been my dog for an hour a day for more than 10 years now. Her owners work away from home all day, so I've been her lunchtime companion and walker since early 2000. I love Ridgebacks. They're so elegant.

My dog, Tiffany, likes cats, but they don't all like her. There are some neighborhood cats that sniff noses with her and visit. One in particular is becoming a regular garden visitor. He likes to hide under my Wildeve rose. He can hunt for rodents all he wants especially since he seems to go home to go to the bathroom. Tif barks at some other cats to get them to run away. She has never hurt a cat, cornered a cat or been scratched, so she feels invincible! Not sure how she picks her friends.

A particular kitty favorite is the bug zapper, turned on now for jap beetle season. I frequently see my kitty friend sitting on my chair looking at the zapper in the morning. I had to unfold another chair so that I could drink my morning coffee. It was nice to have company. Tiffany decided to sleep in this morning.

Tif is about the same size as a large cat, so maybe she seems less of a threat. The cats don't try to visit the Rottweiler next door, although she is the calmest rott I have ever seem.

This notice is not unusal. I've gotten one every year to remind me its time to renew. I emailed them and told them exactly why I wasn't going to renew.
Course I got some lame reply from Terry.
I will miss DG too but I really don't have the time to post on forums that much anyway so I have to narrow it down to a select few and Cubits is now my gardening forum to go to.
I like The Garden Web but the download time and pop ups are ridiculous.

I'm so glad this is your first choice, CR. I really like Cubits.org. I feel much better here than I did there. Some of the features I always used (Garden Watchdog and PlantFiles, for instance) aren't here, but they weren't there either in the beginning. This site is so new, but it already has so many great things about it. One example is the photo display system: The photos we post, both the thumbnails and the enlargements, look so much better here.

Besides, the freedom here is positively intoxicating. I have a cubit for smokers and I've joined a cubit for atheists. Those would never be possible in DG. The DG software once flagged me and gave me a warning about inappropriate language just because my post included the word "cigarette."

Another time, I was explaining to someone why people started calling me Zuzu. When I came to the United States at the age of 10 and at the height of the McCarthy era, the San Francisco Public Schools changed my name to Helen because, as they told me: "Elena is a communist name." No one under the age of 35 was named Helen then, so I was always known by my nickname, even after I went to court to get my real name back when I was 21. When I tried to post that message, the DG software warned me about inappropriate language because I had used the word "communist."

Yes CR, glad you decided on Cubits. We enjoy your posts!

Alan

Thanks Zuzu and Alan.

I understand the need to monitor forums because it can get out of hand quickly but sometimes they do get a little anal about it. Can we say anal here?

BTW isn't Garden Watch Dog and Plant Files available for non-members?
I know some of the forums are available for non members as well but I'm not sure which ones. Well, I guess I'll find out on June 30th, D.A.D.D. ("Done at Daves Day")

I think someone said we can say or do anything we want here...even politics and religion, gasp!!! ;)

LOL, gasp indeed.

I had been hesitant to renew last year, this year, the $20 goes to the Dave and Trish Fund.

Zuzu, I love what you and California Sue have done here. I had been uncomfortable on the Rose Forum at DG for quite awhile. Actually, I've been spending so much time here that my own Cubit is being neglected! So if any of you want to discuss farming, the politics of food, take a nostalgic walk down a dirt road, come on over to the Farming Cubit.

(this is an old picture)

BTW Alan...you are TOO CUTE!

Anyhoo...I've found that politics and religion do not make for good discussion due to the diversity of the folks on any given forum. It always seems to end up in overly heated discussions with both stand taken a firm, unmoving stand.
It gets old fast and just feels like arguing to me.
If you say you love Sarah Palin people go nuts...if you say you love Nancy Palosi people go nuts so while I love a good debate I prefer to speak about roses and ducks. At least I can say anal here.