porkpal said: We used to have really nasty clay at a previous property and the mixing itself is a problem. If it's dry the clay is like rock if it's wet it is like bubblegum - not highly cooperative.

Porkpal, I had clay all over my property in St. Louis where I planted my first rose garden. I carted zillions of bags of gypsum home from the nursery, as well as jumbo bags of cotton burr compost. I added other amendments as well, but the combo of cotton compost and gypsum was the ticket. Later on when I dug into those beds, it was Black Gold!

Mike, thank you for sharing that amazing 3 part story. You are a gifted writer, and you interwove everything beautifully -- reading it felt like re-living everything with you. And to have capped off the weekend with Mrs. West's visit and the gift of the J. H. Nicolas trove... well, that's just BEYOND extraordinary! Wow, I'm still reeling, reading this (twice now, LOL) made my day. Plus I jumped on the Abe Books website and was lucky enough to score a copy of A Rose Odyssey!

Excellent Mike! Thanks!

I'm looking for that book as well here soon. Great storytelling as usual Mike!!!

Book ordered!!

Wow, blast from the past! A 13 year old thread revived!

Calif_Sue said: Wow, blast from the past! A 13 year old thread revived!

IMO, the contents of those posts are far too good to let them fade away, never seen by newer members. As a fairly new member I would never have seen them except for this. I loved his story and think he should be an author of whatever he wants to write about.

Calif_Sue said: Wow, blast from the past! A 13 year old thread revived!

Not only 13 years old, but also from another site. This thread was once part of our Rose Cubit. Sue and I didn't move our rose forums and database from Cubits to NGA (then called ATP -- AllThingsPlants) until September 2011.

For those who may not know, some of the members of this forum were original to Dave's Garden back in the 2000-0's. Many of us then created/moved to the rose forum on Cubits, then moved to All Things Plants, and then finally here. NGA is run by the original Dave of Dave's Garden. How these sites came to be, and how they progressed, is (another) long story!

LittleAnnie said: IMO, the contents of those posts are far too good to let them fade away, never seen by newer members. As a fairly new member I would never have seen them except for this. I loved his story and think he should be an author of whatever he wants to write about.

I love seeing some of these old threads! I often go back and read my old ones, even my old t-mails. With my bad memory, it's like seeing them for the first time again!!

Sue, a few months ago I went back to log onto Dave's Garden, which I hadn't logged onto in more than a decade, to find an old Tree Mail, and was amazed it was still there. As for the rest of the site, phst!

I should have added that Zuzu and Sue were our sherpas along the journey from Dave's Garden to NGA over the past two decades. There's an immeasurable sense of gratitude I feel toward both of them for the years of quiet dedication they made to keeping this forum going.

Calif_Sue said: I love seeing some of these old threads! I often go back and read my old ones, even my old t-mails. With my bad memory, it's like seeing them for the first time again!!

Sue, my husband John handed me a short essay he printed off the computer a few weeks ago, and handed it to me over dinner, saying it was apropos of something in the news that day (what in particular, I can't remember). I read it over and said something to the effect that I thought it made some good points, and that it seemed vaguely familiar. "It should," he said. "You wrote it 15 years ago!"

Mike said: For those who may not know, some of the members of this forum were original to Dave's Garden back in the 2000-0's. Many of us then created/moved to the rose forum on Cubits, then moved to All Things Plants, and then finally here. NGA is run by the original Dave of Dave's Garden. How these sites came to be, and how they progressed, is (another) long story!

Mike, someone (you, Sue, Zuzu?) should tell that story!!

Calif_Sue said: I love seeing some of these old threads! I often go back and read my old ones, even my old t-mails. With my bad memory, it's like seeing them for the first time again!!

I haven't done that, yet. Not a bad idea, Sue, plus, possibly finding important info that, for whatever reason, was ignored or skimmed over the first read.

Speaking of different Roses forums. I am wondering about Houzz? Are people from one old Forum just spited into NGA and Houzz? Hope this question is appropriate here.

Elena999 said: Speaking of different Roses forums. I am wondering about Houzz? Are people from one old Forum just spited into NGA and Houzz? Hope this question is appropriate here.

I tried Houzz and had a very difficult time just to get in. For some reason they didn't recognize my password, even tho, I had just signed up. Someone told me to delete my profile and start over, but, it wouldn't let me delete it. I don't even try to visit it anymore, but, I know there is good information in there and some nice people.