So glad you said that, Zuzu!
I always feel guilty bringing up anything besides gardening. Nobody has ever told anyone to stay on topic here that I've seen, so that sensitivity must come from other sites where it is strictly enforced.
Cottage Rose, it sounds like your roses have every malady except Rose Rosette. Just wait! THat's a real fun one.
I was wanting to plant 10 roses today, but it looks like I'll be digging out another 10 that have RRD. I won't be able to use those spaces for roses for several years. The virus is still there if any pieces of root remain in the soil, and my roses have long long roots.
Last night our Rose Society had the most pleasant picnic dinner meeting. One of our Rosarians hosted in her beautiful garden in the city. I looked around and noticed several of her best roses were missing. (including her Red Intuition!) She said she had taken out 24 roses this year, leaving her 54. Rose Rosette appeared in those 24. Two trees were missing from her yard also--a beaver came up out of the lake into her yard and chewed down the trees! I thought I had it bad with the hailstorm and drought, but wow! So far no beaver has attacked any expensive ornamental trees.
I do have some critter eating my peaches, now that they are ripe. They leave me a pile of pits each morning. Not sure if it's coyotes or raccoons.
It's always something, isn't it?
