I always love your pictures! Being a dog lover myself, I love to see Little E in the background :)

Beautiful photos Serena! Love that VIKING QUEEN!! That's just beautiful. And Eluane is such a good girl. I wish she could give Kya lessons on how to behave!! LOL

All great rose pics Serena! Lumps and all... lol... Looks like Eluane had fun too!

Folklore is so pretty, but Don Juan steals my heart.
Eluane was very good. She looks like she really loves her job. I wish we all had that much enthusiasm for our work!
Renee

Awww, thanks so much for all of your kind words, Tammy, Beth, Jim, and Renee! Renee, I'm really liking Don Juan too, and it's got nice fragrance too! I'm hoping it will be as prolific and as winter-hardy as Jules, which I gave away to a Costco employee, lol! Like Jules, DJ really keeps its color super well! never fades! Beth, I wish my Purple Beauty, Coronado, and Broceliande were as perfectly and gorgeously formed as your blooms, but alas, they are a far cry! AND REMEMBER, I GOT THOSE ROSES BECAUSE OF YOUR ALPHABET ROSES, lol! I think I scared those young roses into being permanent lumps (quaking in their roots/boots) :P. Coronado's bloom was also completely destroyed by thrips as well (sigh). Hehe, Beth, most border collies or the mixes are just like Kya, whirling dervishes, and my agility friend/mentor says his young Zen is a terror in the garden- dirt digging and plant chomping, haha!. Little Eluane is "abnormally gentle" and timid.

Jim, Renee, Beth and Tammy, I was actually worried that Eluane would be frightened of the sheep and the goats, but what a surprise for her do so well on that very first round of training with Pam. Sometimes agility B.Cs can do quite awful on their first time. They start lunging and scattering the sheep/goats every which way. It takes a couple of training sessions before they understand how to circle and keep an appropriate direction and distance. I was pretty shocked to see Little E do so well. What wonderful, treasured memories that was for me and being able to have a father-daughter time too! Hehe, Renee, I'm the human version of a Border Collie, a whirling dervish, hyperactive, obsessive, driven workaholic; the only difference is that most B.Cs are extremely focused and not "loopy, scatter-brained and crazy" like me haha!

Rosie folks, last time Stephen's Big Purple got destroyed by thrips, but so far the 2nd flush, there might be some hope this time of posting some photos of him in this thread. I also have to post a terror photo of what a juvenile JB looks like! Most people do not! know how to recognize a juvenile JB and there is only one in 50 image links that show the juvenile JB. Unfortunately I did not know it was there until after I downloaded the photo into my computer. I could have gotten the closeup of the dratted juvenile JB had I the chance. There are one or two JBs munching but their population is kept very low because I purposefully kill all the grass in my lawn. (JBs need lush green lawns to flourish) Thrips right now are a real problem for my pale colored roses. I've only found JBs on Compassion and Viking Queen. They love fragrant pale roses with large petals they can hide in. However, the juvenile was in one of Anna's beautiful blooms. I'll post soon on this.

My favorite climber is definitely the black and white one. Not that the others aren't charming and stunning and colorful and all that, they just lack a bit of vitamin E in comparison;-) I especially love the way E is keeping an eye on the competition.......funny how they are acutely aware of the other things that vie for our affections !!!

So many beauties here--great photos!--but I think I like Folklore and Viking Queen best. And E, of course. LOL

Kate

So many beauties here--great photos!--but I think I like Folklore and Viking Queen best. And E, of course. LOL

Kate

Aww, thank you so much Boxo and Kate. Yes! Yes! agrees the Little E and Serena. Eluane is definitely far prettier and lovelier than any of my roses!!!!! NO COMPARISON, lol! She is the Sweetest too! Kate, actually Seil's Folklore is far more beautiful than mine. You see I just have that fancy camera, but the form of her actual blooms are far more lovely. Same goes with Jim's Baby own-root Lincoln. Most of his are actually far nicer in form than mine when summer comes in.

Rosie friends, hurray, Stephen's Big Purple is so far surviving, but I'm gonna run with it and post before the thrips search and destroy, lol! Currently the 2012 planted graft produces small flowers because it's fighting the competition of the tall Russian Sage adjacent to it. Currently it's "Stephen's Little Purple", lol!

Cornelia Hybrid Musk:
Lol, Cornelia in Spring makes me shut up and be grateful. But Spring and Fall Cornelia makes me stomp around like Rumpelstiltskin demanding her gold, haha! Because Cornelia is such a huuuge plant the tiny handful of blooms it sends out in Summer and Fall make it look soooo awkward and lame. I want it to be like Boxo's Lyda and Darlow's Enigma instead of this Unbelievably Stingy bloomer the rest of the year....Okie (Climbing Oklahoma) is also in my Love-HATE list too. It has decided to be a stingy *ss too and holds on to its buds like a Scroogy Miser, lol! It's been holding on to those forming buds for more than a month now, sheeeesh!

Folklore Hybrid Tea: This bloom is very different from its siblings. In fact, it reminds me sooo much of my Beloved Deceased Gemini instead!!! (tears)

Royal Sunset Climbing Rose:

OK, take a deep breath, Rosie friends. Here is the evil Juvenile Japanese Beetle. The juvenile first appears a paleish green-bronze with a few splotches of darker copper-- the juvenile's body is hexagonal in shape. As the beetle ages, the copper splotches extend out more and more and you can start to see hints of striations along its back like the adult versions. Kill the evil b*stards as soon as you see 'em. As I mentioned before it is very difficult to find online visual references of these nasty Juvenile Japanese Beetles.

Ok here are some photo documentation on honeybee issues. 2011 was truly the best honeybee year in terms of the strength and the vitality of the honeybees visiting my garden. 2012 I'm starting to see some physical warning signs of changes and possible insecticide poisoning from the neighbors. I'm beginning to see weaker bees and unusual coloration in about 12% of the bees. Most still look very healthy, but definitely there are very subtle changes.

The first thing I've noticed is that I started to see a strange translucence in my honeybees, almost as if they were a "firefly" (shown below)....

One of the traits of a dying honeybee is the inability to distinguish vital good blooms. they start to gravitate toward spent blooms. Other signs are dull eyes and the saddlebag is dullish and flat instead of pouffy and filled up with pollen like a healthy viable worker. Shown below is an example of a honeybee who is either at the end of its life cycle or is weakened either by disease or by insecticides from other gardens. Note the clarity of the photo. It's because this honeybee cannot move, whereas always my healthy honeybees are too fast moving so they have a bit of "blurriness" if a camera tries to capture them. I tried to shake this dying honeybee off the flowers but it just hung there. Several hours later it still hadn't budged :O

Here is an example of a healthy viable honeybee. Shiny eyes, bright gloss to its stripes, strong coloring....

No not the dreaded Juvenile JB...lol...
Honey-Bee pics are great!

Serena, your pics are fabulous, the Purple Beauty is incredible, I need to add it to my Wish List.

Your Marchesa pic is really beautiful, I like the pom-pom look to it. It's nice to see it in bloom for you. I just love the fragrance, one of my favorites.

Eluane looks like she had a fun time, she looks so happy and energetic.

Thanks Jim! about the Honeybee photos!

Krista, truly your Marchesa Boccella is to DIE FOR! Absolute PERFECTION THE WAY A REAL BALLERINA is supposed to be like! My Can-Can Pantaloon blooms are no comparison to your Ballerina/Swan Lake flowers. Hey, Krista speaking of Swan Lake, I was so horrified about Natalie Portman taking credit for Sarah Lane's dancing in Black Swan. It was absolutely shameful about what total liars Hollywood moguls can be or how deluded a Hollywood actress can be to think she can dance. You can see her true dancing in the movie Closer where she supposedly plays a stripper, very stiff and clunky. Being a 3D animator I know how CGI can fake out and swap bodies with another person's (think of how they do stuntmen effects)- they attach wiring to a real ballerina's body and even still you can see where they cut and put Natalie's awful stiff-as-a-board upper body and sliced the brilliant graceful lower footwork, legs and parts of the good upper body movements of Sarah's, you can see tiny split seconds of dreadful Natalie Portman upper armwork but I can immediately tell which is which and I pointed out those exact parts to my Mom and she agreed it was super stiff and it mad her laugh too... This has all been faked. Makes me so angry whenever I think about that movie.

On more pleasant subjects about your Gorgeous real Swan Lake Marchesa! I am going to NYC next June (2013) to see the American Ballet perform and I will also go the NY Botanical Garden. I do hope to see some Marchesa Boccellas there. Sadly the Kansas City rose garden almost never gets the rare antique roses. Its pretty much the standard HT or Austin that you can get any day at the nursery. I really miss the American Ballet. I am also going to try to see if I can catch the Russian Guest Principal ballerina with the American Ballet. ABT rotates their principal ballerinas so I have to plan months ahead and the ballet season ends in July. Swan Lake is the most beautiful and my favorite of all ballets, Krista! Anyway, I'm looking forward to more of your ballerina garden :D

I love all the photos, and especially fond of the color of Troika HT. But my heart is taken by Little E. Congrats on how well she is working the herd - isn't it simply amazing how mother nature is able to pass these instinctive working genes?

My girl is quite a bit older now, and has only had the opportunity to work horses (well - perhaps opportunity is not the right word - she has horses available and she works them every second she is able).

She also makes a wonderful garden ornament, and has sat on many a flower.

Oh, my goodness, HarmonyP! She is so beautiiful and so dignified. I think she makes a wonderful garden decoration too! And here's my rose of the day for your beautiful girlie!

I actually have a few more blooms and was going to close out with the last Troika, Don Juan and the Stargazer Lily but wanted to reserve this one photo in tribute to our Heart Dogs!

Please be sure to post even more photos of her on my thread too!!!! Jim used to post photos of his sweet Sparky before she passed on. The lives of our dogs are all too short and so very precious. Beautiful Sparky actually passed on the exact date of her adoption. It's amazing the Spirit of our dogs. They carry that special once-in-a-lifetime magic!

Hehe,a funny story-- Little E has never sat or stepped on any of my plants or flowers. She does step on the weeds without hesitation, though, haha! She knows what plants drive her Mama berserk.

HarmonyP, I do really feel totally blessed with Pam, who is an expert sheepherding trainer. She basically took us in and is letting us visit the farm whenever we can! Economic times are sooo difficult, and she's been a true blessing to spend so much time with us. :D

serenasyh, it is so marvelous to converse with people who understand and feel that magic. I'll try to be good about being on a rose forum and not take us too off topic (tempted to rant and rave about our dogs) - I never step into my garden without my Dusty. Sometimes I leave the other two (Schipperke and Queensland Heeler) in the house - the later mostly to keep the former crazy pup company), but never without my Dusty (Border). She was driving me a little battie for a while with her new obsession for digging up the garden to open gopher holes, but now after Pink Peace flopping over with all roots missing - I'm saying - GO GIRL!.

The other dogs find a spot and then just dig willy nilly. Dusty - she is an intellectual about opening gopher holes, and it just takes a minute or two. She nudges the dirt, and takes 3 or 4 digs, then nudges again, and a few digs - no extra motion - right to the hole. Then as soon as a hole is opened she stares at me waiting for me to get the "bomb". As soon as I put the bomb in and cover it, she's off looking for the next hole.

Borders are just the smartest dogs ever. Just need jobs to do.

Serena, sounds like a wonderful trip to NYC, with ballet and Garden. I've never visited the NY Botanical Garden, but I imagine they have some wonderful antiques there.

Hey Serena - roses look Fabulous!! It's because of you that I got a Mr. Lincoln last year. My mother in law took one look and sniff and said now that's how roses are meant to be.

Love all those borders. I have a really good friend who has a border collie too. Great dogs. We have a theory though that the females are smarter. What do you think?

I love your Big Purple - wow - talk about color.

NIce to see you're still liking the bees.
Carol

Carol, it's so wonderful seeing you back at our Gallery! We miss your sunshiney presence I've been noticing wonderful sweet Debbie/Dovesong, has very occasionally posted too. I'm hoping that your roses flourishing will help keep you at the Gallery! Boxo came back so that I can happily stalk his Garden to my heart's content, lol!.... Carol, I hope your Lincoln is continuing to do well. Mine are 10' awkward giants, yeeeeeeks! Speaking about all our Rosie friends who inspire us, my Folklore and Broceliande was because of Markiz, Distant Drums was a gift from Jim, I got Compassion and Viking Queen because of Florence, I got Purple Beauty, Coronado, Typhoo Tea because of Beth, I got Marchesa Boccella because of Krista! :D

HarmonyP and Carol, yes, Border Collies are sooo graceful and smart and beautiful the way they work sooo hard and want to please their owner. They always want to be by your side accompanying you, and in their eyes you are the Shepherd and they need to be told what next new goal to accomplish.... And oh, that intelligence is just amazing. HarmonyP, yes, the debate against Border Collie pet breeding is a very! serious issue, and yes, I do think it's appropriate to get on a soap box about this. BCs should never ever be bred save to breed for that intelligence, that keenness and sensitivity and love for work and never, ever! for looks or prettiness. Owning a B.C. comes with a heavy load of responsibility and dedication. They are not! a hobby or just-for-fun dog.

Carol, many females have better biddability and are easier and faster to train because of this sensitivity factor; whereas sometimes! males because of their huge strength and size just become too independent-minded and on their-own-track of thought. I will ask my friend Pam which ones win more at trials-- male or female. She attends lots and lots of trials since it is her profession.

Hehe, here are my final sets of photos, Rosie friends!

Troika HT:

Viking Queen Climber:

Don Juan Climber:

Royal Sunset Climber:

And some new companion planting photos: As you can tell from Little E's photo, it's really hot in Kansas!!!

More lumps... lol... All your roses & companion plantings look really good Serena. Love that purple color of your Stephen Purple... :-)

That's a great pic of Eluane with the lily. Viking Queen looks very elegant.

Beautiful colors on the companions and roses!

Thank you Jim, thank you Krista! I too love the purples. So glad that I finally have them in my garden. Krista I forgot to tell everyone that had I not gotten scared by rebloom factors (stingy *ss Okie and Cornelia) and our Midwest sun bleaching all those soft, beautiful pinks to dingy whites I would have immediately raced to get your Louise Odier, Reine Victoria and countless others of your antiques, lol! Ah, well, there is a reason why a ballerina garden is a ballerina garden and why Lopsided Gardens remain Lopsided, lol! The elegant ballerina roses were able to escape my greedy clutches save for poor Marchesa Boccella, lol!

Wow!!! Your Viking Queen is scrumptious!!!!
Carol