im all choked up boxofrox
thank you very much!

Harold,

I can only imagine what any of us would feel like after such a sneak attack and I know if the pruners were in the other hand..............:-)

im still chuckling about the slipped on a blackspot while chasin a rose slug comment of boxofroxs lol
serenasyh told me to rest and quit writing so i better listen lol

Well, BLESS YOU JIM! we know you are soooo overwhelmed by all the emotions of happiness with Boxofrox's wonderful thoughts and screensavers and may I add arm-shoulder-wrist-savers! I will do all the Gushing and words and typing for you,Jim, LOL! Hey, stalkers have to be of soooome use, right?! LOL, LOL! so stay with resting and No need to type!!! we've got you all covered! LOL, LOL! Bless, Jim!

Jim, LOL, I was a few seconds too late to stop you from writing, LOL, LOL. Hmmmm, I guess I'm not as effective at being "bossy" as I am with "stalking", LOL, LOL!

Whoo-hoo, Boxofrox, another bouquet to "mirror-the-mirror" LOL, LOL! You are just way too SPLENDID, Boxofrox! Another wonderful bouquet! Eluane says hi to your lucky pups!

Jim,

So glad you liked it, I do have my moments :-) Isn't it amazing what a marvelous mother hen the stalker is for such a young whippersnapper ? They just don't grow em like that anymore.

Your pictures are beautiful. I like the way the fence is with the combination of metalwork and wood elements. That looks good.

"Jim,
So glad you liked it, I do have my moments :-) Isn't it amazing what a marvelous mother hen the stalker is for such a young whippersnapper ? They just don't grow em like that anymore."
-----------------------------------------------------------

you got that 100% right boxofrox! recieved your message from
serenasyh. you know how to choke up a guy, don't you lol
thanks!

Jim,

Didn't mean to apply a choke hold, just encourage :-)

"Jim,
Didn't mean to apply a choke hold, just encourage :-)"

-----------------------------------------------------------
and encourage, you did!
thanks!

just stopping back to look at all the great pics in this thread
im going to plant some smaller flowering shrubs next season,just havent decided what yet. love your pics!

jim

Boxofrox, you must promise me to keep sending more photos on this thread to keep Jim UNBORED and to distract him from any more organics and blackspot discussions!!!! All the organics discussions is going to seriously strain not only his shoulder/arm and wrist breakage on his right side, but he will be also!!! be ambidextrously challenged if his left side keeps it up and his left side will get that carpal tunnel and the other strain.

Lol! for 4 days straight, Boxofrox, Jim indeed was able to tame out, after your gorgeous photos, which I call a personal miracle! Roses are too addicting and too dangerous, LOL! And we need to keep Jim away from the slippery slidey Soil discussions and slipped discs from Blackspot (and unknowingly you were actually diagnosing a real-life danger zone).Hahaha!

Plus the Stalker loves! your photos. Boxofrox, it's like looking at the loveliest of Kaleidoscopes, each piece and color uniquely formed! Each peek we get gives us an array of interchanging patterns of Beauty!color> I am indeed looking forward to an ongoing Kaleidoscope!!!! especially when icy winter hits, I bet your garden will be still full of beauty-- frost covered berries, birds, snow-covered fountains, the whole works! And it will help keep Jim away from the Rose-Worry-Syndromes!

Bless and many thanks, Boxofrox!

My roses may possibly be done unfortunately. I finally gave up on my Mr Lincoln and cut one for a bud vase. I have an ML, an Oklahoma, a couple of Dark Lady, an AD and an America in a bud vase sitting next to my keyboard. None have opened fully but what a wonderful blend of fragrances. I still have way too many buds to even estimate but I'm not holding my breath. The temps have dropped enough here that my fish have even started their long winter's fast.

i'm more at peace now with roses
but, those blackspots are slippery and one must be careful while chasing rose slugs lol
actually i'm feeling alot better, the pain has eased up alot. and each day i'm typing faster and faster with my left hand and fingers.

Boxofrox!!!! I can't believe you walloped that Lincoln bud, LOL! I complained to Jim that no one's listening to all my hot-winded advice LOL, LOL!

One thing about Lincoln is that it is so slowwwww to bloom because what it is doing is packing all that energy into producing a huge cluster of petals. I am worried that it won't bloom at all. You will have to let me know if it does and be sure to snap a photo of it. Hope you will let the other ML buds do their warrior stance, LOL! Think Spartan Warrior Red, it takes a long time of hard-training before they're ready to do their final showdown!

I only had two ML buds so I cut one but the other one ain't gonna open nor are the 14 left on Oklahoma. It's mid 30 nights and low 50 days with wind and rain. Sorry to disappoint you KG but it ain't happenin :-(

Hee-hee, Boxofrox, I guess I'm a dimwit! I was expecting my roses still to open, LOL! count on a silly newbie to mis-count! Your weather is exactly like my weather, mid 30s nights just barely above freezing and low 50 days with rains after rains after rains. I thought roses would still be able to bloom! LOL! I had such high hopes for that climbing America... I see that brilliant pink peeking out of several very fat buds. Alas!

JIM, I'm so glad to here that your pain is subsiding some what and it looks like you are get better with that left hand. It's hard to keep a good MAN down. HA HA
JIM I don't know how you can not get all choked up with all the WONDERFUL people we have on this site. The caring and love for one another is so inspiring. LOL LOL
Harold

KG,

I know what you mean, I had a bunch of Americas doing the same thing. I do have a few LDB and TDL that are opening but tons and tons of AD that are just semi and then slime-o :-(

I have a customer who has a DDG Sunset Celebration that was blooming last week and was stunning. I have to go back this AM and will have my camera just in case.....

I have that flaming orange tree hibiscus with the 4 braided trunks that was pretty much not blooming anymore and I brought it into my dining room to try and overwinter it and it has exploded back into bloom. Here's a couple of shots of the hibiscus.

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nice rose boxofrox!
snowing here today, our first snowflakes of the season

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our cat likes to warm up on our computer monitor
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Here's that Sunset Celebration I shot at my customer's place this AM. I had to dodge the weather and the color is not as deep as actual but with the weather we've been having, Im surprised it still looks this good. The shrub is 6' tall and very full with some of the older canes being like 1" diameter.

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ya'll are so lucky to get such great fall color! I'm wearing a tshirt to work today, that's how warm it is here!

and SNOW!

your customers rose is nice boxofrox.

BOXOFROX WOW!!! I love that SUNSET CELEBRATION. I'm already HMF this rose thanks for posting this one for sure.
Harold

Wow, Boxofrox those are gorgeous photos of the Sunset Celebration! Your hibiscus is looking beautiful too! Boxofrox, I still say you have some more upcoming Rose Magic Up Your Sleeve! I've still got some Stalker's Luck Up Mine as well, hahahahaha! I bet I will strike lucky once again at this thread!

Boxofrox I forgot to tell you that I have a Canon Rebel XSI but I do a terrrrrrrible job with that Camera. I am sure in your capable hands it will do wonders for you too! James can take far more lovely photos than I can with that camera. I can only do very basic features on it because I'm too lazy to experiment.

Jim, I love how the Kitty is peeking out! So cute and funny! It is soooo cold inside my house! (lol!) I'm trying to save up on electricity...

Harold,

Those pics don't do it justice. When I saw it last week my mouth was wide open in awe, it was spectacular. They didn't even know what it was and I was shocked when I read the tag. That's the one that was named to honor the anniversary of Sunset magazine. I've had one for several years but my wisteria blocks too many rays and mine is much lighter. I'm moving mine to a fuller sun position in the spring after having seen this one. Color wise it is a lot like Lady Emma Hamilton and those color tones are by far my favorite in roses.

KG,

I'm thinking it will either be the XSi or it's big brother. The main difference is the mega pixels (15.3 compared to 12 I think)and the video capabilities. It's only a little over a hundred bucks more. The thought process now is not so much the video part but whether the hundred bucks would be better spent toward a lens upgrade. I'm leaning towards the big brother because I'm thinking that odds are that I could easier learn how to fully utilize all the specialty functions than justify the cost of the quite expensive lens upgrade. By the time I get really proficient with the upgraded camera, I might find it easier to justify a new lens. The point and shoot has been a great learning experience from a composition standpoint. Now that I've learned how it is I want to shoot, it's time to get more of the detail I want to capture. One of my problems is that I have some issues with some shakiness in my right hand and it makes it difficult to shoot sometimes which a better camera will definitely help alleviate.

Boxofrox just like you yourself stated, you're better off getting a very! nice separate lens. Video camera, as my James would say, should only be for a really good video camera. Camera for a really good camera. To try to combine both in a camera is totally silly, lame and inefficient in his opinion, LOL! Instead they should have made a 25.5 megapixel instead a mere 15.5 megapixel and stopped piddling with video features. A serious video person would be laughing their butt off. It's the same principal of combining a TV with a speaker. TV speakers are very primitive and don't compare with a real sound system.

On the other hand! as you mention 15.3 is larger than my 12.2 megapixel from the XSI.

Boxofrox, the total beauty is IN THE LENS. The microlens is the only lens that can give you the beautifully sharp detailing. How I wish I could forward you the orchid link from CharlesB. He is a true designer orchid person, a fantastic photographer, but he uses those special types of lenses. A special lens costs in the $1000 range. If I were good at photography I would have saved all my money for the lens! It makes an incredible difference! No matter how good the camera, you cannot get the same sophistication, beauty and detail without those types of lenses.

All the 15.5 megapixels will do is allow you to make very! large-sized prints for a very large photo frame (for example an 11x17 print). The larger the size of prints the more detail is required. If you use the XSI and use the raw format, it will give you a whole chockful of detail that is equal to 15.5 type of quality. Most cameras are configured for just a .jpg instead of raw. Professional photographers shoot in raw mode but they have to reconvert everything through Photoshop in the final images if they want special color effects or adjustments. You need a bit of graphic design background in order to do this. Fashion magazines use graphic designers to add special effects to have that magazine kind of quality.

There is information on CharlesB member page should you wish to get a hold of him and maybe you can ask him to view his gallery. CharlesB seems to be a very! nice person. But I have to tame out from crazy requests at the orchid gallery, because they operate under a separate list of "rules". Newbies have to ease in, they can't just blunder in and scare everyone like I have, LOL! I think Charles can tell you all the details on how he photographs with his special camera.

I will email you soon on that. I have 2 orchids so that is how I found out about CharlesB. CharlesB had photographed his neighbor's roses for us about 2 weeks ago. But if you think those are nice you should see those orchids. They are completely out-of-this-world.

Here was the rose thread that he put on...
CharlesB's neighbor's roses

But I don't have permission to cross-reference the orchid photos so you will need to ask him for that specific photo gallery link.

boxofrox,

whatever camera/lens you have been using, seems to take great pics to me. ours is just a cheaper $110 camera. if that new lens takes even better pics than your already taking, that will really be something.

Jim, I too have to agree with you. I can't even do a smidgen of what Boxofrox already does. I already possess that fancy camera, and as I've always said to forumers in the past that I can't do crap with that fancy camera. You see Boxofrox's photos already have that wonderful composition and color. They are already awesome enough as is!

But with his photography skills with that Canon XTI or XSI, he can start having wall prints. Jim, I am thinking what Boxofrox was wanting was that intense detailing of petals. You see even with fancy cameras like XTI or XSI you can only move so far into the blooms before you get blurring and mushing of details. That's why you see professional photographers heft around all these huge lenses. They buy the fanciest cameras, but they still need those huge add-in lenses.

Another difference between Boxofrox and me is that he can do the research and study that most men like to do when it comes to experimenting with a camera's maximum potential. I am too lazy to do this. And with special lenses you have everything basically "in your hands". Both XSI and XTI have hand-stabilization and anti-shake features. But maybe XTI does indeed have better stabilization, but I did think that XSI already has advanced anti-shake features. When I was at Powell Gardens, all the serious photographers had to use special lenses to get the up close detailing of the butterfly wings.

Anyway, I am so hoping for the next set of Respite photos. OOOO-ooooo, can you imagine all the beautiful birds and snowflakes that he will be able to capture in his garden! Fancy cameras are great for capturing motion as well. We should have a huge treasurehouse of new Boxofrox photos when winter rolls around.

Jim,

What she said :-)

The point and shoot has been great for helping me discover what it is I want to capture and in the process it has also shown me it's limitations. Without that repetitive process of composing and shooting and recognizing the elements that are missing from the intended result, I would have never really envisioned what I wanted or needed. The eye can often capture more than the point and shoot camera and I want to be able to reverse that. I do have a nice 35MM Pentax SLR but it's not digital so by the time I get the shot processed, I have forgotten all those little details that were present at that instant when I tried to capture all of them. On the other hand, if I had a digital SLR, I could quickly view the shot to see if it captured all those little intangibles that can make a somewhat nice picture exceptional. The perfect light, the perfect angle, the perfect focus, the perfect depth and field of view. Not just for closeups and macros but for sight lines and wide angles etc. Even if I'm not sure when viewing the 3" LCD, I can go in and download and go back and try to recapture if it's not quite right.

When I was first building my garden, I used to spend hours in the design process where I'd look at it, come up with an idea, look at it from every possible viewing angle, go in and draw it, come back out and lay it out, then decide I didn't like the way it looked from the walkway or from above on the deck, go back and change the drawing and on and on until I finally was satisfied. Now that most of that is done, I want the camera to be able to capture those sight lines. A perfect example would be the view from my swing. I want to be able to shoot across the lawn, through the pagoda tree, through the sunroom, past the pond and focus on the waterfall. I can see it and I can hear it from the swing but I can't capture it with a point and shoot.

Here's an example.....#1 from swing

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#2 from walkway through sunroom

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#3 I can see both of these two lower waterfalls from the swing

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Here's a perfect example of what I want that shot to look like but I can't with a point and shoot. This was a lucky picture of a rose of sharon bloom. Normally the camera would focus on the nearest objects and blur the rest. Accidentally it focused on what I wanted it to and blurred the rest. What I want to do is intentionally focus on the waterfall from a distance like it was this flower and have all the other things in various degrees of focus.....

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i see, i see now. lol

And all this time I thought it was a MAGIC WAND, I sooo.... distrauht. I do believe in magic, I do believe in magic ,I do, I do. Some old silly camera,THE MASTER don't need no silly old camera just a little MAGIC DUST and puff another MASTER PIECE appears. Silly old camera
Harold

We agree too, Harold! Perfectly said! There's already the Magic of magics compacted in those gorgeous photos! Boxofrox is the master at study and composition. It is also that wonderful journal with the way he started his garden, and likewise it's that study of photographs which will be truly amazing. I can just see that step-by-step close-up with the waterfalls into the waterlilies as he hones in with the lens and angles. I'm already drooling over that too! Harold we are going to have some amazing journals to look over! That's the other thing with lenses is that they will be able to catch all the waterflow too, the bouncing water-droplets the whole works which no ordinary camera lens can get. You see Boxofrox already has that mastering of composition to an art and that lens will grab it beautifully. We will be having a huge fiesta in that camera journal of his.

And yes, we don't need any! silly camera to enjoy Boxofrox's MASTERPIECES. All those past photos always made us do the All-Hail, Wowzees, OOOO and AWE! It's just the beauty of exploration and experimentation that Men Who are Masters at What They Do, ENJOY! The Geniuses seek that exploration, experimentation that they love! An artist-genius is always seeking, developing and exploring. Aren't we lucky people that we always get to bask with the Magic Boxofrox creates....whether it be the point-and-shoot, it All is perfection...

AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Sheeeeeeeeeeesh,

What am I going to do now that my work here is done ?????
Get it ? Got it? GOOOOoooooooooooooooooood ;-)

hee-hee, Boxofrox we enjoy roaming through your pathways of the Sistine Chapel Garden. Hahahaha! but better than the Sistine is that it keeps growing and surprising us at every turn!

Lol, your shrieks of modest protest are creating quite a gooooood Echo that is falling on deaf ears right now! Hahahaha! Hugs~

Ummm, dare I ask, how is your lovely Abraham Darby doing? I am missing him! Boxofrox my other Abraham L. is bravely blooming and took a photo of him, but all the while I was thinking of your AD as well. As for Lincoln and my other climbing America and Special Occasion blooms, I wanted to give everyone a brief respite from my lumpy roses. Of late we've had a flurry of very special, hard-to-find roses from Krista and Celestial Rose and some from Isabelle and I wanted to let everyone enjoy that gorgeousness before I blunder in with my lopsided monstrosities, LOL! I am also thinking that your fall colors would also be illuminating the whole scene as well. I am looking forward to the next set of photos for Jim! But LOL! I do understand that geniuses need to sleep and rest and garden too! hahaha! There are times when a Stalker has to SHUT UP and let the Genius rest! tee-hee!

The Abes are all still there, some just budded, some just opened, some balled...I'd say 60+ all together. The Dark Lady, LDB, Lady Emma, Brandy, White Eden, Scent from Above, both Easy's, JC, America, Oklahoma etc all have numerous barely opened buds, they just don't get the ooooomph they need to open all the way. I am still cutting dahlias though and they probably have a number of bouquets left in them.

I'm thinking my camellias are going to be awesome this year based on the amount of buds so I'm getting pumped for those. I do think they're going to be a little later than usual though just based on the bud size. I have one that you will love, it's red, deep pink, and white tricolor and the blooms are quite large like maybe 5"+ in diameter. There are two dark pinks and two reds as well.

I stopped the other day to arrange for our Christmas tradition......paper whites. I'm going to use red/white/green either marbles or rocks to set the bulbs in. I got 5 matching glass vases (one for each separate family unit) and I'm going to time the blooms for Christmas and have them be the centerpiece on the table. They are sooooooooooo fragrant and each will have one to take home to enjoy :-)

Wow, 5"+ in diameter! Dinnerplate Camellias, scrumptious! I can't wait to see those Camelias for Jim. It will keep him very un-bored, LOL! It will be like unwrapping a Thanksgiving present (lol!) It's almost November after all. I just love camelias. I don't remember ever seeing a camelia growing in Kansas City. I have read that Camelias prefer acidic soil and our soil is the exact opposite. Very heavy alkaline clay soil.

Plus no way camelias can survive our unpredictable fluctuating weather--mild winters and sudden unexpected freezes.

Paper whites--when you have your family photos in another thread I will be able to see what you mean by this. You mention bulbs? red marbles? I'm sure I'll understand soon when Christmas rolls around. Ahhh, Christmas what a wonderful time. I am also looking forward to the next cozy family Christmas photos with Grandma Sally. I love Christmas decorations. My Christmas decoration themes are always golds, copper, sage, and very pale-silver greens. Copper is actually my favorite color. Isn't that so strange? Most people say that their favorite color is blue or green or purple even. James snorts at my taste in colors and says that I like "sap" colors, LOL!

LOL,

Paper whites are small flowered fragrant daffodils. The bulbs just sit in/on the marbles or rocks so you see the bulbs/roots and all. You just keep the water level consistent. No soil, no mess, you should try them sometime. They are heavenly :-) I actually started the tradition after my mother died. I had bought some for her room in her last few days. It was right before Christmas and when she passed two days after Christmas they bloomed on. It's been a tradition ever since.

I'm shocked that you love copper, I absolutely detest it as you can see by my fences, gates, and garden art ;-) I actually have numerous small copper wash tub shaped thingies in graduated sizes that I had planned to make into a water feature but haven't gotten there yet. They're going to be mounted and cocked so they overflow down to each next bigger size.

I'm thinking Jim is going to have a bit of a wait, maybe even past New Years on the camellias. They are worth the wait though because they are gorgeous and bloom when not a lot of other things are :-)

Boxofrox, always such beautiful touching stories about memories and love! I bet Jim would love to see the daffodils. They're actually my favorite spring bulb flowers, but yours are Christmas Daffodils. Now how cool is that!

LOL! about the beauty in copper. Nya, nya, nyaaaaaaa, James, take that! LOL! Serena can now do her mockery dance, LOL! whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo!

Well, it is always so fun that you've got every seasonal surprise. Christmas and New Year's enough to keep our Jim very happy and energized. I will have to check on how that arm is doing. He seems to be typing more, so hopefully it means he is getting much better instead of "starting to get worried over future roses syndrome" LOL, LOL! He did say he was feeling much better but always arms fluctuate. Today I had my worst! bout of carpal syndrome for the month of October LOL! no thanks to HMF and going through rose lists.

i'll be waiting. lol

boxofrox,

recieved your message from serenasyh.
we thank you very much for the link. we watched it as a slideshow and seen all your garden goodies. lol
thanks very much! very appreciated!

You're welcome Jim, glad you liked it. I probably won't start deleting pics anytime real soon but once it hits 600 all bets are off :-)

Boxofrox, my favorite Spartan movie 300 I have used in my metaphors for Mr. Lincoln; but then the mention of the number 600 made me have a sudden flip of thoughts to--- what about a Rose Movie of 600 and 900 and on, and so forth. Poor, Boxofrox, Jim! LOL!

I won't let this OUTSTANDING KING LEONIDAS OF THE ROSES rest! hahaha! Hefting around all this Garden Muscle! hahahaha! when is a King's work ever done? As Harold I am sure! would say the stuff of Legends...

boxofrox,

delete away when you have to. lol. i deleted some yesterday myself.

Jim, hee-hee, yes, definitely! I was just doing the Serena brag, the usual Serena "usual" about how much she loves Boxofrox's garden. I would never tell him what to actually do with his photos or garden, I just love to do my whoo-hoo dance. LOL! But yeah, it's definitely good when I need reminders to settle down, LOL! LOL! time for me to do some self-control, chain-yanking hahahaha!

Your bouquets are lovely-----great photography----fall is my favorite time of year and your colors are great
Florence