Sorry folks, this one is a tad blurry!

You’ll also notice, if you look closely, that it is NOT a red rose. Oh, but it is supposed to be! I specifically went in search of a rose like Grandma’s, comparing descriptions on the internet and even seeing some bloomed. Finally I settled on a Gypsy Rose. A nice bright red, big bloom and great smell.

I watched it grow. I watched the blooms form. Strangely they were kind of pinkish orange…sigh. The plant was mismarked! I was *very* disappointed, but the rosebush was planted. Worse, I had also bought a Miss All American Beauty–for the only other location that I could use for a rosebush. No more room for rosebushes.

This pretty orange rose smells very nice and lasts very well as a cut rose. Sadly, the bush is a *climbing* rose bush, which means I must spend more of my gardening time pruning it. At least the All American turned out to be a bush type, rather than a climbing type.

Rain Barrels Yup, you guessed it. Still needing a little bit of adjustment. Today I planned on emptying them, using the last of the water for the garden. Two things went awry. The water in the main barrel was beginning to smell–very, very bad. I think the oak pollen was happily rotting away. Secondly, after I propped them sideways, not all the water would actually drain. No way was I leaving that smelly water in there! So we had to disconnect the two barrels and empty the water out the overflow. The problem with this is that the connection was intended to be permanent–using tie-wraps. Looks like we need something that I can take on and off because I’ll definitely want to empty the barrels completely, especially during times of the year when there is potential for mold, smell and any other nasties that I haven’t thought of yet.

If anyone is looking for us, we’ll be at Wal-Mart and the auto store checking out hose clamp type things to find something that can be taken on and off.