My mom has a rose that looks like this, is very hardy and blooms more than once per season. However, it is very fragrant and i am sure that the leaves are different.  I love the smell and the colour. ... more »

My mom has a rose that looks like this, is very hardy and blooms more than once per season. However, it is very fragrant and i am sure that the leaves are different.  I love the smell and the colour. It is an American Beauty Hansa Rose. Maybe yours is a different Hansa Rose. Lots of people around here grow Hansa roses because they are very hardy. (I had to look up "doughty" to see what it means. I like it. I will keep that word. Thank you.) (less)

You're welcome. I found Hansa roses via Google and see the resemblance but I think they have more petals than mine and shorter stems. Some stems on mine grow five tall before they stop and make flowers at ... more »

You're welcome. I found Hansa roses via Google and see the resemblance but I think they have more petals than mine and shorter stems. Some stems on mine grow five tall before they stop and make flowers at the top. But who knows? That's kind of the point of these plant mysteries--there are enough of us that one of use does know (but has to chance onto this page and help). (less)

I googled it and here is a URL for a photo of it. 

Is there anyway we could open this site so that others could post on it?  Or make one that would be open to the public.   Queen_of_Gre... more »

Is there anyway we could open this site so that others could post on it?  Or make one that would be open to the public.   Queen_of_Green  has helped me identify some of these. http://www.yourgardenshow.com/users/Clenram/gardens/ramos-disorganized-garden/activities/78412  Can you take a look?  Thanks  (less)

Here's a ... more »

Here's a good photo of a white centranthus ruber. See what you think. (less)

http://www.yourgardenshow.com/users/Clenram/gardens/ramos-disorganized-garden/activities/71783 (less)

Oh dear, I don't want to spread alarm. This is the cap of the acorn of a bur oak, one of the toughest native oaks here in Iowa, adapted to dry spells and deep cold. I can't imagine why it puts energy into ... more »

Oh dear, I don't want to spread alarm. This is the cap of the acorn of a bur oak, one of the toughest native oaks here in Iowa, adapted to dry spells and deep cold. I can't imagine why it puts energy into this largeish cup. On the other, the overcup oak has a cup that almost encloses the acorn. (less)

Other cool stuff in the background but I've forgotten most of it. I think there was an elderly Aeonium arboretum 'Schwartzkopf' (that's how I learned to spell it but there are many other spellings)--a cool... more »

Other cool stuff in the background but I've forgotten most of it. I think there was an elderly Aeonium arboretum 'Schwartzkopf' (that's how I learned to spell it but there are many other spellings)--a cool succulent with near-black leaves. http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2885 (less)

I think I wasn't clear. At the bases of the redwoods, where the shade is deep, there's moss.  But on the way into Muir Woods, just 300 feet from the first redwoods, I saw an old madrone covered with b... more »

I think I wasn't clear. At the bases of the redwoods, where the shade is deep, there's moss.  But on the way into Muir Woods, just 300 feet from the first redwoods, I saw an old madrone covered with big disks of gray lichen. Long, long ago, my parents took the family, we were four kids then, to Yosemite. We camped on the valley floor in a surplus tent, we climbed an easy trail  to the top of the falls where my young brothers splashed like seals in a shallow pool near the brink. I remember being very worried about them. Somewhere I have a photo of them grinning . (less)

California is an awe inspiring place.  The have so many ecosystems unique to that state.  Such diversity too.  As a child I had lived in about 10 different cities there.  All the way fr... more »

California is an awe inspiring place.  The have so many ecosystems unique to that state.  Such diversity too.  As a child I had lived in about 10 different cities there.  All the way from Northern Rio Dell to Southern Bakersfield.  On the Eastern border in Lake Tahoe and on the West Coast Hayward, near San Francisco.  And Central California in Greenville and Auburn.  My mother had family there, she was one of nine.  They have all passed now, but we lived with every one of them over the span of 5 years. Then I moved home with my father in Houston, where I was born. Anyway, sorry I rambled. I would like to visit the Redwoods again. They are magical. There was a Peach tree in Rio Dell that I have never seen again. It had dark purple flesh and gray fuzzy skin. It was the oddest peach I had ever seen. It was also the sweetest and juiciest I had ever eaten. It has been a life long quest to find a peach like that to grow. It was not a freestone variety. It could have been a hybrid or someone's own experiment. (less)

Though I did not see as much of California as you when I lived there, I spent years in Coronado, more years in Alameda, and more years in Palo Alto. In between I camped in Yosemite and Twin Lake, drove eas... more »

Though I did not see as much of California as you when I lived there, I spent years in Coronado, more years in Alameda, and more years in Palo Alto. In between I camped in Yosemite and Twin Lake, drove east through Needles and Barstow, passed the California State lifeguard test swimming out and back from Oceanside, and got as far North as Ukiah to meet the folks at Fetzer Vineyards who were thinking of going organic. Since I moved away I've been back  many times to many other places and every time I have this big feeling that I should stay and find my forsaken roots. But the Golden State of my youth doesn't exist anymore. (less)