Spring Snow

I thought that I would document the fact that we had snow in the valley even after the "calendar" beginning of Spring.  There was an accumulation of 3 inches of snow in my back yard.   In future years, we can reminisce about it and compare future weather events to this one.  Below are two photos of my big rose bed, one from the morning of March 22 and the other from the afternoon of March 23.   It should be said that we didn't have any rain to melt away the snow; rather, the 23rd turned out to be a warm and sunny day.  Notice the receding snow protected by the shade of the house.

Morning of March 22

Afternoon of March 23

If anyone with blogging aspirations is interested in how to place photos side-by-side, whether you are an SRS member or anyone else who has chanced upon this blog, you are welcome to view my "test" blog by clicking on this link:  http://mikestest-salem.blogspot.com/

Silverton Seedy Saturday

We definitely had a good time over in Silverton today at the Seedy Saturday event at the Grange Hall.  Various groups were sharing their knowledge and a variety of seeds with a friendly crowd of visitors.  I gave away hips from my 'Queen Elizabeth' roses.  Maryann gave away rose hips from a number of roses that she grows:  'About Face', 'Baby Fauraux', 'Berries n Cream',  'Crimson Cascade', 'Della Balfour', 'Julia Child', 'Lichfield Angel' and 'New Zealand'.  Joyce and Wes from the SRS were also there to provide great support.  Good luck to those adventurous people who received our  rose hips  -- don't forget to send us pictures of your blooms.  Your new  rose plants will each be one-of-a-kind, because seed from non-species roses will not come "true", even if the blooms were open or self pollinated, which makes for an interesting and fun experiment !

Here's some photos from the event:

Photo # 1  --  On the left are two visitors.  We fortunately had them outnumbered;  from left to right are Joyce, Wes, Maryann and Mike.

Photo # 2 --  Maryann with new friend Jo, a promising rose grower.

Photo # 3 -- Maryann with old friends Amanda and family.  The above guests and Amanda and each of her children (and lots of other folks) selected their very own rose hips.  We wish them success in growing their new rose plants.