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luxrosa

Fragrant rose with longest vase life?

luxrosa
9 years ago

I'd like a rose that lasts more than 3 days in a vase, 5+ days would be ideal.

I love giving bouquets to my friends and would like to give them roses that last longer than what I presently grow.
Presently I grow mostly Old Garden Tea roses, which are beautiful and bloom nearly all year where I live, but I believe they at least partially win their appearance of "exquisite delicacy" as an author wrote, at the price of having less petal substance, or thickness which adds to the number of days a rose blossom survives in a vase.

The 3 colors I'm most interested in are: white, yellow, and purple hues.

My mom gave me a rosebush named "Tournament of Roses' and the blooms lasted more than a week in a vase, even in hot weather, but it has no or little scent.

Thanks so much,

Luxrosa

Comments (122)

  • strawchicago z5
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Carol: You are the friendly & wonderful "energy" that vitalizes this forum. Without your positive spirit, this forum would be boring. Always love & appreciate your posting. The only reason I post here is your wonderful company.

    The deep-cup blooms with thick petals like Dee-lish, Princesse Charlene de Monaco, Sweet Mademoiselle, Firefighter need ungodly amount of SOLUBLE calcium, magnesium and potassium. These do best in high-minerals thick clay.

    The shallow-cup blooms (less height per each petal, like 1/2" height versus 1" height for deep-cup) need less SOLUBLE alkaline minerals to build the shorter petals. Examples are Radio Times, Bishop's Castle, W.S. 2000, Savannah, Sharifa Asma, First Crush, Queen of Sweden .. these are OK with less-minerals sandy soil.

    The minerals-hog are best as own-root (French Romanticas), these own-roots can produce more acid to convert solid-minerals into SOLUBLE forms usable for roots.

    Grafted-on-multiflora don't produce enough acid to dissolve the hard-minerals in soil. Osmocote Plus and MG-SOLUBLE don't have enough solid-calcium to make deep-cups, and there's not enough soil in a pot to make thick & heavy cup-bloom.

  • lynne CA Zone 9B
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Thank you, Diane, Straw and Carol!!!

    Diane, how big is your RR? Mine is first year still in pot. Will move it to ground later in fall.

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Lynne, my Rouge Royale is about 5-6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It's pretty good sized. In your zone it should be at least that big. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Oh Teresa!!!! You are the kindest soul...and right back at you!!! I really, really enjoy "talking" to you (Diane too!! among so many!!) I can't imagine going through life without all of you!!! And, oh my, your patience, Teresa....the stuff of legends!!! :) :)

    So...adding sulfur (I bought the kind you recommended a few weeks before the end of the season) will that do the trick for breaking down the minerals?

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Thanks, Carol, and I agree with you about Theresa. Plus her roses are gorgeous and a good "advertisement" for her methods. Osmocote, Miracle Gro Garden Soil, not to mention Lilly Miller should pay her a commission per each recommendation she makes. I'm still waiting on my Augusta Luise commission from Palatine--haha. Some of these bigger companies should subsidize fun field trips for us forum members. They could do different sections of our countries and haul us around to various gorgeous rose gardens and rose retailers. Better yet, they could send us free roses and fertilizer. Even better, they could hire me a crew of diggers and edgers, Yes! My own crew, courtesy of Lilly Miller. Diane

  • strawchicago z5
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Diane: Love your wit and sense of humor. You always make me laugh with your posts. Thanks.

    Carol: Yes adding garden sulfur (30% acidic sulfur) compared to gypsum at 21% acidic sulfur will break down and release minerals.

    I always mix gypsum or garden sulfur with my GRANULAR FERTLIZER. I saw chicken manure (chickity doo doo) at NPK 5-3-2.5 with 9% calcium gunking up on top for months despite tons of acidic rain.

    I don't see ACID Lilly Miller (with soluble phosphorus & potassium and sulfur) gunking up. This works fast in pumping out blooms with healthy leaves.

    I tested Plant Tone NPK 5-3-3 with 5% calcium and 1% sulfur and it DOES NOT WORK as well as Holly Tone NPK 4-3-4 with 5% and 5% sulfur. Holly Tone made my roses TOO TALL & stingy since Tone's fertilizer has INSOLUBLE phosphorus as bone-meal, and sulfate of potash is 3 times LESS SOLUBLE than muriate of potash (saltier, but more soluble).

    CONCLUSION: Espoma Tone's products with bone meal is best in the planting hole and NOT on top. Bone meal (22% calcium and 10% phosphorus) is only effective if soil pH below 7.

    Lilly Miller products with SOLUBLE phosphorus and potassium are best on top, with ACID Lilly Miller NPK 10-5-4 moves down fast thanks to sulfur added.

  • lynne CA Zone 9B
    3 years ago

    Thank you, Diane, that's big! I have to find a good place for her.

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Diane - sooo true!!! She should definitely get commissions!! And, yes, wow....you've created such rose-lust for Augusta Luise...if we were there in Rachel's office we would trample over her like a herd of cape buffalos trying to get to Augusta!!! LOL Yes!!!! We could go around the country and do SLIDE SHOWS!!!!! LOL Or we could have working gardens...you know how people pay money to go to working dude ranches...well people could come and work for us AND pay US!!!! Get rid of those nasty weeds!!!! Dig that hole a little deeper!!!


    Teresa - I'm always laughing over Diane's comments!! She's a hoot!

    SCORE!!!! I actually am doing something right!! Sulfur....man, I can't wait for next year...they'll be able to see my blooms from space..."Control, come in, control. There seems to be some sort of color explosion in Alberta near the mountains." LOL

    Oh, now that's interesting, isn't it...Plant Tone isn't as good as Holly Tone...I wouldn't have suspected that!



  • strawchicago z5
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Carol: Your 2 daughters get their smart-brains from you. You are fast to figure out things, and I love your smart questions which help me to learn. I'm more conscientious in eating after I see how plants benefit from good nutrients just like humans. I'm taking my vitamins & eat more FRESH foods daily. The best fertilizer that I tested on roses are FRESH & unprocessed alfalfa hay, sold in HUGE BALE for only $10. The heated & grind up fertilizer can't compare to FRESH horse manure of FRESH alfalfa hay in bales. That's just for health. But for fat & decadent blooms with zillion petals, some chemicals (or vitamins) like Lilly Miller with SOLUBLE phosphorus & potassium & calcium (in sulfur or gypsum) is fantastic.

    Jobe's Organic soil Acidifier at $10 for 6 lb., has both sulfur and gypsum with 30% total sulfur, and the rest is calcium. Sulfur is needed for plant growth and dark-green leaves.

    An excerpt from below link: https://www.agronomy.k-state.edu/documents/nutrient-management/nmrg-secondary-nutrients-management.pdf

    "And calcium is also essential for many plant functions including cell division, soil wall development, nitrate uptake and metabolism, enzyme activity and starch metabolism."

    Now my best bloomer in late fall is Sweet Mademoiselle, in 4 hours of morning sun, with 40+ blooms for fall flush. I put at least 10 cups of gypsum (20% sulfur and 80% calcium) to break up my rock-hard clay. It has the deepest cup & most thick petals that last 5+ days in the vase:


  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Teresa - Oh my!!! Those colors are fabulous!!!! Such a romantic looking rose...I could drown in that color!! You can get that amount of bloom with only 4 hours of sun?! My goodness...you are doing everything right!! I kept my Sweet Mademoiselle because you helped me get it growing again...has a long way to go...but it was going downhill...and I was going to stop watering it. I never did get a bloom from it...but I'm really hopeful...and I want the blooms to look like yours!! :) :)

    Yes, actually, I read somewhere that the intelligence of our children is passed on through the mother. I haven't checked the source as accurate or not...because I like the message. LOL Thank you!!! Your daughter must be a genius!!!

  • strawchicago z5
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Carol: yes, my daughter (the baby in my profile-pic) is a genius. In 9th grade, she scored 35 out of 36 on her ACT. As a senior in highschool, she scored 1580 out of 1600 for her SAT. She REFUSED to study for both tests. When she graduates from high school, she will get credits for the 16 college classes she took during high school (through AP classes or dual-credit). I feed her 2 TBS of flax-oil per day (for Omega-3) since she's 2 for her skin-eczema. I'm pretty sure that the Omega-3 helps with brain development.

    In the same way, Bailey (Prickles) fertilized his Young Lycias in a pot, with fresh salmon bits and he got 120 blooms for spring flush. Fresh fish emulsion is powerful for rose-health, same with fresh flax oil (imported from Canada) for my daughter's brain. Omega-3 is amazing, it's documented that countries with the most Nobel Prize winners are from coastal countries with high fish consumption: Japan, Israel, and Norwegian countries. My daughter doesn't like fish but she consumes 2 TBS. of RAW & fresh flax-oil since she's 2.

    I'm too cheap to buy fish emulsion for my roses, but I work FRESH GRASS CLIPPINGS into my soil months in advance. Grass clippings have plant Omega-3, same with alfalfa hay. Cows which are grass-fed have higher Omega-3 in their meat.

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Intelligence is inherited from both the father and mother. It's a multi gene inheritance. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Diane - yeah, that makes sense! :)


    Teresa - I don't doubt that your daughter is so smart...your whole family is filled with doctors and scientists (you) !! To not have to study for those tests and still absolutely crush them....she's really, really smart!! Does she know what field she wants to go into?

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Carol, I didn't mean to write such a short, brusque answer above, but I was in a hurry and forgot to come back and add to it. There are some conditions that seem to be inherited from mothers--like lovely sex linked diseases, for example, like hemophilia. My son in law's family has male victims of one such disease that destroys kidneys and kills. Wonderful son in law (not a victim) is a living kidney donor to his nephew, a victim in his twenties, whose kidneys were entirely destroyed by this awful, sex linked, inherited disease. The kidney donation was several years ago, and was entirely successful......I have to brag about my granddaughter, Clare. Clare and Jemma both took many advanced placement classes when in high school, and Theresa's mentioning of them rang a bell. One of Clare's AP classes was art. The final "test" for the year which had to be passed with a good grade to receive any credit, was a big project. Clare knew she wanted to major in illustration in college, so as a high school senior, she wrote and illustrated a children's book, and did the color illustrations, devised her own font, etc all on the computer using special software. There were a ton of illustrations, and her story was in rhyme and so charming. She published the book and sold it on amazon. I always wished a major publisher would have picked up her book--it was that good. Anyway, our dear Jim bought his nephew one of the copies on Amazon. This was over four years ago and Clare has her degree and it currently illustrating books and videos for various publishers. She does computer animation of volcanoes for a volcano expert's film, a project ongoing for a year now. My dream is for it to be picked up by National Geographic.


    Theresa, that is wonderful about your daughter, who is determined to do things her way, and will do them well, I'm sure. Keep us posted on her accomplishments. The fun is just starting. Diane

  • strawchicago z5
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Carol: My definition of smart is being the best one can be in any particular task. My Mom is actually the smartest, she raised 12 children well & fantastic cook, and the best janitor for Fred Meijer's corp. She's very conscientious and devoted in everything she does, be it cleaning or cooking. There's NO sloppiness or carelessness in her 93 years life. I would rather be the best janitor on earth, than a sloppy & snobbish doc.

    The Mexican guy who chopped down my 20-year-old corkscrew willow tree (cracked into half) .. he's the smartest and amazing with his skills, but charged only $600 while other tree-companies gave estimates ranging from $1,500 to $850. He's out to please the customer .. I asked him to shoot the tree-grinder-machine right smack into my front bed. So I got a HUGE pile of wood-chips from my corkscrew willow tree, that's way more than the $600 I paid for wood-chips to mulch my garden back in 2001.

    My 18-year-old daughter wants to be an actuary or applied mathematician, she's gifted in math and kept bombing me with questions about math since she's 3. So being smart is using whatever gift God endows us, be it a cleaning person, tree-pruner, mother, chef, gardener, artist or mathematician.

    Diane:; Just saw your post, I love your info. and admire your Claire. When one has a gift, let it shine to the world !!

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Thanks, Theresa. I loved your post, too, and the great examples of people being the best they can be. We all benefit. Your daughter is the first young person I have come across who wants to be an actuary. More power to her, and she will always have a good job. In our family, all are musicians, and all are good at math--these two traits are often inherited together.


    I have to do one more granddaughter brag--this time it's Jemma. In addition to music and art abilities, she's a gamer. Sometimes she goes on a gaming website where people pay to see you play games singly. She has actually been paid to play computer games while people watch. I am learning new stuff all the time, and I am so out of it. I kind of wish she was going to one of the big universities that have game teams with players that receive scholarships just like any other sports teams. Her talents have brought her scholarships, so I shouldn't complain. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Diane - I know. :) You are not a brusque person...I took no offense. :) Really wonderful to hear about your daughter...she takes after you in being involved in the arts! I would think that bringing volcanic movement to life on a computer would be really difficult!! To be that talented!!! Oh my!!! To do that well, she must also love what she does. What's the name of the book she wrote?

    I wrote a novel when I was about 27 years old. Never showed it to anyone but my family. LOL It's a book for teenagers about a native girl who turns into a swan in order to stop the ossification (turning to bone) of a fairy-swan world.

    Get out!!! :) You have a granddaughter whose job is to play computer games while people watch? She's THAT good!! Wow!!

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Carol, that's the truth. Jemma religiously studies and attends class online. Even sings in the college choir online. But in her off time, she streams her own show to a website where people pay to watch really good players play computer games. She has lots of fans, and the fans even watched her make cookies with her mom the other day. Fans hail from Europe (Ireland, England) as well as the US. She has a special camera, microphone, and streaming set up. My granddaughter Clare is the book writer and illustrator. Her book is titled, Don't Stare, and it's for young children, though it has a lot of charm and appeal to adults, too. That's so neat about your novel writing (I wrote poetry and wanted to write a bio of my grandmother, but never finished). Your novel's story line sounds like something Clare would like to illustrate. Tell me more. It appeals to me, too. Clare has illustrated a book for an author whose book is about a teen obsessed with social media-blah. Not interesting sounding, but it was a good paying job. She is illustrating a video about teaching children to read right now. More interesting, but still just work. I should tell Clare about your book. Clare does all her illustrating on the computer.


    More reasons never to leave home: Covid is on fire in Boise and other areas of Idaho. My son in law's mother hosts a family fish fry every year. She lives about 125 miles away in a covid hot spot. So son in law, who misses his mom a lot, will set up streaming this Saturday in our kitchen and living room of us having a fish fry, while the long distance family has their fish fry, too. I'll hang around to eat like crazy and say hello to them. With computers, who needs to go anywhere? I'm not serious, of course.


    I have many bouquets and great sadness as I say goodbye to my precious roses, and huge pot of nasturtiums, among many other things. All the peppers are gone, the cuke vines, the basil, the tomatoes, all gone. Whaaah. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Teresa - I love how proud you are of your mom!! She sounds amazing!!! Twelve kids...I seriously can't imagine. I'd have to go into a loony farm. Plus she worked...she must have amazing energy!!

    Awesome!!! Tree chopped down and wood chips thrown right where you want them...that saved you a LOT of work!!!

    I didn't see your latest post, and when I read Diane's post saying that your daughter wanted to be an Actuary...I thought "what?" How did I miss that. I guess I could have scrolled up. Anyway.

    Your daughter loves math!! And she has a plan for her career! She's ahead of the game. Excellent!


    Diane - kids today are really clever in figuring out all of the streaming, etc. Really good way to make some extra money! Maybe even a lot of money. :) I just checked out Don't Stare...Amazon reviewers give it 5 stars!! They let us see a little peak at it. And it rhymes! Adorable!!!

    I write poetry too!! Most of it is a bit creepy in tone

    Here's one I just did

    After the Party

    After the party,

    his fragrance lingers,

    My shaking fingers touch

    the glass he held to his lips.

    I carry the cut crystal,

    cradling its hard coolness

    to my flushed cheek.


    The key dangles

    creating heft on its chain

    as it swings while I walk

    towards the chest with the

    padlock.


    It opens with a raspy growl

    as the sharp, pungency of

    wine breathes on me.

    His glass joins the others he's touched,

    pressed his lips against,

    laughed against.


    He is hers. But he will always be mine.


    Do you have one you'd like to share? Do you publish yours?

    Well, my novel is called Above Her Flew an Eagle. The Eagle is supposed to be the Great Spirit. He appears now and then just as a shadow, a glimpse of hope. The main girl is 12 years old. She has to live as a swan with other swans in order to somehow bring the magic back to a dying swan queen and her world behind a waterfall.

    Here's a bit that I chose for no reason. I haven't read my book in over 25 years LOL


    She dreamed of an eagle, larger than life. She lay across its back, a small muted figure against the dark brown of its plumage.

    They tore through the sky, raging against the wind, spinning and bucking against gravity.

    He spoke.

    "I chose you long ago. My mark was laid upon your cheek before you were stolen from your life."

    He paused in his speech to pierce her with his brown, searching eyes.

    "Do not worry. You are mine, and I will have you back."


    Maybe Clare and I could work together??? But I've never tried to publish anything and don't have a clue what to do. Plus, I think I'd have to rework a few sections. But anything is possible. :)

    ------------

    Two fish fries at the same time...sounds like a lot of fun!


    Here's a {{{{{{{HUG}}}}}} over your beautiful roses and summer being done. Maybe you could work on making a calendar or a book with all of your wonderful pictures! Now we'll have to think on Spring. :)

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago




  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago




  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Carol, here are some of Clare's illustrations--and she doesn't always draw females. These are just ones I picked hurriedly. All done on the computer. I want to comment on your post tomorrow when it's not so late. I need to read some Stephen King to drive political thoughts from my brain. Good night, sleep tight. Diane

  • strawchicago z5
    3 years ago

    Diane: Those illustrations look great & very experienced drawings. Clare is gifted in art.

    Carol: I love your poem, it sends shivers down my spine, that's how good it is. What I like best about your poem is the IMMEDIATE effect, the images flow right into my mind. Very effective writing is when sensory images enter the brain fast, without my needing to pause to figure out what it means. YOU ARE A GIFTED WRITER !!

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Thanks, Theresa. Clare is a wonderful writer, too.


    Carol, is that poem written by "our" Carol? I loved it, but now I know where your dark side goes when it needs to be expressed--your poetry. The first thing I thought when reading your poem was "vampires". There is definitely a vampiric quality to that poem and it works. And leaves us all a bit puzzled.....I am especially enamored of the swan theme in your book. I can see a beautiful swan fantasy tied together with native stories and myths. Swans have been a design favorite of mine, which I used when I was a free lance designer years ago. I will definitely talk to Clare about your book. It's easy to publish via Amazon--I'll get details from Clare. It requires some money, but not that much because you only publish a minimal quantity of books at a time. Not like the old days, when a big investment was required to self publish, and the author was left with quite a stockpile of books to market on her own. I'll be back later. Diane

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago


    I see this as you, meditating on the meaning of it all. Diane

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago


    Happy Halloween. Long live Circus Peanuts. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Diane - Clare is really gifted!!! The last one with the candy corns and the candy necklaces is amazingly whimsical!! I love the deer one with the girl's hair entwined with the antlers, like they are connected in a mystical way. Wow!! I'm so proud of her!!! :) :)


    Thanks, Teresa!!! I love writing poetry...and I write them in about 5 minutes...so it's easy. LOL I'm thinking of making a book called, "Beyond the Pale" and fill it with my creepy poems. LOL Maybe I could get Clare to illustrate it and show me how to get it published.

    Here's my favorite creepy poem I wrote:


    EVIL

    Roses kissed the morning air when I met evil

    It was on a Tuesday deep in summer's redolence.

    The sun was high and cast no shadow,

    Yet I saw darkness clear as day.


    Recognition of like lifted the corners of my mouth.

    I circled him and he circled me.

    And then cautiously we touched, both knowing what the other could do.

    As he lay dying at my feet, I stepped over him to enjoy the day.

    -----------------------


    Diane - yeah, I write all sorts of poetry...but it seems like my style has "evolved/devolved" into the creepy. LOL

    I don't know about my swan book...it's about a Native girl...and I'm not native. So, would Native people be upset that I am using their culture to write a book??

    Oooh!! Do you have any pictures of your swan designs that you could share?

    I wonder if Clare's talent could be used in the direction of my poetry. She would have to drastically change her style...but she's very talented......


    Oh, I love that picture!!!! Especially with the person (as part of the original universe) is in a place that's foreign and feels a connection to the void. There's a path to the void...but does he/she follow it? Did Clare do that too?


  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago




  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago




  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Carol, these are all Clare's work and show her wonderful range. The works that feature the night sky in all the odd places were part of her senior art show for her college degree. All done on the computer. Her self portrait is just above the scene here. I was looking for something she had done illustrating a bit of an evil twist, but couldn't find one..... I loved your poem "Evil"--just who is the evil one? That twist is what makes this poem special. We can't answer its question, just like we can't know why evil exists or exactly what it is. But we know it when we when we see it. Yes, like recognizes like. Love it so much. More later. Diane

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago



  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Thanks, Diane!! I really appreciate your words!!! I really think there'd be a great fit ... because I can see the darkness, loneliness and "lost-ness" of the last picture. My absolute favorite picture of hers is her self-portrait!!! Stunning!!! I can imagine that doing a self-portrait would be really difficult.

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Carol, I'm back for some more off the topic of roses discussion--ha. I've been thinking about your swan book. How much of the story line is taken from Native lore? If you made the story less dependent on a Native story, maybe you would feel better about the story line. As a US citizen, I'm no expert on this problem. We've been terribly insensitive about using Native American images and terms from school mascots to team names. I really like the swan theme, though, and hate to see you give up on it. I'll ask Clare tomorrow about the nuts and bolts of self publishing through Amazon. Costs will have changed, though. I'll also mention your "Evil" poem and your "swan" book, and see how she responds. I don't know if I have any swan designs of my own photographed for sharing. I'll check. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Well, the eagle represents the Great Spirit/God. I've got some Native lullabyes. Her dad works the trap-lines like the Natives do in Fort McMurray where I lived for many years. And it's important that she be Native so that she can connect with nature in order to save the mystical swans.

    Thanks, Diane!!!! :) :) Yes, we've shamelessly gotten away from roses here. But it's a very old thread and I don't think the OP visits our rose forum any more.

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Oh, your story sounds wonderful and you know what you're talking about. I see how it would be hard to turn it into something that didn't follow Native stories. Have you ever had the chance to ask a Native person about how they feel concerning this kind of thing? I like your idea of a book of "Evil" poetry with interesting illustrations, too. Do you ever write anything Edward Gorey-like? I'm a big fan of his. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Diane - I've never heard of Edward Gore...I just googled him and read The Meadow....love it!!! I wrote another poem...but my friend says it's too over the top...that I don't want to encourage people to think that way. I think she's right. There's nothing grotesque about it, but the tone and the words...

    I'm just too good at that stuff. And I have a really hard time writing gentle poems. Although I have. :)

    I'm basically lazy/afraid of failure...so the idea of asking a Native person kind of scares me. But, maybe. It would depend on if Clare would like to illustrate it. If not, I don't think I'll pursue it.

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Carol, it's Edward Gorey. That might help the googling. I've never heard of Edward Gore--ha. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    I thought you had made a typo. LOL!!

    Edward Gorey....cool poems...some a bit creepy...LOL Thanks for mentioning him!! :)

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Gorey's drawings are even more cool. The animation at the start of PBS "Mystery" series was based on Gorey's art. He was a regular in the New Yorker magazine, too. He was a real eccentric. Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    You know you have it made if you're featured in the New Yorker!!

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Actually, Gorey wrote and illustrated many bizarre books, and his home is a museum on Cape Cod, I believe. I got Clare one of his books for Christmas a couple of years ago. It was about these strange children, and I think it was written in verse. It was called The Gashlycrumb Tinies.

    I talked to Clare a bit about your poems and book. She said getting them self published by Amazon's publishing company is easy. Then I forgot to get her to write down the details. But I think if you go on Amazon's website and hunt around, you'll find info on self publishing. I've seen the info many times. Clare was interested in the illustration idea, and I want to talk to her more about it. She's deep in a job right now, illustrating software on teaching children to read, and the publisher/editor who hired Clare keeps making the work more elaborate and changing things. Clare's stress level is building dealing with this person. Say....this thread is a great place to have private conversations I've noticed. Heehee. Maybe I should post a rose photo. Diane

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago



  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Hahaha!!!! I laughed when I read "Maybe I should post a rose photo." Teehee!! Sure, I won't start anything until I hear from Clare. See how much she charges, etc. Although my husband is on board with the cost. No hurry. I've waited this long. LOL What's a little while after 40 years. :)

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Brilliant!!! I love it!!! What do you think of me taking those poems off of this site...they're kind of creepy. Do you need them still for Clare?

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Hey do you want to be my partner on Wordsplay...it's like boggle.

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    Can you leave them up for a while? They're fine. Or you could send them to me in a message, or whatever is easiest to do. I'd like to read more of them. Carol, I don't play games. I'm flattered that you asked, but I'm terrible at games. What is Wordsplay, exactly? I don't even know what boggle is. I know it's hard to believe, given I have a granddaughter that is a gamer. Where did I go wrong? Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Diane - lol!! Boggle is where you have a bunch of mixed up letters (this game has a grid of 5 X 5 letters...and you have 3 minutes to make as many 4 letter (an up) words as you can. :) But no worries. Knowing me, I'll forget and ask you again. LOL


    Which project does your granddaughter want to get involved with...the poems or the book?

    Sure, I'll send you some more poems. :) Thanks for asking!

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    Okay, sigh. LOL I can't figure out how to message you. I'm so dumb at this. :) :)

  • Diane Brakefield
    3 years ago

    I can't figure it out, either. I used to know, I thought. I'm afraid to just list my email here. What do you think? Diane

  • rosecanadian
    3 years ago

    LOL...the two of us!!!

    Well, you could post it, I could answer...then you could delete it. Not many people are up at this time anyway. LOL