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patricianat

Do you miss them?

patricianat
9 years ago

Old rose friends. I miss them. I cannot recall all of them because my mind does not function that way, but I miss MichaelMAT, Jody, Trish (are you working, Girl?), Missy the Garden Fairy from California, Roebuck, Carol (Carolina), Rhonda (Carolina), Carla (Carolina), Jean (Tennessee), Carol M (California), Malcolm (Alabama), LouAnn, Pesjek, George (Long Island), Brenda, Patrick from Louisiana, Randy from Texas and many, many others. Some left for facebook, some for Heaven. Hey! You guys at facebook. Come home. We miss you, too.

For all of you and those not mentioned, please know we miss you wherever you are, those lofty clouds, sitting on a throne of thornless, healthy roses, but watching over us as we discuss roses, where we met and where we wish you were today, you divine creatures are missed.

This post was edited by patricia43 on Sat, Jul 26, 14 at 9:12

Comments (45)

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    9 years ago

    Yes, I miss them, too. My garden looks pretty bad this year, and I do not have pictures to show, or much to brag about. Ann said that this year she is going to take care of the roots, so maybe next year the flowers will be better. I hope that is true for mine. The winter cold and drought were tough on my garden.

    Sammy

  • floridarosez9 Morgan
    9 years ago

    Even though I mostly lurk, I, too, miss a lot of the old time posters. I especially miss the fun. Many of them were gifted humorists and writers.

  • buford
    9 years ago

    Carla and Trish are on Facebook, I chat with them regularly. Rhonda was here awhile ago. Carol Meyer from Carolina unfortunately passed away earlier this year.

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Some are in a happier rose place, some are ill, some were banned, some became disinterested and some are on Facebook.

    Calling out to Labrea, Andrea, Jackie and all those others MIA to return to the forum. We need them as much as they need us. ;-)

  • mendocino_rose
    9 years ago

    Oh Pat. Carol from Califronia, and Carolina have both passed on. A number of folks are on Facebook, Florence, Lance, Marizio, Melva, more. I wish Missy would post. I see Andrea from time to time and she lets me know how Missy is. The world just changes whether we want it too or not.

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes, I was aware of Carolina and Carol. I had just gotten a sweet email from Carol Merkell a few days before she passed. I was kept abreast of Carolina's condition. So very sad. Andrea visited with me this past week. What a sweet person!!! I was so happy to have her. I occasionally email with Florence, another sweetie. They all need to "come in from the cold," to visit with us here. Calling out to Florence, Lance, Marizio and Melva. I would love to have Missy post. What a sweetheart. I miss her and her beautiful garden pictures and kindnesses. Andrea has a very busy life and a happy demeanor. I believe her biggest garden problem right now is lack of H2O.

    Thank you, Pam, for responding. I did not know about Lance, Marizio and Melva, but did hear from Michael via Andrea.

    Pam, I hear and see your garden, living vicariously through Andrea, who describes it vividly. It sounds like a haven of roses and love of life.

  • anntn6b
    9 years ago

    They are missed.

    I still have my seedling noisette that bloomed for the first time the day some of us worked on Brenda's garden. I call it Merry(Brenda) and a few people have it.

    I do see Jody and Denae and I've talked to Jean. AmazonDc aka Amazin Dirt is around Jean's part of the world now.

    I hope to meet the original Rosebud (not Steve, but the guy who had the name Rosebud before him) as our boat is now in Florence AL.

    Strange thing is that I keep meeting people from the old USENET rose group...and that one has been gone for ? a decade at least.

  • gnabonnand
    9 years ago

    Hi, Patricia and everyone else!
    I've been really busy but am still alive & kicking. I still pop in from time to time, even though I usually don't post anything. I just enjoy reading what all of you are doing and how your gardens grow.
    It's mid-summer here and my roses look horrible, but I still enjoy them. My goal this time of year is to just keep them alive until autumn.

    I'll never abandon you, Patricia! Friends for life.

    Randy

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh, Ann and Randy, it is so wonderful to hear from you. You know I love you both dearly. I would love to see you. Randy, keep plugging and I don't believe a word you say when you say the garden is not up to par. I know you and it is lovely and neat as a pin. Ann, you know if you are in Florence and I have a day to call my own, I might drive up for a visit, maybe lunch or dinner. How 'bout that? K? Randy, you join us too.

    Ann, do tell Jean hello for me and Jody. I love that silly Jean. She is the best. Jody is a great driver, I know that. She might laugh about that. Carla and I had a lot of fun on that drive in Carla's car with Jody driving.

    Oh, please don't abandon us, Randy. We need you!

  • vics_gardenkeeper
    9 years ago

    Please say hi to Jean from Tennessee from me as well. I do miss Bluesibe so much. I loved walking with her dogs on the Bay. She had such a love of life's offerings.
    Kate

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Kate! Andrea and I were talking about you this week, very favorably, I might say. Are we correct in our memories that you are a lover of pugs?

  • rosefolly
    9 years ago

    Mendocino Rose and I were lucky enough to meet Marizio in England this summer. He spoke of how much he enjoyed GW in the early days. He did not say so, but I suspect he is just does not have time these days. I do see him on Facebook now and then, but he has a successful garden design business which keeps him busy.

    We also saw George. He is just as enthusiastic a rose gardener as ever he was.

    Kate, I was thinking of you recently. Glad to see you pop in to say Hi.

    Jean, if you are out there somewhere, I miss your humor and your pithy comments.

    And of course I miss Carol and Carolina both very much. My life has been the richer for having had them as friends.

    Most of you will remember Luanne, our beloved enabler. Her health no longer permits her to go online. She still has her roses, but someone else takes care of them for her these days.

    I see a number of our missing people on Facebook. It is fun, but it is not the same. We can maintain our rosy friendships there, but we don't have the wonderful conversations we have here on GW.

    Patricia, I am so glad you started this thread.

    Rosefolly

  • cath41
    9 years ago

    I miss Robert in Virginia. Does he have a new garden? If so, I would love to know details about it.

    Cath

  • carla17
    9 years ago

    Patricia, I want to hear about your visit. Lance is married and seems very happy. He is still a roseaholic. I've seen Melva post but not sure how she is. Michael is fine, as you've heard. I agree that Carol (California) was so thoughtful. Such a sweet soul. Sonny is on Facebook too and seems well. Never hear a peep about how Jean (TN) is doing. Even Renae formerly from Chamblee's pops up now and then. I miss the old days here too but as life goes on, so comes changes. I come here once and a while to see what's going on in this rose world. Take care everyone.

    Carla

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh, Carla, thank you for posting that. You are a font of information. Please spread the word to all those lost souls wandering around on Facebook to come in from the cold.

    My visit with Andrea was wonderful (for me). She is such a gracious house guest albeit I am not always the perfect host. You know health issues often get in the way of doing what you want. LOL.

    Tell them change is good, but the change to Facebook is getting so c. 2000.

  • paparoseman
    9 years ago

    Hi Patricia43, this is Lance and WOOHOO I am SOOOO happily married. My wife's house is RIGHT next to Puget Sound just across the water from Seattle. The new garden is being planted and having learned a LOT since I started growing roses back in 1997 this time EVERYTHING is being PLANNED as it goes in. No more PLONK and hope, or failing to lay down a ton of newspaper/cardboard and then covering it with a mulch. A bed that was just completed has Portland roses at the bottom then a few teas and polyanthas then a few gallicas. Basically it has a mix of everything you could want in a rose/perennial flower bed.

    Oh and in this garden the weather/temperature moderating from the nearby water is a magic elixor for helping my tea roses not lose much if any of their canes during the winter.

    I have been married for nearly three years now. It turns out that I met my wife in high school and even though at that time we were not friends I remember her smile/laugh better than ANY girl in school back then over 35 years ago. I was NOT her type back then, teenage girls having the idea of what they like not being based on real world experience at the time. But flash forward 30 years or so an we all find what we really WANT and NEED not what seems to be the most exciting.

  • mariannese
    9 years ago

    I miss Aila Korhonen from usenet. She was one of the funniest on the rose forum in spite of her not quite perfect English. I met her only once in real life. I was reminded of her on my recent rose trip to Finland where I saw so many specimens of her namesake rose, a spinosissima the Finnish breeder Pirjo Rautio named in 2000 in honour of Aila's expert knowledge of that class. She died about 16 years ago. Some people are never forgotten.

    I miss many others both from GW and from rec.roses.

    Here is a link that might be useful: 'Aila Korhonen'

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    I hate facebook! I'm on several forums and many people have left the forums for facebook but it's just not the same. There's no real discussion there and that's the part I like. One place I used to go to is completely deserted. Another is really limping with just a few of us left. GW is actually the most active one left around I think.

  • roseseek
    9 years ago

    Each loss leaves a hole, and each is sorely missed. One of the most enjoyable rose people I have met was Jimofshermanoaks, who lived a short distance from me. We knew each other outside of the rose cyber world. He passed a year ago last week and left an enormous hole. None will ever be truly "filled" or "replaced", but some leave more severe aches. Jim's certainly is one. Kim

  • anitasacramento
    9 years ago

    Nobody has mentioned Da Kernel, Mel Hulse. I miss him constantly. He was energetic, tech-savvy, generous, and full of ideas. And did he ever love roses and the San Jose Heritage Rose garden!

    Yes, I know that things change, but gosh I hate to lose good people in my life. Mel's influence is always with me, but such a big gaping hole.

    Berndoodle is another who I miss. She was a tremendous help to me and the Sacramento garden years ago. She is on FB occasionally. Travels and a granddaughter and a horse are taking up her time.

    We got to spend time with joninwessex at Mottisfont, along with George and Maurizio.
    Anita

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh,Lance. It is so good to see you. What wonderful news. A girlfriend from the past becomes your bride.

    I have to see pictures of your garden, but you know I have always loved plonks. How wonderful it is for you to come by and visit. Please make this more frequent.

    You know I am a bit jealous of your living in the Puget Sound area. Roses are just too beautiful there and I will be jonesing for yours once they start growing and blooming.

    Congratulations on the marriage and I hope it remains just this happy for 30+ years. Amazing. What a wonderful coincidence that you would meet again and marry. You now have that smile full time. Take care of it. Give her roses daily once they are blooming. Make her life special and yours will be as well.

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh, that Berndoodle. I was asking Andrea about her the other day. She is traveling, huh? I recall when she was working faithfully on helpmefind (can I say that here)? Things change. I recall she had horses,

    Yes, Mel is missed.

    So many great people gone, some like Jimofshermanoaks and others who just go to Facebook and get hypnotized.

    Mariannese, I did not meet your friend, but I bet she is a delight.

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    9 years ago

    Have any of you spoken to Kaye for awhile?
    Her garden is magnificent. She used to post all the time, and I haven't heard from her in ages.

    Sammy

  • mendocino_rose
    9 years ago

    Sammy, I was thinking about Kaye when this thread started. Remember also Kaye's friend Connie? They came to visit me years ago with Connie's mother and friend Beer Hog. This list of folks is long. I do miss all of them.

  • sidos_house
    9 years ago

    Celeste (celestialrose) was also a wonderful contributor.

  • Campanula UK Z8
    9 years ago

    Yep, and she (Celeste) had terrific gardens too.

    I also miss my fellow wild-rose lover, Cass (Berndoodle).

  • anntn6b
    9 years ago

    I met Kaye and her husband several years ago when they had an estate to deal with in my county. Really good people.

    From the original list, Field Roebuck died several years ago.

    I still make Carla's pound cake, the one she brought to the open house I had here after one of the Ashdown things. And I miss her following the birthdays of all of us.

    I'm trying to remember the name of the woman from over near Murphreesboro.

    Hollysprings sometimes posts on the kitchen forum; I'd met her in person and she's neat and does lots of good things some of which she got into after a tornado did damage nearby.

    Carolina Carol told me that Joss is still in roses but on facebook. I do miss Joss.

    Michie, who had a hurricane pluck newly planted roses out of the ground over near Mobile. Missed.

    Melva's buddy in Noisettes who moved to Denver and then back to east Texas.

    Dang, I'm having trouble remembering names, though I remember them in rose context. The woman who had such a nice nursery in southernmost Mississippi and who had the Wolf River back up into her yard and first floor after a hurricane.

    Randy Trinis up in the mountains of Virginia who had a great nursery and a really great rose and clematis garden.

    A lot of the folks with smaller nurseries did learn how to play by Spike's rules and we were the richer for them being here.

  • labrea_gw
    9 years ago

    I miss CarolFM terribly I accidentally erased the last message I had from her on my cellphone!

    {{gwi:289794}}
    It was so much fun to roam around with her when she would come up to NY!

  • bluegirl_gw
    9 years ago

    Anyone know about Bax? I believe he was Baxter Boyd & had a rose-swapping website "Make more roses" that had good photos of rooting cuttings.

  • reemcook
    9 years ago

    It so nice to see my rose brother, Lance, here! :D

  • hartwood
    9 years ago

    What a wonderful conversation!!

    I had forgotten about Barry Boyd's web site. He is a member of the same rose society as me, but his time is spent more with his family than it is in the garden or online.

    Randy with Sherando Roses .... remember him fondly. Bought my very first OGRs from him. What a wonderful place he had to waste time and learn about roses. He was the most talented enabler I ever met. It was Randy's retirement and the closing of his nursery that prompted me to take up the slack and start a nursery of my own.

    Robert has moved on from the garden we all remember. He spends very little time online nowadays.

    As Paula said, it was wonderful to meet some GW friends in person while we were in England ... George, Maurizio, and especially Jon! Just as wonderful was the chance to see Anita, Paula, Pamela, and so many others again.

    I check in here from time to time ... usually just reading and catching up every week or so, rarely posting. This has been a good summer to be gardening and reclaiming my very neglected roses.

    Great to 'see' so many familiar folks!

    Connie

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    What a great thread. Occasionally, something works. My garden has not; it is a mess.

    With plans to begin again in Autumn, we will clearl the ghosts and skeletons created by Roundup and a few seasons of drought, plant a few teas and several ramblers.

    If only the ramblers will grow and bloom before the grim reaper finds me.

    This has been such a fun discussion albeit a bit sad as some can never return, many have lost interest in roses and/or gardening while others are hypnotized by Facebook.

    As an aside, the local rose store in our area has survived and done well: Petals from the Past.

    This post was edited by patricia43 on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 16:33

  • mendocino_rose
    9 years ago

    How nice about Petals from the Past. If someone was again selling roses locally here I would be ecstatic.

  • springroz
    9 years ago

    Has anybody heard from Sherry in Ocala? I have checked her blog, and there have been no updates for a long time.

  • buford
    9 years ago

    Sherry is doing fine. Her husband had a stroke last year, so she has been spending a lot of time caring for him. She is on FB a lot (sorry seil!)

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you, Pam. I am elated to see that they are not only doing well but I believe expanding secondary to a very large landscape business closing and assuming some of their business. Our area is so economically depressed in the last 4-5 years that many, many businesses have gone under and some were icons in the community. Very sad.

    I am sorry to hear about Sherry, I understand. Buford, do give her our regards and love.

  • organic_tosca
    9 years ago

    rjlinva and the beautiful pictures he would post of his fabulous garden.

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes, rjlinva. I miss him. Remember that garden when he started it and how he designed it and all the hard work! Would love to see how it is going nowadays.

  • jeannie2009
    9 years ago

    Connie, I was just going to post that I missed your posts when I spotted yours. I just want you to know that your lovely blog has helped me to start my Rose Rambler Lane. This part of the garden is only 3 years old but its coming along nicely thanks to you.
    I also wonder whatever happened to Cliff from Desert Rose. And Ashdown Roses his skill was amazing.

  • roseseek
    9 years ago

    Cliff appears fairly well, thankfully, and is dealing with the extreme heat in his new high desert garden. I'm in contact with him fairly frequently elsewhere. I'll pass on the word he's been asked about. Perhaps he will chime in. Paul Zimmerman from Ashdown has a presence on Facebook and appears well, also. Kim

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Good to know that Cliff is doing "fairly well." Hope all his concerns are about the extreme alone, if that is not enough. Still there are others. Remember the lady who had the fairly large high desert garden with the cute personality, similar to Zelda Fitzgerald. I loved her charming garden. Wish I could recall her name. I do believe it was to do with high desert garden. She had a world of poppies and very cute captions in her wording.

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    9 years ago

    There was a time when many of us shared ours lives on the Conversations Forum. We also used the "personal' page to update others on our activities.

    The GW made a change years ago that spooked many of us from writing on those pages. I wish that we would return to being able to update others on our activities.

    All kinds of things our affecting our lives that I would like to hear about. Many of us cannot garden well, or have events that are interfering with our being able to communicate. We don't want to say something "of topic", so we do not post. As time goes by we stop all together. We need to activate the "off topic" (conversations) forum.

    Problem: Did GW tell us that what we post will automatically go online? Something scared us, and I do not remember what it was.

    Sammy

  • patricianat
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    What scared us was nonsensical. I remember and it did not scare me. Some people thought their photographs were going to be used by GW with a violation of their property rights. You do not have to use your photographs here if you choose not to, but that was never the case, just some elementary scaring so that GW would lose many of its posters to Facebook, which it did. Some just misunderstand what they read and yet they went to Facebook where everything they say is being cached as it is on Google. NSA doesn't miss a trick but someone was afraid their rose photographs being used without accreditation.

    That Roundup scared me much worse than my photographs.

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    9 years ago

    I remember that now. I was never too concerned about my pictures since my abilities are not that great. The problem is that now it is hard to know much about each other. Often it does not make a difference, but since we ask for opinions, it helps to be able to guess a person's perspective or age to see where they are coming from.

    I need to make gardening easy for me. Someone who is 30 years old who has worked with a person over 60 or 70 can give valuable advice. But if they just imagine what being older would be like, their advice may not be too practical.

    Sammy

  • gnabonnand
    9 years ago

    This is a great thread!
    Rosefolly, thank you so much for the update on Luanne. I have been wondering how she was doing. Please tell her Randy says hello and that I love her and miss her. She taught me so much over the years, and not just about roses. What a special lady.

    Randy