Diane - I've never seen a live mantis. How big are the ones you see? Today (Wed.) will be the hottest day left of the year, I'm sure. It's going to be 25C/77F!!! It was so great to be outside today in the sun. It was 13C/55F, and it felt wonderful to have the sun shining. :) I had some raspberries that have ripened, and I hope to have hundreds more ripen, but I'm not sure if that will happen. But there's no freezing temps/snow in the next 2 week forecast. :) What a humongous weed your daughter found. lol Seeing a shiny bee (not a bumble) is a bit of a rarity here. It tickled my fancy to see your bee's shiny butt sticking up from the flower. lol AL is looking lovely, and I hope she gives you lots of blooms this fall. That's right, Blueberry Hill is one the of the parents of WBY and one of the grandparents of Sweet Madame Blue. I love your Big Purple; sure it's not purple, but it's wonderful all the same. :) Sisters Fairy Tale rose blooms look a lot like Eglantyne? What do you think? They're so lovely. :)

Otterbon - WOWZA on your Peace and Broadway!!! They're gorgeous!!!! Why don't I have Broadway? What a beauty!!

Kentucky_rose - It's amazing to see how many blooms you can harvest. Pope John Paul II is my fave!!! Oh, my and SWOON!!!!

Jim - great pics! I especially love the hummingbird (wow!!), the flowering boots, and the zinnias. I spent a lot of time today squishing aphids, and I saw lots of ladybugs. I guess I'm happy to be feeding them. :)

Diane - I googled beige Assassin bugs in Idaho, and it came up with a list of contenders, and I'm pretty sure that's an Ambush bug which is a type of Assassin bug. The info is proprietary to InsectIdentification.com

https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Ambush-Bug

Is it okay to use it here if I cite it? I love the last picture the best!!! The belted bumblebee looks like it's made out of pipe cleaners. lol Gosh, I love your Augusta Luise!!! SWOOOON!!!! Blue Bayou and Blueberry Hill have fantastic coloring. Oh my!! Freddy forms an incredible blooming bush. I wish I could have seen a close up, too. Heirloom is gorgeous in both forms, but is really unique in the last pic of it. Cool!!! Heirloom (last pic) deserves a big ole SWOOOOOOOOOON!!!!

Jim - I'm in love with the white/purple petunias around your wishing well; wonderful choice!!

Diane - Oh, THANK YOU for showing your Jude!!! SWOOOOOOOOON!!!!!! I adore your Jude so much!!! Happy, happy!!! I'm also in love with your Hollyhocks. I wish I could grow them here. I also really love the pic of Fred and Jude together. PAOK is a standout!!! What a bloom!! I love your Snowball, and I hope mine finally blooms next year. lol I think it'll need more sun than it got this year. Clare takes wonderful pictures. :) Hard to believe that you can get Bro Cad and Jude to be that impressive. That spot deserves a chair in front of it. :) I think your Evelyn and Sarah plonk is the most beautiful plonk in the world!!! SWOOOOON!!!! Talk about sumptuous!! Your La Bella Snapdragons are what a snap should be like!!! I could never grow snaps here. I tried. :) SWOOOOOON over your Brother Cadfael!!! I stared for so long at the blooms, especially the one on the right. Exquisite!! Thanks so much for your Way Back Machine. :) :)

Not much blooming after the cr*ppy weather. But there's some things. I'm wondering if the black thing on the bud at the 9 o'clock position is a ladybug nymph.

Lots of buds...and some aphids, too.

Pop Art showing her colors

Some raspberries that are ripening.

La Reine

Raspberry Cupcake blooms that have lasted quite a few weeks.

Living the Dream, not showing any pink probably because of the cool weather.

Roberto Cappuci with its wonderful rust. Not a rose I'll be keeping, lol

Rose of Rosalie - not a rose I'm in love with, but I'll probably keep it another year.

I really love my Fashion Forward, and it's so fragrant.

Rue Saint-Honore...gosh, I love this rose!!

Anni

Perfume Factory - took until late August to bloom

Heavenly Scented has been a great bloomer for me and it's very fragrant. I think the blooms (not this one) have lasted for at least a month. I just cut the faded blooms off today.

Carol, It’s hard to believe but the growing season is winding down. You have had some real pretty roses. I am interested in Anni. Keep me informed about it. Roberto Capucci was a disease magnet for you and I love mine so much that I may order another one next year.

Diane & Jim, Blast from the Past are GREAT pictures! Beauty from the past!

Kitty, I guess you’re on the road with roses, Anastasia and cat. Safe travels!

Yesterday I cut a sprig of Lampion and thought I would put it in a vase and ”watch” it. My first thought was look at those thorns. So far, not impressed with this rose and I love yellows. Blooms look better in picture. Bush is healthy and vigorously growing though.

A small Lady Capri at bottom

Carol, I love Broadway—it has been a great bloomer that produces gorgeous blooms and is so fragrant! I do think maybe the knock on it on HMF is that it isn’t as disease resistant, but I don’t remember if that’s right or if I’m thinking of another. All of my plants end up with some form of blackspot at some point or another but it hasn’t been the worst of the bunch, just a few spotty leaves here and there. But I do love it!

Kentucky, bummer about Lampion. I kind of eyed that one but didn’t end up getting it, maybe a good thing.

Peach Swirl and New Year this morning! Peach Swirl goes very pink in the heat instead of the lighter peachy but wow, the fragrance on it is sure one of my
Favorites!