Okay, this isn't what you asked, but let me just throw in that I do grow the Alexandra Rose. She is on her own roots and at the merge of two walkways. Even though she is lax and outreaching in her habits, and although she does send up suckers, I still haven't found it necessary to move her elsewhere. I just keep shortening her even during the season and she keeps right on blooming. I think she is lovely. If I had had my wits about me (ha!!) I probably would have put her back farther, but that is the story of my life in roses....

Thank you so much Jeannie -- We live not far from the water but up on a hill not too far from the Verazzano Narrows. I so feel sorry for the poor people in Staten Island and on the Jersey and Long Island barrier islands who lost everything. And also downtown Manhattan. The darkened skyline was so very sad looking, when we walked down to the pier to look. It reminded me of 9/11. There was noticeable debris -- chairs, and wooden boards washed up on the rocks, but people were fishing and jogging unconcernedly. Another walk -- to Sunset Park in the other direction --revealed the same unearthly sight of a darkened skyline and Statue of Liberty. But even there there were children on swings, as usual. Nor was Halloween affected. For our part, we didn't lose power and our basement miraculously didn't flood. We had cleaned out the gutters, filled the bath tub, made chili and brownies and brought the houseplants plants inside. My shrubs and perennials in containers (many slated to be gifts for friends) stayed outside and weren't affected. An exception was my little plastic greenhouse that blew up to the top of the retaining wall, despite the cement block I had put in it to keep it down. Otherwise, our garden, an eternal work in progress, appreciated the rain very much. Starting Tuesday, Verizon took away our cell-phone and internet for 48 hours. I suppose they needed the interchanges for other people. And there is no gas -- it was like a zombie movie. But one doesn't need a car here. For the most part it was not the wind but the tidal surge in low areas and then the gas shortage that have been disruptive. The gas stations are still closed, but most subway lines are running. There is a nip in the air, though, and tomorrow we are going to have another storm.

For awhile I was unable to access old gardenweb topics and had pretty much given up on being able to do so. I'm so glad I tried again and I'm grateful for the wealth of information I've found. Thanks to all who contributed! I may need to replace a white rose in a spot that receives morning sun, some late afternoon sun, then dappled sun the rest of the day. I thought a hybrid musk might be nice there and have thought about Pax. It will go in beside Ivor's Rose. I don't spray. Soil is thin,dry, rocky and off the charts acidic but is heavily amended. (I can grow native rhododendrons easily.) My last couple of hybrid musks have done OK. Are there any peculiarities that make Pax different or more challenging than others of its kind?

I can't believe that my Bubble Bath is still covered in blooms. I looked back for my post for Vaporvac, titled "Someone asked me for pics of Bubble Bath". That post was dated April 20, and there are spent blooms in the pictures, so I know it started before then. I'm happy to say my Bubble Bath has been blooming for two months now. I didn't realize how much it had grown in such a short amount of time either. I really like this sweet little rose. It's doing great in a lot of shade here too! I don't have deer, but the rose slugs have been terrible this year. They seem to hit some roses much harder than others. Bubble Bath was not hit the hardest. Lisa