Anybody else want to run out and rent "Best In Show" with Fred Willard & Eugene Levy???? I was also going to add "what Jaxondel said"; however, I had to look up "cotton buds" because I was not erudite enough to know they are "cotton swabs" (I thought we were talking about cotton balls). The bright side of this coin is firstly, that I can now share some wonderful information on the history of the cotton 'swab' (if I may, Suzy?) or what we call the Q-tip (not to be confused with the rapper): Cotton swab - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_bud I also feel duty bound to mention that the "Q-tip" moniker is now owned by the British conglomerate Unilever who bought Cheesborough-Ponds, so perhaps in a few years you may have to transition, Suzy! And for those who've been titillated by this information, I have only scratched the surface on the history of the humble cotton swab (which I must admit I thought was interesting because I know I can safely do so in this company): Q-tips: History http://www.qtips.com/history.php Finally, in the interest of full confession, disclosure and, dare I say competition? I fully admit cotton swabs are one of my rare brand snob purchases, I prefer Johnson & Johnson swabs because the 'buds' are bigger ;-) G'night all...

Daisy: Since own-root roses are small, I move them around a lot and observe their roots. OWN-ROOT W.S. 2000 has thinner roots & more cluster roots thus need a fluffy medium to push through. In contrast, Comte de Chambord has long woody sticks, not much cluster roots, and cannot handle tons of acidic rain resulting in black spots. Hard woody roots need hard-minerals in clay to form. W.S. 2000 as own-root has PALE and small leaves. Small leaves mean it needs fluffy or sandy soil, and pale leaves mean it blooms best with acidic rain. It refused to bloom with my alkaline tap water at pH 9. In contrast, DARK-GREEN leaves like Dee-lish, Intrigue, Liv Tyler, Arthur Bell, Double Delight, Firefighter or Evelyn bloom easily with pH 9 tap-water. Dark-green leaves are also prone to black spots during acidic rain .. while the very pale leaves like own-root W.S. 2000 never have black spots, even with tons of acidic rain. Sharifa Asma also has pale leaves as own-root and I never see blackspots on that one. pH of rain here is 4.5. First pic. is own-root W.S. 2000 in my amended clay (note the pale and tiny leaves). Second pic. is Sharifa Asma (gets rain water from my 6 rain-barrels so leaves are darker green). But own-root Sharifa Asma was very pale with alkaline tap water at pH 9. Own-root Carding Mill also has pale leaves and refused to grow with alkaline tap water. Light-green or pale leaves are BEST AS GRAFTED. I wish I had bought Sharifa as grafted. See own-root W.S. 2000 below: Own-root Sharifa Asma below: All my 134 varieties are own-roots, and Facebook Fragrant Rose Lovers (founded by Khalid) helps me in choosing dark-green and large-leaves for my alkaline & dense clay. Khalid urges his 1,800 international members to post bush-shots where leaves and growth can be seen. When I want an own-root rose suitable for my rock-hard clay, I search inside that Facebook group for "dark green leaves" or "large leaves". These rosarians always post bush-shots plus detailed description of each rose (lineage & types of leaves). The info. is more accurate than HMF since they post many bush-shots in different weather (above 110 F, or month-long rain, or in sandy soil, or pots, plus bush-shot videos of rose so I can see what type of soil they have). Below link is Facebook Fragrant Rose Lovers group, fantastic reference !! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1412992132360557/permalink/2264173233909105

I have the exact same bush and thought that it was weird also. I actually purchased it because of the gorgous peach bloom on it and then the next bloom was red!! You are not going crazy and it is not because of different growth and aging. The bush is called "Joesph's Coat" which if you know your bible stories means "The coat of many colors" It really is a beautiful bush and it actually gets better over the years. I have had mine for over 7 years and it just keeps getting bigger and more beautiful every year. This year I actually had a purple flower next to a yellow one. Everyone who comes to my house questions me about the crazy rose bush. I have actually bought ones for many family members because everyone loves mine so much. You are not crazy! Enjoy your Joesph's Coat's beauty!

I don't know what kind of spider it is. Any spider other than mites is good for your rose. They do not eat plant material. They will eat many of the bugs that do damage to your bush. Sometimes the webbing gets to be to much for the buds. I just take a small stick put it in the web and twirl it and the web comes off.