First, there is no way the pot will survive outside with the rose in it. The pot will have to be emptied and turned upside down, or brought inside. Second, you train New Dawn in much the way you train cats. The two of you come to a more or less mutually acceptable pattern of behavior. Maybe. Training it up a tree sounds like something that is going to work about as well as keeping my cats out of the goat cheese. It's just not in the nature of the beast. You need somewhere it can spread out. It does best on walls or very large trellises. It might survive the winter in a pot somewhere like a window well or behind a pile of straw bales. It sounds like you are in an urban heat island, so it may be generally warmer than you think. IME, the canes start having trouble around -15, so it isn't a zone 4 climber. However, it is crown hardy much colder than that.

Are levers easier for hands that may become arthritic? Neither of us has the problem, now, but is does run in my family. Yes, and for cats, too. Something to think about if you have felines. :-) Is brushed nickel a finish that would wear off easily? Does it make a difference if the material underneath the finish is diecast zinc or forged brass? According to our builder, brushed nickel holds up better than most other finishes, everything being equal. But quality of manufacture is going to be the biggest determinant. Die cast zinc is cheap. Forged brass is not cheap. If the maker is going to the expense of forged brass, the finish will almost certainly be of superior quality.

The nook over our fireplace was originally framed out for our existing CRT set and as such is only 43" wide. My plan is to install a new Hitachi 55" plasma unit up there that is 59" wide. The nook is almost 3 ft. deep. Does anyone have experience with what type mount (150 lb. capacity)might extend horizontally to take up that depth and hang the TV flush with the wall itself? BTW, totally comfortable with heat and viewing angle. Thanks for the help.

Cory, As far as citrus goes I have 7 right now and two more on the way. They are little right now ranging from 4 inches to almost two feet. I did get bit by the citrus bug but I am trying to keep it to 10, at least until I become a bit more experienced and can keep them happy year round. I don't know what else loves the gritty mix but I also have two dwarf pomegranates and a ton of houseplants (pothos, philodendrons, dracaenas, spathaphyllum, hedara helix, spider plant, fiddle leaf ficus, and others), some cacti, and succulents(jade, many aloes, tons of sansevierias) and one agave. Amazon does have the 32 oz size of foliage pro for $20 and the one local nursery I haven't called yet is running a 30% off fertilizer sale until the four so I will see if they carry it. My apartment is on the ground floor and I can store things in a space behind my apt but you are probably right about testing it out. I do live in a dry windy climate and donot have the ability to use an irrigation system. My tomatoes get very thirsty during the summer and they are in a pretty water retentive mix. I would also have to bring them in during the winter and while my windows are fantastic light wise, I may have to upgrade my current stands to hold heavier plants. Good point about checking the sieve screen size, I had not thought of that. What size screens are recommended? I haven't even begun to find better pots yet. They are in the standard black nursery pots still. I was planning on painting them white, or in the very least taping either foil or white paper around them(I did so last year for veggies with success) but painting them half white is a fantastic idea. I am in a superb location for beautiful hand crafted pottery and Craigslist is great to find nearly new but cheaper great pots for when they need bigger sizes. I will look out for plastic pots with a more uniform size for short term, thanks for that tip. I am excited for all aspects of their growth. I get super excited for new growth on anything, kinda like when you're first in love and can't stop smiling about it. I keep bringing the tiniest bud to my family's attention and they just don't get how awesome it is. Hopefully they will share my enthusiasm when flowers bloom or at the very latest when we get to eat the fruit. I will try to get some pictures to share and will probably be pretty active here as I am learning and new questions come up. :)