I can say plenty about about garden structures, but someone more experienced with roses should answer your questions about the "growing". I've made rose pillars out of simple 4 x 4s. You can take a ten foot tall 4 x 4 and pound two feet of it into the ground. Using a post level (a tool that attaches to the post and costs less than $10), helps you keep the post level while you're installing it, or you can just do this by eye. I don't like using concrete in planting beds, so if I need more stability or don't want my 4 x 4 in the ground, I use a post stake on the 4 x 4, and pound that into the ground. You can get post stakes at any Home Depot. After the 4 x 4 is installed, I insert very long wood screws up and down the post on all four sides, but leave them sticking out as much as possible. These serve as anchors to grab the rose canes. A touch of clear silicone on the screw threads will keep them from scratching the canes. As an alternate, you can drill all the way through the 4 x 4 at various points and insert 20" or so lengths of rebar through the holes so that half the rebar is sticking out on each side of the 4 x 4. The rebar then serves as an anchor to drape the rose canes over. Or, you can just tie the canes to the 4 x 4 with something soft as you wind them around, but having ties showing isn't as nice looking. For a crowning touch, I use screws with hand forged fancy heads instead of plain old wood screws, and I top the 4 x 4 with a decorative finial. I have a new Claire Austin pillared right now, and I'm very happy with it. I assume that at pruning time each year, I'll need to unwind the rose from the pillar, prune back the secondary canes and any dead main canes, and then rewrap the rose on the pillar. I can try to take a picture of my pillared rose tomorrow. jannike

Hi Jay -- Here's the reality . . . Gallicas, Damasks, Albas, Mosses . . . The lovely old Northern European roses . . . will not flourish along the Southern California coast. God knows, you can buy them and plant them, but they will not flourish. They will bloom sparingly for one year and less with each succeeding year, and the plants will dwindle. They will suffer from fungal disease. These roses were bred, and evolved, to enjoy a period of winter dormancy, and to pop up in the spring with a huge flush of bloom. Unless you can in some fashion simulate a cold, snowy winter in your garden, you won't do well. (If you would like to re-locate to property about 75 miles inland, now . . . ) One rose, absolutely correct for the period of significance you are aiming for is 'Autumn Damask.' It was the Roman's "Twice-Blooming Rose of Paestum." Roses that were bred to LOOK like the things you like . . . David Austin's Shrub Roses do this. Some do well in Southern California. Many do not. My garden is coastal, and I can give you the names of the Austin roses which have been successful here. The best roses for your location are those with a high level of Asian breeding -- roses that evolved for warm climates, and mild winters. They do not experience winter dormancy (and in fact may bloom most heartily in that season). They will become semi-dormant in a hot, dry season. I've never seen Angel Face really flourish here. I was really charmed a couple of weeks ago by this 'Burgundy Iceberg,' (photographed at a local Convalescent Home, where we were doing a Therapy Dog visit). It seems to be just as happy here as the original 'Iceberg.' If you want to contact me privately for coastal specifics, feel free. Jeri Jennings The Heritage Roses Group Coastal Ventura County, SoCal

I have two nice size well rooted american pillar roses.these roses grow very fast and bloom once a year in spring very pretty bouquets of mauve /pink/rose colored blooms.I would love to trade for ogr roses.I dont care about the size but would like to have some nice roots...thanks Shirley

Since you're wondering which candles are nice, I'll mention some that were a disappointment to me. I bought a large pack at Costco a year ago, intending to use the votives in glassybabys (gorgeous handmade glass holders made here in Seattle). Their light was very yellow and was not bright enough to illuminate the multi-layered glass vessels. Since it was Costco I was able to return them without a problem. This year's stock is probably very different, so my experience may not be relevant