I think the test fields are moving to Ohio simply because Gardens Alive is located there and that is where their other R&D facilities are. Makes sense to have it all in one place - and saves money. Gardens Alive bid for J&P and even though their offer was, I believe, more than Blackstreet it was not accepted because they would not guarantee they would keep the all the jobs in South Carolina where Parks Seed and Wayside are. Too bad as I think they would have been better owners. Personally I think Weeks is in good hands. Garden's Alive have good people there who actually know something about the plant industry. Keith Zary is a good example. I don't know if Tom Carruth is staying with Weeks but hopefully he is. Christian Bedard also knows his stuff. IMO California mainly grows large roses because of Dr. Huey. It simply pushes larger plants. But Dr. Huey does not do well in my area (or most areas this side of the country) and keep in mind since it cannot be grown from seed RMV is a result of it being used. Personally I'd be happy to see it vanish as a rootstock. There is a lot of growing in Arizona these days and I suspect we'll see more there. And don't count out Tyler, TX. But I think in the end that won't matter. The trend is heavily towards own-root and towards liners finished in pots. Much of the public and quite a few garden centers don't want to deal with bareroots. At best I think we'll see one year field grown own-root crops for wholesale use but I'm not holding my breath on that continuing either. As to retail I think you'll see more and more 2 quart pots being used for mail order - even from the big boys. The traditional bareroot budded crop takes two years from planting to harvest. That means you are attempting to guess what the rose market will be in two years. Think of all those growers who planted crops in the winter spring of 2007/2008 for fall 2009 harvest and spring 2010 sales only to see the bottom fall out in September of 2008. By then the planting of the understock and budding (read the most expenses) were spent for a crop that was now likely going to never sell. With liner production you are almost producing on demand and that means you can react to the market far more quickly and keep losses under control. And conversely bring in larger profits if a rose, or the rose market, heats up. I think the changes in nursery ownership and nurseries closing aren�t the only big changes we are in the midst of. Paul

I agree with the above post. Lose the extra weight before trying to conceive. I was about 15 lbs heavier than I like to be when I conceived (last February) It was right after the holiday eating binge and I fractured my foot and was unable to work out for a month and a half which led to the weight gain. I was thrilled to be pregnant, but not to start out fifteen lbs ahead already! My baby was born 11 weeks ago, and I have 10lbs till I am down to where I was at when I became pregnant, but then I STILL have fifteen more to go after that! YUCK! Be careful though, you don't want to lose too much, or lose too fast because that could upset you menstrual cycle and all your hormones. Maybe just exercise a bit more and make sure you are eating a healthy diet. I would start on prenatals because they are so important! My doctor said the ones over the counter are just as good as prescription. I would take a vacation, or even just stay in a hotel for a night. Save $$ as much as you can. I am a teacher, and when school lets out in May I will not be coming back...my baby needs me...I miss him so much right this minute I could cry! You will want to be with your baby if at all possible so start that home based business. Don't buy baby things till your pregnant, and even then, I have just recently learned...DON'T BUY NEWBORN STUFF! My baby is 2 1/2 months and this morning he is comfortably wearing a 6month outfit! He is not fat...just so long! So many people will give you newborn stuff, they will wear it once. Save your $$$ for when all the gifts quit pouring in. When I was pregnant, I started stockpiling diapers. This has helped a TON. I kept all the receipts in case my baby didn't do well with a particular brand I could return them, but so far he is doing great. We haven't returned any! We just went and bought a jumbo pack of diapers every pay period while I was pregnant. That sure helped. We probably won't be buying diapers for a year! It's nice, because since we are paying daycare until May money is tighter, and diapers are expensive even with coupons, so it was nice to get that out of the way. I will quit rambling, everyone else answered so well it looks like you have tons of great help! Aspen (and baby Logan)

I second the vote for eBay for both original art and prints. There are some amazing deals there. Don't forget to check your local Craigslist too. Do you have little ones? When my daughter was a toddler I gave her two colors of tempura paint and a very good quality nice sheet of watercolor paper and told her to make us a pretty painting. She did, and I matted it and framed it and we had it hung up in the hall for years as "modern art." It looked cool and it made her feel important. I'll second the idea of your taking an art class. That way you'll have fun and have the skills yourself to make what you want now and in the future, and for gifts, too. Then find frames at garage sales. An even more cost-effective way to tackle this is get a good "how to paint ___fill in the blank____" book from Michaels, or online (amazon.com often has fabulous deals on used books for $2-$3 or from your library (free) and practice your painting on cardboard boxes. You may amaze yourself at what you can learn to do. Flowers and plants are pretty easy, IME. It's pretty hard to make a mistake on them. Of course, you can also cut up those cheap books you find on amazon and frame their pretty pictures.

Most woody material I've encountered at outlets here - or have been sent in the mail - has had significant root problems. The exception has been that which was offered bare-rooted, or was received by the retailer bare-rooted, recently potted by them. (Funny how the main peculiar feature of such material is that the root systems are in full view when received by the end consumer or retailer, or presented to the end consumer - when they pull them out of the sawdust. And not hidden inside a pot or burlapped ball). Meanwhile we've all been living through a We Only Want Color Spots and Edible Plants phase for some years now. One where sales of woody ornamentals fell off markedly anyway - supposedly Monrovia almost went under recently. With everyone in apartments, condos, townhouse-style single family houses with significantly minimized yard space* or rental houses there is no market for huge quantities of decorative trees and shrubs of normal size and vigor. *Even the one that looks like a Hollywood mansion that went at the far back of a double lot along a nearly at-the-beach view street just north of the small downtown here has mostly parking and a turn around for a front yard. Other expensive looking new houses being built in place of the old bungalows or ramblers that have made up this same neighborhood for a long time also more or less fill the lots with architecture. In keeping with this another big boy going in up on the ridge some ways back from the water looks like an L-shaped mini-mall. Yet is situated where it is definitely somebody's private dream home - almost all there will be when it is done is house, garage and vehicle access, with in now characteristic fashion the garden space being limited entirely to narrow strips between the buildings (theirs as well as those of the neighbors) and the paved areas.