My local BJ's has the same offering, but they jammed the plants so tight on the rack you couldn't move them (without doing serious damage to the canes) to identify the plant. Making matters worse the name was on the BACK of the box at the very bottom. Those I could identify were climbers which I don't need. I also found it humorous they put them at the end of the laundry and dish detergent aisle. I know if I'm looking for a rose that's the first place I'd check.

Anyone have any ideas for spreading the word to local nurseries without being offensive? There's one in particular right in my area that's across from a high-profile, big selection of Proven Winners, overpriced place. The service sucks, but people must go for the selection. The smaller place is family owned, with good service, but it sells mostly annuals, super-common perennials and shrubs, own-grown and Proven Winners. No one around here sells old roses and this nursery could fill the gap left by Great Lakes Roses if it wanted to and give people a reason to come, or at least cross the street... With its location, the nursery is in a situation to cater to wealthy and very wealthy people (who not only have a lot of rose-growing land and could hire the gardeners to care for them, but would be enticed by the idea of an antique rose, especially because of the history and not everyone has one -- roses as a staus symbol), and also the poor and not as wealthy in my area who also have old and historic homes where such roses would fit right in and low-care would be a big bonus! If this place advertised in the Michigan Gardener (our state gardening magazine), was featured in the paper by a well-known gardening columnist (who would probably love to help) and put ads in the 2 small-town papers and the neighborhood and historic district newsletters, they could easily drum up a lot of interest! Would you write a letter? Go in? What's the nice way to say, "Look, your nursery is boring, most of the traffic is across the street, and there's not much reason to shop here. This might be a little risky, but there is some demand for these roses here that could help your business, you're in a good situation to really market yourself in the area and beyond, and here are a couple of vendors that you can buy from"?

No quality issues. The Sony plasma tv's looked good and performed well, too. They were buying their panels from Pioneer and when the contract ran out it wasn't renewed. Pioneer wanted the extra capacity for themselves. Sony had decided to get out of the consumer plasma market and concentrate on LCD tv's. It has been suggested that this was to avoid the whole plasma tv price war that the low cost Chinese and Korean mfgr's started. Be careful, some of those warehouse stores sell products not intended for the US market. EG: Sam's Club once sold Pioneer laser disc players intended for the Canadian market. US Pioneer wouldn't honor any warranty claims. Also, look out for refurbished products. That Sony plasma tv you mentioned may also be just a monitor with no tuner or speakers. I've done a bit of looking around but have found nothing on this model.

When the owner was asked by another visitor if she would be open again next year, she grimaced about the amount of work but I have a feeling her gardens are that spectacular every year (and weed free). She said she bought the property across the road and was planning an apple orchard. I feel lucky to have gone this year. She recommended Christopher Lloyd's book on succession gardening. Danielle's sister's garden in Nashua used to be on Open Days several years ago although I visited when it was on the local garden tour to raise money for the symphony. She was at Danielle's when I visited. Said her garden had a lot of vole and rabbit damage this year so she has lost a lot of plants. She had already started downsizing her tropical collection she planted in pots and next year when her husband retires, they plan to do a lot of traveling. I don't think her garden will ever be open to the public again which is a shame because she gardens on a small suburban neighborhood lot with a steep backyard slope that's shady. No professional landscape designer but she did need some gardening help. Lucky you to have visited the Epsom garden 10 years ago so to know how much it has changed. Funny thing, I didn't notice the pollinators but I did notice how well the red in the red and cream sunflowers along the side of the garage marched the paint color. Comments were made that the dark red was a great back drop for all the colors. It was painted three years ago ... I wonder how the painters dealt with all the plants? Maybe it was fall.