The larger Austins, such as Abraham Darby (my favorite!), Teasing Georgia, Janet and Spirit of Freedom will all flop if you don't prune them hard. They're beautiful, fragrant roses which should look wonderful draped over a wall, although I would think they'd all be too big for pots. Mine are all disease-free but then all my roses are. I don't grow disease-prone roses such as the bourbons so don't know how those would do in southern CA but have no desire to when we have the teas, chinas, noisettes and Austins that do well here. Noisettes would probably also work well over a wall although of course they'll get very large. Ingrid

i store.. dry.. unused media for upwards of a decade ... lol.. i buy a lot and apparently dont use it up fast ... when one speaks of OLD media .... i would presume they are talking about USED ... most old media... starts losing its predictability after a few years ... and when it loses such... water management MIGHT become a problem ... and secondarily.. salt buildup ... that crust often found on old potted plants ... when you start thinking about it as MEDIA... as compared to mother earth.. aka SOIL ... then you might take the next step in your learning curve ... i do NOT fertilize in the dark of winter .... i would start fert ... near the end of winter ... when the sun starts getting stronger.. and your plants should start growing a bit more vigorously ... do not treat them as children.. who need to be fert'd on some schedule of yours ... think about the yearly cycles of the plants and fert accordingly ... you do not name the plants we are talking about... so its near impossible to give anything beyond grand generalities ... as al notes.. a media that dries is not a bad thing ... avoids a lot of problems like gnats ... but if the plant is so root bound.. that there is no media left in the pot... then repotting is needed ... i have to re-root spider plants every summer... because there is no media left in the pot of a 2 year old plant.. and that makes it near impossible to water the pot.. in winter.. indoors... in MI.. so though al says its a good thing.. perhaps it is.. perhaps it isnt.. depending on what is going on.. in the pot ... good luck ken

A slim chance, but I think the chewing on one side and the drooling and bad breath probably mean she does need some sort of intervention. She is a former feral and still not easy to handle, so light sedation probably wouldn't work. We'll see what the vet thinks after the blood tests and exam this afternoon. If all are good and she is likely in pain we'll have it done first thing next week.

It depends on how they have been stored over that period. Seeds found in the tombs of the great pyramids have been proven to be viable several millennia after they were initially harvested! Sure won't hurt to just scatter them into the garden where you want and see what happens.