Thanks, greenhaven. That's what was thought last year when I asked for help on it - cottonwood seeds or similar, but I saw no sign of those, was out a lot, you'd kind of notice. This year there have been a lot, so it is a logical supposition. They wouldn't cause buds to be deformed and blooms odd as well, so I lean to aphids for the damage. The first two pictures are one bush, and if there were aphids on there, I got them, several on other roses in that area, seem to have gotten most of them. The last picture is the same kind of rose, just in a different spot. I'm sure there are those cottonwood seeds on there, too, but am also sure now that york_rose was right. I think I see both cottony seeds and leavings from aphids in my photo. I know for sure aphids were on the other one because I saw them, and I did blast them as best I could for a couple days, the hose is awkward to pull around there, guess I need to pick up a couple more guides, often miss them, but they help.

ummm, is the planting material in the barrel holding too much water? I have found I have to load the bottom of a big barrel with styro or other big material and then plant in just maybe 1/3 of the upper portion. gives the plants room to grow w/o being in too much moisture. might change your mulch too....that black stuff might have been hiding in some of it waiting to explode. just my '2 cents'.

I think so. It depends on whether they are healthy, on whether you can keep them healthy and happy in our tough weather conditions and on whether you can keep the spider mites off of them. Since the recommended fall planting date range begins July 1st, if I bought them, I'd pot them up into larger containers than they're in now, and since it is hot I'd go with 3 or 5 gallon containers. I'd water them every morning, and then check them every evening to see if they needed to be watered again. I'd feed them every week with a water-soluable plant food diluted to half its usual strength. I'd site them so they'd get morning sun and afternoon shade, or at least so they get shade during the middle of the day. I'd hold them in this situation for a week or two to help them get over being left in their current containers too long since they are 'leftovers' from the spring planting season. I'd start watching the weather during the last week in June and hope for a 'cool' day to come along near early July. Then on the evening before that cool day, I'd transplant them into the garden and water them in well. I'd probably put a cage around them right away, and then use clothespins to clip a sheet or tablecloth or someting over them to give them a break from the sun for the first 3 or 4 days. Some sunlight would be alright, but mostly you want to shade them until they recover from being transplanted. There are plus and minuses to being end-of-season plants, but in the case of the tomatoes, if they are healthy at this point, the pluses outweigh the minuses because they are a little older, a little stronger, have a larger root system and clearly have been well-cared for or they wouldn't still be alive right now. They are likely to adapt well and flower/produce fruit as soon as the temperatures fall back into the proper range. If you're going to go out of town for a couple of weeks on vacation and no one will be around to take care of them, I wouldn't buy them because in our heat, they need daily care. In May, I reached a point where I had to do something with my back-up plants. Nothing had died, so I hadn't had to use them to replace anything and they were getting way too big for the plastic cups in which they were growing, and they needed to either be planted or thrown on the compost pile. Well, clearly, I have a "more is better" attitude, so I squeezed in a new row of tomato plants in between an existing row of tomatoes and a row of pepper plants. I figured the worst that would happen is that they were too rootbound and wouldn't grow and I'd yank them and compost them. For about 2 or 2 & 1/2 weeks, they just sat there. They didn't grow at all, but they didn't go downhill either. I handled them as I described above, except they obviously were in the ground and not in pots, and then they finally started growing. Though still significantly smaller than the tomatoes that were planted at the right time, they neverthe less look good and are blooming, If the weather permits, they'll eventually set fruit. In fact, they look healthier than plants that went into the ground in early April, likely because during a lot of the time they were held in cups, they were shaded from the sun for half of each day. So, while planting them late was a risk, I'm happy with the result and glad I didn't compost them. If nothing else, in July when the adjacent row of pepper plants is getting hot, cranky and tired, this last row of tomato plants will be tall enough to partially shade the peppers, which is a good thing. So, my attitude is 'nothing ventured, nothing gained', and I'd give those plants a chance. dawn

She is quite sick, and it is important that she get the rest, hydration and meals she needs. How fortunate she is to have a loving mother to help out. Jeff's girlfriend sounds like a fine person as well. Family helps family when the need arises. I don't think pneumonia is contagious, but strep is, so if you handle things she has handled be sure to wash your hands. Can she sleep in her own room separate from others? I bet she will feel much better in a few days. If not, call the dr. How old is the baby?