Thank you, Kim, I'll debud her and move her to full-sun once the risk of frost is gone. I'll move my GRAFTED Pat Austin to that clay "swimming pool". I'll bury her 6" deep to ensure the death of Dr. Huey and the growth of own-root. I want to slow down her growth, so her thorns don't get larger. I already took pictures of Pat's thorns, to see if the future-own-root version would improve. Own-root chlorosis on alkaline clay doesn't inferfere with flowering. Christopher Marlowe will always be pale, but he has at least 20 buds compared to Grafted-Pat's 6 buds. He gets much less sun than Pat. Question: Once Pat is moved, I have a full sun, next to the house, southern exposure, sheltered from wind. Should I get own-root Yves Piaget this year for that spot, or should I wait until next year for a grafted Yves Piaget? I don't know how well Yves Piaget does as own-root in alkaline clay. He's low in thorns. Thank you for any info.

I'm from the Pacific Northwest too, and I've found that some varieties that promise the world but don't produce in our area (or have many problems). I've tried many of the varieties mentioned, and I'll list the ones that I've seen do well for the Northwest EVERY TIME. 1. Easy Going - Yellow - I can't believe I haven't seen this mentioned before! It transformed me from a so-so yellow rose lover to adoring, singing it's praises, rose lover. The fragrance is stop in your tracks worthy. And production...unbelievable, at least for our area! I actually had my husband cut off 1/3 of the bush (the bush had become HUGH), and gave that third to my neighbor. Now, 6 months later, I can't even tell it's been divided. My bush at this time has about 80 or so fuss-free blooms. My neighbor's has about 30 roses (she doesn't dead head, and generally ignores it). I see it constantly winning at rose shows, where it's identity is unknown till I check the hidden tag. The only caveat is that with thorns easy going it's not. But being in the Northwest, that might be of benefit, as the deer might stay away. It's reason I invested in a Waterford vase, roses like that deserve the best. Double Delight - Bi-colored red and white - I'll add my vote for this rose of beauty and aroma. Sheila's Perfume - Bi-colored red and yellow - Another beautiful, yet fragrant example. It's not as prolific as Easy Going, but maybe I expect too much? Ebb Tide - Purple - The most vibrant purple, I've seen. Fragrant, but short duration of bloom. I special ordered this, only to have it languish in the post office when I was called out of town when a family member was ill. By all rights it should have been dead, but it revived and is alive and well, it's that hardy. I have, or have had most of the others mentioned, Zephadrin Dauphin (pretty sure I spelled that wrong, sorry) I'd only recommend if you have a spot with a shade, and hate thorns. Angel Face, I found to be super color lavendar, and fragrant, but not too hardy. I'll add Lady Banks, as a scentimental favorite: I don't own it but my mother-in-law, who passed, did (a remarkable lady of great taste). The world's largest rose bush in Tombstone, AZ, is a Lady Banks. If you visit the bush in Tombstone, you'll be amazed, and the rose in your garden will bring back happy memories (I believe you can buy one right there, and have it mailed to your home). I wish I'd had one sent. My best advice for the Pacific Northwest rose lovers is to visit Portland's International Rose Test Garden during it's peak during July or August, if you can. It's truly a delight, but the garden will show you both new varieties and old favorities. You can see what exactly what you'd want in your garden and what will do well. Happy gardening!

Haven't noticed it myself, but I'll try it tonight. Apple cider sounds AWESOME! Hoyas can certainly fill a room - who needs candles when you grow Hoyas? Sometimes coming home is like walking into the elevator after 'that one lady' who works in the building (there's always one). I always think of Josh cutting the too-fragrant peduncles off one of his plants when my Hoyas get especially whipped up. I'll never forget that post lol. I'm glad most species are more moderate...

Geogirl has a good point. There may be services available to your son--but you have to know about them and ask for them in order for him to get them. Again, my nephew's disability is physical, so not an exact comparison to your son, but he is also completely mainstreamed. And that has caused some problems, because he's not in a special ed classroom with a special ed teacher who knows about all the resources. There's a ton of adaptive equipment that the school has, like rulers and compasses and protractors, but no one thinks ahead that during math lessons that use these, it might be a good idea to have them in the classroom for Nephew to use. He can't hold or move a standard ruler very well. But the classroom teacher doesn't know they exist, and the special ed teacher never sees the lesson plans. So what happens is that a week is spent sending notes back and forth between home and school and finally the necessary adaptive equipment is identified and located and given to Nephew. And then the next week, the class moves on to a new lesson topic. My brother and SIL have found that they need to really be on top of some of this stuff and remind the teachers repeatedly, to make sure that Nephew gets what he needs. And this is with a school system that is really trying to work with them--from the start they have been very willing to try new things, to keep Nephew in a regular class (he has health issues so a home nurse accompanies him to school daily), to really try and get him the best education possible. I can't imagine what it would be like with a school system that had less money or no desire to really work for Nephew. My brother constantly gets, "Sure, we have X equipment. All Nephew has to do is ask for it." But it can takes days or weeks to find out the school has the equipment. My brother finally broke down and asked for a list of every single piece of adaptive equipment the school system has, so that they can ask for things without spending days sending notes back and forth. It's the little things like this--yes, the school can help, but you have to know what to ask for in order to get that help. And if you don't know the help exists, it's pretty near impossible to get that help. I would encourage you to ask about other options and find out what's out there. Pull-out sessions, one-on-one aides for certain subjects, extra tutoring, whatever the school has to offer. Ask other parents what support services their kids are getting. And when you identify a specific problem, be it that it takes your son half an hour to figure out what the homework assignment is or that after weeks of your working with him, he still is not grasping a specific concept, go to the teacher and ask what can be done to address that issue. The regular classroom teachers aren't going to know everything that's available, they have too many kids with too many different needs in one classroom, but they should be able to help you find out what's out there, or point you in the right direction.