Hi, Lynn. When no one posts a comment to a thread it stays at the top of the page. Since this post is no longer timely I posted so that it would move down the page. Bobbie

TONI rub it in will you? Mine didn't make it and I used the vermiculite and bag trick this time! I did actually manage to get some sedum to finally put on some roots, last year I did my rooting in August with hardwood cuttings I am going to try that again this year and see how it goes. I have a purple butterfly bush, a honeycomb BB and a red bottle brush I wish to try this time. I SOOOOO hope the bottle brush takes it is sooo pretty. I do have a few hardwood cuttings of a smoke tree in water and I thought they were dead so I was going to through them out the other day and noticed some callousing and thought NO WAY is that root starts BUT I honestly THINK it is so I stuck them back in the water! I SOOOO hope those make it and are not just a false start LOL. Toni I think I am gonna send cuttings to you we can share my cuttings LOL. Thanks for the update, you know I really AM glad you are having so much success right? I really am, I think it is wonderful! OHH OHH OHHH, someone TELL ME PLEASE HOW I should do some Weeping Pussy Willow cuttings? Someone sent me a bunch and right now they are just in water is this good? OR what would be the best approch? They are hardwood from the base and from the limbs. ANY advice would be sooo much appreciated PLEASE. :) Fran

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina

I have three roses climbing against a fence in my garden. I also have type-2 clematis between them. From the front to the back, it goes like this -- clematis, clematis, clematis, clematis, 'Purple Skyliner' rose, clematis, clematis, 'Bubble Bath' rose, clematis, clematis, 'Bleu Magenta' rose, clematis. There used to be another rose between the second and third clematis, but that one didn't make it. Since the rest filled in so nicely, I didn't replace it. Every early Spring, both groups need to be trimmed back a little. The roses have their laterals shortened, and 'Purple Skyliner' in particular gets thinned quite a bit, since it is becoming a monster. The clematis are carefully examined for where their healthiest, highest swelling buds are located, and then I remove all the dead tangle above that. It takes me about two days to get three roses and nine clematis cleaned up. I'm glad I did it this way, rather than having type-2 clematis climing into these roses. I did this to two other roses, but they are much larger -- and I still regret it. It would be a nightmare sorting through two plants which both needed to keep some of their old wood for Spring. The three type-2 clematis climbing into the much bigger roses don't reach much into the blooming parts of the roses, so I'm still pruning two different areas rather than two plants in the same area. The clematis hang around the more bare parts of these big climbing roses, and the roses' pruned areas are further up. If I wanted to put a clematis into a rose now, I'd choose a type-3, which would be cut down to near the base in Spring. And I'd make sure the rose grows about 50% bigger than the clematis. So, something like clematis 'Jackmanii' would be paired with a rambler, not a repeat-blooming large-flowered climber -- unless the rose is already massive and mature. Otherwise, the only type-3 clematis I'd put into something like a repeat-blooming large-flowered climber would be one of the taller non-climbing types, or, if I pick a climber, it'd be one of the dwarfer type-3s that max at 2/3 the height of the rose it'll climb. I wouldn't put honeysuckle into a rose, except perhaps a mature and massive rambler that's left to grow wild, for the same reason I wouldn't put a type-2 clematis into a rose -- having two plants which need to be pruned but still retaining some old wood occupying the same space will be quite a tangle at pruning time. Also, it means both plants would be leafing out in the same space at the same time, thus competing for light. If you want honeysuckle, plant them between your roses, rather than in your roses. Make sure there's enough room for both. They'll likely grow together by Summer, but be sure to cut them back enough in Spring that they have their boundaries. I still have a bare patch against the fence, and I keep leaning toward putting a honeysuckle there, but definitely one of the smaller ones, like this one: Lonicera periclymenum var. serotina Florida It would have about eight feet of fence width and six feet of fence height, but would have to stay rather flat against the fence, since a path runs there. The only type of rose into which I'd plant even one of those smaller honeysuckles would be a big tree-climbing rambler that has already reached 20 feet or so into the branches. That would leave enough room to neaten up the honeysuckle at the base in Spring, and plenty of room further up for the rose to grow without the honeysuckle. :-) ~Christopher