Thank you, thank you -- all of you. I am going to try to post some pics I took today. I am hoping they will be more revealing. Sorry that last one is so blurry. Berndoodles, thanks for the pics of leaf hopper damage. I think I certainly have that, don't you (referring to the pic with the lovely bugs)? I also found some webbing, so I think maybe I have spider mites. Oh, joy! And I also think I have powdery mildew. I would love anyone's advice. I sure wish I had a flatbed scanner. My daughter has one, but she is out of town. And I wouldn't mind if we had a Bug Man out here in Colorado. However, I took samples to my local nursery and the very nice rose lady there confirmed that I have several separate problems. She thought that the drooping rosebuds were caused by thrips and told me to go home and cut all of those drooping buds off and dispose of them. She thought I had powdery mildew, too, and also spider mites. She advised that I use Bayer All-in-One spray, so I bought that, but after reading the instructions, I decided to try Neem Oil because the instructions said not to use when bees are active, and they are very active on Ballerina, at least during the day, but maybe I could use it at night. I sprayed yesterday very thoroughly with Neem oil and will repeat in 7 days. However, since my roses are so badly infected, and with multiple buggies or whatever, maybe I will have to go toxic. Another problem with me using a toxic spray is I have large pots of herbs close to Ballerina, in fact right beside it. I think I could cover the pots with black trash bags or something. But I also have black raspberries whose vines are kind of intermingled with one of my New Dawn climbers. I'm not sure if I can cover all of them enough. Maybe if I used a hand sprayer rather than a hose-end sprayer it would be easier. So what do you think? Thanks again. Marlene

I have a Black Willow (Salix nigra) in about a 15 gallon pot, that I intend to pot up to a 25 gallon next year. So far, it has done well. I did forget to water it at one time in early summer and it dropped all of its leaves. I thought it was a gonner. I scratched the stem to see if the cambium layer was still okay, and it appeared to be. I resumed watering it, trimmed off the dead portion of the stems, and it grew back just fine. Willow is extremely easy to root. If you can find some close by, you can cut a few 3' stems, and stick them in some dirt, watering them daily, you will probably have roots in no time. Willow contains a chemical that promotes rooting and is often used as a "rooting" agent when attempting to root difficult plants. So, it has an unabashed desire to perpetuate. For me, I only grow the one because these trees are dioecious. I don't want to end up with a male and a female that produce seeds. I don't have enough room. Willows are also know for their need for water because it is not recommended that they be planted near sewer and/or water lines. The roots will more than likely seek out these lines, get into them, and can cause a lot of headaches and damage. I think the Blue Arctic Willow is supposed to be hardy thru zone 7, but it still may be too hot in Missouri to grow them well, or for any length of time. Probably would do fine in the Northwest's zone 7 - very different from Missouri, though. I know I wouldn't attempt it in my zone 7a because we just get too hot on a consistent basis. Good luck! Susan

Danze is known for its high style and reasonable price. When asked about this or any other brand I always reply that you get what you pay for i.e. you can many times get a great looking Danze fixture for 50% of the cost of a high end fixture like Grohe. I also believe you have to look at how long will you be using this fixture or staying in this home? If not forever why spend the money on Grohe when if all things failed including Danze's guarantee you could still go out and buy another one and probably not spend as much as you would for some others. With that said I have a Grohe Bridgeford pull down(replaced the worst Kohler ever made) and love it and always kiddingly tell people I drive a Mercedes (a very old one) and so I like German things so I bought the Grohe. As far as other brands at reasonable costs I feel that quality and guarnatee wise Moen is hard to beat. They have since 1985 had a lifetime guarnatee and I read at least once per week where they have replaced an entire faucet for someone that was so old parts couldnt be gotten for it. Thats hard to beat. For a good price comparison on several brands, someone else mentioned National Builders Supply, and in interest of fairness Ive made no secret that I know the owners personally(really nice folks) and they own another online site called "danze factory outlet" I think. If nothing else the NBS website will give you the chance to look at most every brand from Danze to Grohe and everything in between whether you buy anything from them or not. I hope this helps.

Here's your original thread asking about computers. Here is a link that might be useful: Okay computer gurus...........I need help!!