gags, those are not my pictures. tom8olvr is the owner of those impatiens and she starts 100's of them all from seed inside, each early spring. I just used them as an example because they are so beautiful, and growing in total shade. But I can answer a question. The hanging pots are those green plastic flower bags with the X's cut in them. Here's an example http://www.exterior-accents.com/hagaflbasof3.html I've had good luck with them and impatiens, petunias, begonias, strawberries etc. Below is the link to the impatiens forum. Do a search for tom8olvr and see more of her pics or post a question for her - she's very friendly and a wealth of impatiens knowledge. Here is a link that might be useful: Click here

I am not sure of the correct definition of 'ground cover' roses, but I have four Drift Roses and am very pleased with performance. Snow drift is covered most all summer blooms and low-no maintenance. Sometimes I do a quick mini-prune to deadhead. I do not use chemicals because of honey bees and sometimes Japanese Beetles seem attracted to Snow drift (but not the other colors!)Coral Drift and Peach Drift are even better! They all did well the first year, but really hit their show-stopping peak the third year. They zing! with color.

Hi Joe and Al, The soil is mostly a sandy loam. The Rugosa Rose should get almost the maximum amount of sun due to: 1 There is a montain with trees to our southeast 2 Since we are only about six miles from the coast, we have a lot of fog/ overcast in the AM also. Depending on time of year, there should be ~three to seven hours of direct sun on the roses.

If you have a bank where errosion could easily happen, then the groundcover roses that root-as-they-go are the only ones that will both hug the ground and prevent errosion. The 'Green Snake' and the 'Fairy' roses are two cultivars that root as they go. The 'Fairy' cultivar is a continuous bloomer that is extreemly hardy for fast draining surfaces like encountered on sharp slopes. If you plant these or other root-as-they-go varieties on your bank, also plant a quick cover low growing groundcover that is not invasive, because the groundcover roses mentioned above can take up to three growing seasons to fill-in thick enough to prevent errosion and shade out weeds. Do not plant groundcover roses on your bank that do not root everywhere their cains touch the ground. Those groundcover roses that do not root-as-they-go should only be used on level grades that are not prone to errosion or saturation slump. Depending on how long your the bank is, decide how many bushes that you ultimatly need. I would then plant just 1/8 or 1/4 that number of the total needed rose shrubs. Then all the runners each plant sends out that touches the ground and roots can be dug up and cut from the parent bush. Then,immediatly plant the dug up sprouting new growth in a location of the bank that is well away from the original. Following the process that I described, in my opinion, is better than purchasing and planting at the very beginnig the total number of rose bushes, which you will ultimately need to cover the entire area. Save money and yourself from more problems by following the above described method suggestion. This method also avoids pushing the spreading process to the point were too many plants are spreading too much and overgrowing the desired area way sooner than desired. Remember, that with any ground cover, once the desired area is covered, the spreaders must then be thereafter always prevented from spreading into undesired areas. The good thing about the 'Green Snake' and the 'Fairy' groundcover type cultivars is that they do not spread under and above ground like bermuda grass grass spreads. This type of groundcover rose,is easier to simply keep pruned back as the surface spreading cains try to grow and root beyond the desired boundries. I have a overflow ditch between the front of half my lot and a city steet. I planted 'Fairy' groundcover roses on both banks, because it will be easy for me to cut away all cains that try to grow onto the street or to grow into my property. As long as I get to the cains before their ends touch the ground long enough to root, that task should not be any more work than it takes to weed away the grass that grows along walls and fences where the mower will not reach. In the winter, the roses will drop their leaves, but the cains should remain to buffer winds from blowing surface top soil away. At every ground contact point the roots still hold the soil and prevent melting snow, which saturates or flows down the slope, from eroding the bank.