camp, I didn't realize it either until researching online and on gardenweb. "What are these cabbage lopers of which you speak?" (what the heck is a loper?) ... OHHHHHH, those gross lil green caterpillars I keep seeing. Gotcha! This has been fun to read everyone's input. There are too many gems to point them out individually, but I've learned that not only are garden bloggers really nice and helpful (per thyme2garden) but they are pretty funny, too! It's too bad I try to share the humor with my non-gardening friends and family ... (um, ok, everyone not on here!) and they give me the blank "I don't get it," stare. Such is life. I highly recommend the archived "so you want to grow a gardenia" thread... I read that a few months ago and was CRYING it was so funny. (I didn't even know what a gardenia WAS until that thread.) And it has given me the courage to venture into growing flowers this coming year ... once I make the lasagna beds this fall for spring ... and build a few more trellises ... and flip my compost ... and ask the restaurant down the street for coffee grounds ... and.. and.. and.. :P Oh, btw. The tomatoes are starting (in case anyone was troubled by my plethora of non-ripening tomatoes.) ... The gardening gods like me (at the moment ;) ). Thanks again everyone for sharing - Veronica

I learned the difference between a foot of surviving cane after the winter and pruning everything in my yard down to the ground. Not all that much difference in bottom line survival over the winter I think (I did lose my usual 20% of my roses), though I had some surprising roses die in the Polar Vortex, but amazing difference in vigor and blooming after starting to regrow. Usually roses that I trim down to as little as 6-8" of surviving cane rapidly catch up to the roses with less pruning, to the point of being indistinguishable for anything beyond height, if that. This year EVERYTHING is needing to reestablish cane and just isn't blooming, as several of us cold zoners were lamenting on another thread. Even my butterfly bushes that I always trim to the ground every year are a pale fraction of their usual height and blooming vigor. Having said that, I'd be too nervous to try Cath's grandpa method of pruning the roses, though mid-season it might be just what the doctor ordered for some plants (like some Austins in my yard). Late in the year, I might hesitate to do that for any rose in a cold zone, since I even lost my first Easy Elegance (Lim) rose this last winter, and I've seen few roses more hardy and healthy in my zone than those. I've also learned that no matter how many roses I plant each year, I end up with about the same number of roses overall (but different ones, as plenty of new plantings survive). That means I get to order freely from the roses that catch my eye and trust that there will be room to plant them when spring comes. As Seil said, it's an opportunity to try something new as well as the chance (and means) to get rid of wimpy under-performers. Cynthia

Hey Mad, pc is my short version for piece, and the wire mesh I rolled up is only 3 inches x 1 inch, and I tucked it under the wings to help the sagging factor. The lenth of the wings is got sort of a rebar in it that is cut up coat hanger, see, the wings were pretty floppy and so Klinger suggested to try and reenforce it with mortar and the coat hanger and also I used drywall mesh tape. ohhh, I can hardly wait to get started with the mosaicing!!

When I look at Hahnii, it feels like looking at jewelry. I don't have any jewelry, and I think I would rather have plants. The overseas plants are really something to look at, for sure. I will enjoy what has made itself available to me, until and if I find something I have to pounce upon, while I try not to kill that pale, petite Gold Hahnii I rotted the roots off of this Spring! I love to see see photos of plants that people grow as prizes just because they have it in their hears inclinations to do so. Reminds me something. A post of yours from a few years ago: Plant Trade or Give Away. I had to find that again. Crazy, crazy, insane reproduction! Still floors me a little.