Sorry but I read the whole article and don't see your referenced statement. Here is a copy of the entire torubleshooting section. Is it perhaps located somewhere else or in another article you read? Troubleshooting Watermelons are in the same plant family as squash and cucumbers, but they do not cross-pollinate successfully. Your garden will depend on bees to pollinate the flowers, so cool cloudy weather in the spring will slow down thier development. Be patient until the weather warms. Fungal diseases can multiple rapidly on melon leaves. Alternaria leaf spot, anthracnose, and gummy stem blight produce spots on leaves, while stem blight also forms bleached or tan sections on stems and rot on fruit. Downy mildew causes yellow or pale green leaf spots, while powdery mildew produces white spots on leaves. Treat fungal diseases with fungicides. Check with your local garden center or Extension service to learn which fungicides are approved in your state for the disease youÂre fighting. Melon aphids can quickly colonize a vine, so inspect leaf undersides daily. If you spot aphids, treat them with insecticidal soap. Spotted and striped cucumber beetles can attack vines, transmitting bacterial wilt disease, which causes vines to collapse. Infected vines donÂt recover. Treat adult beetles with rotenone or a pyrethrum-based insecticide; apply at dusk to avoid harming honey bees. In fact it specifically says, "Watermelons are in the same plant family as squash and cucumbers, but they do not cross-pollinate successfully." Dave

Taoseeker, Thanks for the information on the European history with long term use of their most common rootstocks. I find it interesting and very useful and hope for long term good results - more vigorous root growth translating into more resilient bushes. I do remember seeing a number of times R. laxa use mentioned in the hybridizing experiments by the Canadian pioneer prairie hybridizer. One of the Skinners I have is apparently a cross with it and a pimpinefollia - sorry have not taken the time to check if it is Haidee Suzanne Butterball or all. Makes me wonder if that was the influence of their European ancestry, availability or factual superior hardiness - don't know but in 5 years I should. By the way very pleased to see very good cane survival for the first year on my Portland named Marie Jean I got from Lynnette last year when she gave up on it. Melissa, There is a gentleman in British Columbia I met through Lynnette who has made it a mission to collect and save Geschwinds. I need to let him know what I received and get him some cuttings. The two Canadian nurseries that I would be happy to share cuttings (gratis) that graft I have not approached as it gets too close to commercial for me and I would have to be absolutely sure that the roses are out of patent before even contact (most are over 100 years old so I am probably safe). However I sense both of them have absolutely the strictest of QA controls and would do it on their own so as to be sure of providence and disease free stock - if they survive winter and prosper I may contact them to guage their interest ... they both export to the States. Kaylah Hi, I was fortunate my Charles de Mills that I cover and is in the south gardens has 3 foot canes and lots of them ... problem is blooms are usually in short supply and last year I think I got 3. I leave it as it always grows well and takes to protection well. All my other dark gallicas are history except for the many exmaples of Belle d'Crecy I got as delambre - it also seems to survive well if covered ... but too much damage and the blooms are gone. All my cardinal Richelieu departed voluntarily over the years (3). Me I fool around with teas but only in pots and bring them in in October ... got a couple new ones this year. My FMkruger ... is a monster in zone 3 (hahhaha) and I think I must of got the most vigorous clone of this tea via Quebec. Kids you not take a cutting - stick in earth in the house and it takes like in February when I accidentally snapped a branch off ... now I got two with the younger being already at least foot high in 4 months and has gone through one bloom cycle. But the one I really miss is Mrs Schwartz ... almost as reliable as Mlle Franz Krueger (sp) ... forgot to take a cutting and over wintered her in the garage and she and all the other ones died - fortunately had cuttings for 3 of them in the basement to replace them - there as tall in two 365 day a year growing seasons as the originals.

Thanks, for the input. How different is Penelope's foliage from Cornelia's? Looking at pics on HMF I have impression Penelope has leaves a bit like HT or HP? Luxrose, I hope that parasols do not give you indigestion. :D Trouble is, rose that I got as Cornelia, is exactly how you describe - pink, strawberry ice pink. Now this one in question is clearly apricot-orangy, it even bleaches to apricot pinkish. Now blooms that developed in hot summery weather are even more orangy than the first ones! It really is in same color range as Felicia, which is again different than Cornelia's pink. Although maybe she got deranged from the full sun into some orange madness... I counted petals on it and got about 30+, so that's more than Penelope should have in any case. Whatever it is, it is pretty, but I probably should inquire about it in the nursery and look if they might be willing to send a replacement.

The picture from Italy looks like Trachelospermum jasminoides, commonly called star jasmine (although it is not a true jasmine)so no, it is not your clematis. Sadly it would not be hardy in Ontario. From what I can discover Prairie Travellers' Joy is a hybrid of your natives C. ligusticifolia and C. virginiana. Travellers' Joy is the traditional name for the UK's native Clematis, C vitalba, so presumably the name was transferred to the Canadian natives. Clematis wants to grow upwards so to create a wall I think you would need to get it growing across the bottom of your space and then train it up rather than growing it up and then expecteing it to hang down. I think it would just create a massive tangle at the top. Personally I would not use fishing line but either a properly made trellis or strong galvanised straining wires. Firstly nylon line would look ugly imo and secondly a full grown clematis of this type would be extremely heavy and need a very strong framwork. Believe me on this - I have just had to hire a man to remove the C montana from my shed so the roof can be fixed. The trunks are as thick as my arm. Better to prepare the support properly in the first place than try to sort out the mass of foliage and creepers later on.