Thank you ogrose, it's good to have support when we need it. It was great that so many of us were there for Cliff, it is indeed like family around here. It's tough to take when your efforts don't work out, you think it's going great, and then nothing, I don't know if it's the rose not liking your weather, or you overwatering it, but it's always great to hear of someone's roses doing well. I don't know that much about basel growth, but I'm hoping too that keeping the plant alive in hot weather must be a good start. There is that saying about perennials that the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap, so I'll go with that.

Yes! I didn't think my plants would bloom at all this year, so it was exciting enough to see them spitting out the flower stalks, and now they're actually giving me flowers. I cheated a bit of course sometimes, for the Stapelia I chose one that had a little bud already xD

It's just terribly hard on a relationship when the couple are also business partners. From what you've described, it sounds like one of you needs to back out of the business and take a different job in order to have a chance of saving your marriage. As Popi suggested, a good Marriage and Family Therapist can help the two of you work out the specifics. If your husband won't go, you should still go. It's your best chance of helping to fix this mess.

Bamboo IS a grass....just a very tall growing type. Although it's never smelled like a lawn or turf grass to me, I guess it's possible. Tell him to take a shower :-)