If you live in an area where blackspot is a big problem, as so many easterners seem to do, then you probably will need either to be selective about your roses or tolerant of the disease, or both. I suggest that you think of spraying as your last recourse, not your first. Instead, try this: Look for roses that are suited to your conditions. Plant them in a sunny position. Dig them nice big holes and amend the soil well, then keep a good nourishing organic mulch on them. Water them when they need it the first year, not often but deeply, once a week. In other words, give your roses the good basic care they need to get big and healthy, and THEN determine whether they need to be sprayed. I don't spray mine. Admittedly I live in rose heaven, but even here we have droughts, aphids, beetles, and mildew, and I find that the roses are sturdy and can deal with them quite well. Mine are mostly old or older varieties and are tough and frugal sorts. Cecily's right, squirt the aphids with the hose or squish them. Have fun when you get your new roses! Can you tell us your climate zone? Type of soil? Melissa

First of all, congratulations for the fruiting of your ice cream. I have had mine for 3 years now and it's doing nothing for me. One thing I've learned about bananas--when they want to fruit, they will fruit. Sometimes bananas will fruit when they go through a shock or a stress like sudden change in weather. Maybe your removing the leaves kind of sends forth a message that it's survival is being threatened, so it's going to do it's swan song ... ok that's just my theory :) Whatever it is, I were you, I would leave whatever leaves left intact. With regards to how soon the bananas will ripe, I'm guessing 3-4 months if not longer. Some people here suggest writing the date on the trunk on the day it blooms. As for me, I usually pull out my camera and snap a picture. That way, I can always go back to my computer to check the date it first bloomed. I also go to check on the bananas regularly to see its development and toward the end of 3-4 months period, I will take a closer look at it to check for signs of riping. If the weather gets down too cold, sometimes I would cut it down even if it's not quite ready to prevent from freeze damage. Bananas will continue to ripe when it's being hung up in a dry and room temperatured place. As to your concerns whether to throw in some fertilizer to your fruiting banana, I'm having the same question. In the end, I've decided not to because fertilizer is supposed to help the growth of the plant. To me, since the plant isn't producing any more leaves, there's no point in fertilizing, but of course I might be totally wrong here. So, I hope others here might have the correct answer for you. As with your rats problem, I can understand your plight. I had the same problem when one of my bananas was fruiting. I solved the problem by setting up a rat trap. One fat rat got trapped and end of the story. If there are more rats, then set up multiple traps until they're all gone. I don't know if this helps and I hope your ice cream will produce some yummy fruit for you soon.

When deciding what to grow, there are 2 main concerns- (A) You should choose things that you like to eat. Growing is only half the fun of having a vegetable garden, eating what you've grown is the other half. (B) Size/Space/Culture requirements for what you want to grow must also be considered. Corn is a great crop but it is not condusive to container gardening unless you have a LOT of containers. Other plants to strike off the list include trpoical plants like citrus fruits and pineapples. Your climate gets too cold to grow these things. There are a couple methods for determining when to plant- (A) The "most correct" way to determine when to plant would be to determine your average frost free date and plant at or after that date if the weather has warmed suficiently. To find your average FF date, you should be able to call your local Ag Extension office or ask the staff at your local garden center (not Wal-Mart, a REAL garden center) or maybe even try a Google search. (B) Garden centers (again, not the garden department of your local big-box stores, I mean real freestanding garden centers) usually only sell what can be planted at the present time. Once they start stocking veggie plants, it is probably okay to put yours in the ground or in pots as the case may be. This method is not very scientific and may not work in all areas. For reading materials you should check out your local library. Many of the books may be a little dated but it's free information. Book stores are also a great place to look because they tend to have newer books and if you find one you like you can buy it right away. Good luck, backwards

Septic systems start down the road to failure the day they are installed. Septic systems have a finite life and replacement is not covered under homeowner's insurance. I'm on a septic system that was installed in the mid 80's and began to have problems so it was replaced in 2010. There are a variety of options depending on what is acceptable in your locale. There are concrete and plastic tanks now. For the leach field there is the old tube with holes surrounded by gravel, the new tech tube with holes surrounded by (what look like) peanuts, and the new tech infiltrators which I chose. In my area new leach field can not be installed in the location of the old field so you have to have ample square footage to install a new field. You need to contact county or municipal environmental health to find out what the current field and tank sizing requirements are for you size home and which options are acceptable in your location. When you have that info hit the phones and ONLY deal with licensed and certified septic contractors because the installation will have to be permitted and inspected. Don't hesitate to call more than one for free estimates and their recommendations for the best technology. Your old leach field may recover with time (years) so it's not a bad idea to have a bull valve installed at the tank output so you can switch fields. Minimal cost at installation time and some water authorities let you add the square footage of the two tanks to meet requirements and if the regs change down the line you have an edge. New regs here mandate a filter at the tank output that needs to be cleaned every 6 months to a year and it's easy to do if the tank has risers that come to the surface. 3.5-4.3k for tank and field is in the ballpark for what I paid for a plastic tank (preferred to concrete) and infiltrator (750 sq ft) field. Longest septic system service life comes from paying attention to what you put down the sink and flush down the toilet. We use Charmin but don't use the garbage disposal and got 25+ years from our septic system. Pump tank at recommended intervals and clean the effluent (output) filter more often then they tell you to. When a property with a septic system is sold prior to the closing the tank must be pumped and an inspection made by a certified and licensed septic contractor so you might as well attend to the septic problem you have and stay in the house cause you'll have to fix it before it can be sold.