Thanks everybody! I'm pretty tickled as these are my first roses. The trellis' are 3/8" thick steel and they are the scrap pieces left when smaller squares of steel plate were cut from it. I have a local metal worker who after paying the bills with boring stuff is a found object artist and he had the pieces lying around. He simply welded the side rails on them and we stuck them over 3 feet deep into the ground. They are about 8" from the wall which it concrete hardi-board. So it's about as sturdy and indestructible as you can make something. I hope. If anybody is in the area (Mid TN) I'd be happy to send you his contact--these are one of a kinds but he's brilliant, creative and pretty affordable. The roses are now about 7'. I have almost 35 feet from side to side for them to spread, 12 feet from the ground to the top of the roofs and the range for them I've read is 10-20 feet. Surely that's enough space? If it isn't and I'm lucky enough that the RRD doesn't get them first I guess I'll chalk it up to a learning experience and whack her back! So my plan will be to let the big new canes work themselves on up toward the roofs, let the older canes fill out the top of the trellis and keep tucking the strays back on to the trellis. Perfect. Fortunately the doors are not heavy traffic ones so maybe we can keep the shredded clothes to a minimum. She does have some serious thorns and a bit of an attitude! ;-) Any suggestions for gloves? Thanks to everybody here. I'd have never figured out any of this without the pointers and advice. I've got 8 bands in pots out in the kitchen garden so I'm counting on you!!

Good pictures! Lucky you to find a source for houseplant begonias. The first two are rhizomtous so will not tolerate overwatering, but don't panic if they dry. If B. 'Escargot' is doing fine, congrats, as many people struggle with it. If you are going to overwinter it and 'Cowardly Lion;' they will need additional humidity, but that is just my opinion. The two Rexes are thin leaved and will not tolerate direct sun, they must have good humidity too, will probably be okay if grown closely with the others, the closer they all are the better humidity for all of them. Paradoxically, Rexes need strong light to hold that red color. I think you are doing fine.

Thanks. We're probably moving in the next 6-8 months, so I'm hoping we'll be able to get a house with a yard and I'll be able to plant. In the meantime, though, I've had these guys (Warsaw Nike, Dr. Ruppel, VP and a no-id) for several years, and though they're not going gangbusters, they're still all blooming and putting out pretty foliage, so I think I'll stick with them for now. (Besides, there's hardly any room left on the porch for any new plants, what with the strawberry/lobelia pot, the hydrangeas, the geraniums, etc.) Rebecca

I'm not quite sure why you'd be afraid to try refinishing but feel that painting would be easier. I think painting can be badly done much more readily than stripping can be badly done. With a stripper like EZWay, that needs no water clean-up, stripping is not difficult (stinky, but not difficult, so do it outdoors), and the refinishing need not be complicated. But I also agree there isn't anything wrong with painted furniture. I love wood furniture, but it is hard to decorate around sometimes, hard to match pieces (though it's not something I care about), and just a bit boring at times. This is a cool piece but it's not frighteningly valuable no matter how it's finished. I would just say, figure out which finish you want and then DO IT WELL. Don't paint to avoid having to do a proper job, because while I don't mind a painted antique, a badly painted antique is just really depressing. Plus, I think I'd paint it white or cream, not black. Although my current thing I want to try is one of the white stains. KarinL