Hi Heather, I can send you cuttings of roses. I need to prune. I have: Hansa(a rugosa) Prairie Harvest(a buck) Hawkeye Belle(a buck) Rose glauca Darlow's Enigma(shrub) Belle de Crecy(gallica) Belle Isis(gallica) The Fairy(polyantha) a very hardy climber w/very full old fashion white flowers probably 'Long John Silver' I that is all of my hardiest roses. Check my member page in case I forgot something: ) Let me know which you are interested in. I can mail them to you and you can send me the postage money. Remy

>>I wonder If I graft the japanese maple onto a regular hardy maple in my climate?Grafting I'll use the example of roses here. Just like japanese maples, most roses are not hardy to zones 4 and lower. The are zone 5 and up. Hybrid tea for instance are not hardy but they are grafted onto hardy roots. Unfortuntely, this doesn't make them hardy in zone 4 and down, we have to protect them heavily so they will come back the year after and even then you run the risk of loosing them. Not because the root system is in danger but because the grafted part is. But even if you loose the grafted part during the winter, you still may have roses that will emerge from the root stock, below the grafting point. Of course, they wont be the same hybrid tea that you bought since that part died, but a hardy rose from the plant on which it was grafted. I would say the same rules would apply to japanese maples grafted onto hardy maple roots. You probably know the Explorer Serie roses. These roses are hybrids but are not grafted, they use their own roots to grow from and they are hardy to zone 3 and some to zone 2. I have 5 of them doing very well and they never needed any kind of winter protection and I never even thought about giving them any either (zone 4b QC, Canada). Why is this? The crosses were made between hardy species and/or cultivar from the the start and the breeding was done not to impart hardiness in the first place but to develop other caracteristics such as colors, trailing habits, short plants, diseases resistantce, etc. They probably used less hardy roses in their breeding program to bring in some new genes unvailable otherwise. Hybridizing If you cross two zone 5 plants like two acer palmatum, you'll end up with a bunch of other zone 5 plants. But if you cross a zone 2 plant with a zone 4 plant, you will probably end up with 80% of the plants hardy to zone 3, 10% hardy to zone 4 and 10% hardy to zone 2. Then if you take one of these new zone 3 hardy plant, roses for example and cross it back with a zone 2 rose, you may end up with a 50% zone 3 and 50% zone 2 stock. And if you cross back again one of these new zone 3 rose with a zone 2 rose, you may end up with a 75% zone 2 - 25% zone 3 ratio. These same rules would also apply to maples making crosses between 2 different species, one of them being the japanese maple for the first cross. The difference is here: in the example of roses I took, the desirable plant and the one used in every cross was a zone 2 and the goal was to bring a zone 4 plant to zone 2. With every cross I did I added some zone 2 hardiness to the gene pool. With the japanese maple, we would be working against the odds, the desirable plant and the one that should be used in every cross is a zone 5 plant and that would bring a zone 3 plant to a zone 5 only. And if I added more and more zone 3 maple, I would be loosing more and more of the japanese gene pool. Either way leads you away from the wanted result. And we haven't even said a word about what could be recessive of dominant in these crosses, which is also a very important factor to keep in mind. This can be observed in the new clematis hybrids that are reaching the market these years. Old clematis were hardy in zone 4, but crossing them to warmer growing one has yielded many new very desirable hybrids, but only hardy in zone 5, 6 or even 7. We have gained in beauty but lost in hardiness. In a word I don't think grafting would be successfull in the way you would want it to be. And breeding wouldn't work quite the way you would want either from what I understand from what you said. These are two of the reasons why I said that selection was a much better approach in your case. It is not an easier or shorter one way to do, only a safer one. Hope this helps!

If your soil is acidic you should be able to grow Azaleas and Rhodos, they will do great in partial shade. Just remember they do not give year round color, but the show that they put on for a few weeks are worth having them. The trick would be to plant a number of them with different flowering times then you would have a couple of months of color. The PGM's are very hardy and are the first to bloom. I also have many of the Lightes series azaleas. Before you buy any check to see what the lowest temperatures are that they will tolerate. You will find many available. This time of year, if there are any in your area, would be a great time to get deals on them. I have more than 100 rhodos and azaleas and the colors with the hostas are fantastic. I have a red one next to Hosta Patriot and I just stand and stare at them. Maybe you could try clematis, in some sun, with different flowerings times as well. Also my magnolias and dogwoods are beautiful. To find out more about rhodos and azaleas check out Capt Dick Steel, Bayport, N.S. on the internet. His is a very interesting story and in person a very informative man to talk to. He could convince anyone to try rhodos and magnolias. He is now approx 95 years old. Remember I live in Nova Scotia, very cold and sometimes snowy winters. By the way I have sumacs as well, sumacs everywhere. Want some. I planted two, wish I hadn't, spreading like crazy. Betty

Welcome to San Antonio. It's not always this hot. I've been to Minneapolis in January and can say I'd rather live here even with the summer heat. Find things to do inside for a few months and then spend the next eight months outside. You will get lots of help here on this site, so don't hesitate to ask. Our weather in San Antonio isn't as tropical as it seems in the summer, we can get hard freezes in the winter so you have to choose plants that can handle both heat and cold or move your plants around accordingly. The big difference is that the next day it will warm up again. A GW San Antonio plant exchange is planned for Oct. 10 and we would love to see you there. Look for more info as it gets closer. Also on October 17 is the Herb Market and plant sale at Aggie Park. Master Gardeners are there to answer questions. When you get a chance check out Rainbow Gardens for excellent advice on plants that work here. I tried to post the link below in the URL box so you could just open it, but GW rejected it. It's a list of garden events you might enjoy in San Antonio. http://gardeningvolunteers.org/phpweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_printable&PAGE_id=10&lay_quiet=1