It's good that they haven't given up. A volunteer in that garden came on Gardenweb about a problem with roses in the garden and we ended up talking to her on line and then by phone and also worked with the park people and that led to Virginia Tech's coming up to speed on Rose Rosette. Yes, GardenWeb was the way the problem got to an answer. I've visited it once, about a year and a half after the initial problem was diagnosed. They had a great healthy plant of Souv de la Malmaison, but it was riddled with RRD. It was one of the original plants from the fellow who inspired the planting of the garden. Manassas Battlefield has a lot of multiflora and there is multiflora along drainage areas in some of the subdivisions, so they're going to have to keep up their vigilance. It is good to know that there will still be a rose garden there. Ann

Hello- The best part of the New England Grows! trade show (not a flower show) was meeting Cady - first time I have ever met a cyber friend in person, too - what a delight! Next best were the lectures - a couple of which might be of interest to posters here. In terms of the "room" thread Tony has going ("Come into the garden, Maude" thread), P. Allen Smith of cable TV fame took the concept of the garden room to the limit. IMO he was obnoxious and commercial. Advised having your clients bring in paint chips and fabric swatches to match flower colors to the other decorative elements of the outdoor rooms and also to match to any indoor rooms looking out on the garden - all needs to match and look well together. . . the garden designer as exterior designer, based on the interior designer model. He sells books to keep all of your swatches, paint chips, and plant labels in order. A shameless promoter of his shows, books, and other paraphinalia. He heavily promoted his "recipe cards" for creating the "perfect containers." A paint-by -number approach to gardening which makes "the public", as he kept saying, seem really stupid. Enough of P. Allen. Lucinda Brockway, the garden historian and restoration expert mentioned at the beginning of this thread, gave an excellent presentation on the practical aspects of garden restoration. She is known for her authentic museum-quality restorations of historical properties like Strawberry Bank in NH and Fort Ticonderoga in NY. For this presentation, she showed many slides of work she has done in the restoration of historical homes. In this work her efforts were not to create historically correct garden landscapes down to the last detail, but rather to meld the old with the new into livable landscape gardens for her clients. Although she herself did not use these terms, I felt she was in effect saying she sometimes uses authentic plants in a new gardening style(such as colonial plants in island beds in the lawn) and sometimes uses new plants in an authentic gardening style("Proven Winner" annuals in Victorian carpet beds). She showed slides of a Colonial home with a modern swimming pool in the back yard and Colonial-style plantings; also a Colonial reproduction housing development for the elderly with complimentary plantings done in the style of the times. The gist of the presentation was to understand that a garden will have a lot of lives and that your work in it is probably not its last. In other words, don't take yourself so seriously when trying to be historically correct in reproducing gardens from the past in homes being lived in; remember they are not historic, museum properties with paid staff to keep them up. She had a good handout plus a flyer for a new book she has co-authored on the restoration of several Newburyport, MA gardens. I have extras if anyone would like them. E-mail me and I will send them off. Lots more, but no more time to post . . . Ginger

Jill-- I'm sorry to hear of your difficulties in maintaining this garden. For sure, one of your upcoming challenges will be to figure out how to care for and maintain the garden in the long term. Are you considering forming a trust for it, or what will you do if you have to sell? These hard questions are probably even more pressing than your current maintenance woes. But, about your current concerns...have you put out the word that you need help? You might try contacting your local garden club. I used to belong to a club that was affiliated with Garden Clubs of America. It was a service organization and so did take on community projects of different sorts. One year, a grant was offered, I think by Shell Oil, of matching funds for the restoration or renovation of a historic garden. Of course, the club had to justify the importance of the garden and the project had to pass a screening process. Just a thought. Also, although it might not be financially viable to save the property, you might find solace in moving some of the plants to protected homes--share them with friends or relatives who are avid gardeners. If there is an heirloom seed company near you or a botanical garden that would be interested in heirlooms, they might like to save, propagate, and distribute the seeds--thereby ensuring the life of some of your treasured plants. My advice is to get on the phone and let people know you need help--people feel weird about asking, especially when doing so might sound insulting. Check out the yellow pages for garden clubs--there will be several, all affiliated with different national organizations. Will your local historical society help? Many communities and bigger corporations host clean-up days during which volunteers go out into the neighborhood to do chores for for those who can't--make sure they know about you. Good luck. I hope things look up for you.

Natesgram, I've worked in a NICU for 15 years and I can't tell you how much we appreciate those fleece blankets for our babies. We also have local volunteers who make isolette covers to keep the environment dark for our babies because it is developmentally appropriate (they shouldn't be born yet). Have you ever seen one? And when my late grandmother was getting chemo for pancreatic cancer, she was really appreciative of the person who made her a cozy fleece for when she got her weekly chemo infusions. I just want to send a big thank you to you for your work, because I know how much such those small things mean from the other side of the fence. Yes, I volunteer. I have volunteered in the medical tent for the NYC marathon for several years. This was before children. After 911 I volunteered making sandwiches for the rescue workers at ground zero. Before I started my career as a PA I volunteered at my local hospital transporting specimens to the lab and escorting patients out of the hospital. Currently I volunteer as a girl scout leader for my 9 year old's girl scout troop. I was never a girl scout as a child, so I am learning as I go. Even though I rolled my eyes when I was asked, I truly enjoy the girls and having a positive influence on them. We are currently involved in a project in building butterfly gardens in our community to restore monarch butterfly habitats. It is so much fun seeing these girls get involved. My mom is getting ready for retirement, she has been volunteering at our local animal shelter. I think she has always been involved in some sort of volunteer project for as long as I can remember. I guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree. :)