Hi Beth - I'm new to this forum, but not new to coastal Southern Cal rose growing, so I'll chime in too. I'm in San Juan Capistrano on the South end of Orange County and about 2.5 miles from the beach in a coastal canyon. So I know all about roses in the marine layer fog. Mildew, not black spot, is the bane of our existence here. The only blackspot I've ever seen in my garden was on florist roses. But I do spray. And the three most fragrant ones on your list -- Double Delight, McCartney Rose and Fragrant Cloud -- will mildew even with religious spraying. But, the fragrance is worth it and I grow all three. No one has told you about the rose societies here yet. There are several. I go all the way south to the California Coastal Rose Society in Carlsbad. That's probably too far for you. There are two other OC rose societies -- the Orange County Rose Society which meets very near to Huntington Beach in Westminster -- they focus on exhibitions and hold their show the last weekend of October every year at Rogers Gardens. There's also another one that focuses mostly on gardening, garden tours and garden parties -- no exhibiting -- which is the Saddleback Rose Society -- that one's a bit inland for both of us. Wholly different climate those folks have. You can get to either one by googling the names, or I've put a link in here for the OCRS. On the rest of your list, I've grown most of them, and they do just fine. But as a general rule, in coastal cool areas like ours, fewer petals is better. Many roses just won't open like they do in hot climes, and sometimes you just die waiting for a leeeetle bit of heat to get them open, which never comes. So, plan to have some that open without heat. As for colors, try these -- Pink -- Our Lady Of Guadalupe is by far the best pink floribunda. But also check out The Imposter and Lovestruck, both of which do well for me. For Hybrid Teas, I like Memorial Day. Purple -- Intrigue is okay, but try Purple Tiger -- it's better and it's striped. It does really well on the coast. For a Hybrid Tea, I like Neptune and one that Armstrongs carries called Della Reese that is a darker purple hybrid tea with occasional exhibition form. Orange -- About Face Red -- I'm still looking for a good one. Yellow -- Julia Child or Midas Touch. Or even Peace, which gets enormous blooms on the coast. Multi -- get some stripes -- City of Carlsbad if you can find it or Cabana if you can't. Have fun. I seem to move every few years just BECAUSE I get to replenish my garden. Enjoy it. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Orange County Rose Society

hummmm. My first question would be do you know the name of the clematis? would also help to know the prunning type? if neither of these are known then about how old is the vine and has it ever been prunned and if so how long ago? Does the vine seem to bloom up high and is the vine very leggie? How many vine's are there coming from the ground? I know that's a lot of questions. Lets assume we don't know the answers except it blooms high up and hasn't been prunned in several years or many years. Prunning a neglected clematis isn't going to hurt a thing. I just would not do it this time of the year unless you can make very sure to keep it well watered and mulched. Clematis love mosit feet and I water most of mine with the dry weather we are having here in middle TN right now,I try to water mine every other day. I'm not scared to hard prun a clematis because it just really does nothing put rejuvenates them to sprout out from the ground more and more vines. Mulch well and water well is the key to reviving a neglected clematis. Sandy

Depends on your parents. If they do fairly heavy cooking, and are somewhat handy, you might consider Vent a Hood. They are fairly low tech machines, with few things to break. If you can do an 8" duct, you could do one of their low profile (9"H) or pro height (18"H). My aunt has one at that power and it has lasted ... well, more than a decade of daily stir fry wok cooking and belIeve it is still going strong. You have to be comfortable with how it cleans... taking the housing down and washing the box, and every so often for deep cleaning, the blower wheels, which should be aligned properly when our back on or it might make slight rattle sound. But she is very satisfied with it. If you're parents are heavy cooks (it doesn't get to much heavier than daily stir fry), and don't mind being a little hands on with choosing their hood, the VAH is a pretty good choice. If they don't do such heavy cooking and prefer to be much more hands off, and have a dishwasher, Zephyr, especially one of the quieter DCBL models would be quite good. Same with Miele, except better filter construction and easier cleaning (no exposed wires or blower). Just remember to absolutely throw the mesh filters in dishwasher after greasy cooking to prevent grease buildup blocking the filters. If they are liable to forget, look for one of the Elica hoods that have the new SS micro hole filters, more forgiving then aluminum mesh. Marine grade ss wouldn't be a bad idea, but 304 SS isn't generally considered to be marine grade, even by manufacturers themselves. Marine grade refrigerators (for boats, for example) is usually 316 SS and usually very expensive. Not that 304 is at all bad, it's a very good grade for indoor use. But calling it marine grade is maybe exaggeration.

With all due respect, ncrealestateguy, considering the definition of a troll, that is somewhat redundant. ;-) I will grant you that it was less than kind for me to tweak him like that, and it is true that his lack of manners does not justify ours. At the same time, if he is not made aware of how he comes across, how can he (hopefully) correct his behavior? Perhaps he was born in a different culture - that would be easier to let slide. Yet even then, he still would need to learn how to assimilate & he doesn't come across as the type of person who will accept a singular gentle correction - more like a plurality of bluntness - maybe. :-D At any rate, moving on to a more constructive line of thought, I not only do *not* disagree with your opinion about internet business for PB's, I would assert that it is already happening currently since I have been able to communicate successfully with at least one online about our interest. But note that this part is about the potential customer seeking out the PB who has put his internet shingle out rather than vice versa. The one point where we seem to differ is on the suggestion that good PB's are going to be cruising help wanted boards looking for pool jobs. If you want to grow your business, you are going to target the areas that will make the most of your advertising time & dollars rather than trying to hit up every possible avenue - because not many have that kind of time & money to spend with so little potential return on investment. Even if internet usage on that point changes in the future, it still seems on par with putting an ad in the paper - I can't see most people being willing to hire someone for a job like this based on who responded to their ad. There will always be those who prefer to go as cheaply as possible and cross their fingers, but I believe most of us would rather seek out the best and the brightest to increase our prospects for a quality job with greater longevity.