Our botanists list typical sites for C. hirsuta as lawns, disturbed soils, igneous glades and woodlands, along roads, and in pastures. That species is not picky about the landscape.

Teasel is pretty rampant at my place and I have no doubt that is teasel in the picture. Revisit the plants later in the summer after a rain to see the leaves, which form a cup around the stem, filled with water. FataMorgana

There is an old rose nursery in Medford, which is very near the CA border in So Oregon. It is called Rogue Valley Roses. I would call (do not email - they are very small, and it can take days for them to get to emails) and ask this question. If the person who answers the phone does not really know, ask to speak to someone who does (I have had several very good conversations with the owner, who was very helpful.)They have several acres of roses growing right there, so they will know. I would also check on their website. Jackie

Thanks for the reply John. Actually, the rail system is deteriorating far worse than the decking. We've had several sections of the bottom rail literally fall apart in the past few months and many of the top rails checked so badly that you could simply push sideways on them and they would fall apart (needless to say, I have strung CAUTION tape on all of my railings). The decking isn't suffering the UV deterioration like the railing is, but it is having excessive shrinkage problems. The ends of several deck boards have actually pulled off the joists and some gaps between the ends of the boards exceed 3/4 of an inch! I'm currently involved in a nation-wide attempt to form a class action lawsuit, as the former Geodeck manufacturer (Kadant Composites) is no longer honoring warranty claims. Re. Ipe: I'm leaning towards a Purple Heart deck surface with Ipe railings...