reg_pnw7 is right. Rose Grades are not determined by how many years the bush has grown before harvest. Budded roses are grown two years in the field, max. These growers depend on turnover to make money. The faster they can turnover a crop the more they make. The following information pertaining to rose grades has been taken from the American Association of Nurserymen publication "American Standard for Nursery Stock". This is the commonly accepted standards used industry-wide in North America. Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, Floribunda, Rugosa, Hybrid Perpetuals, Moss and Climbing Roses Grade #1 At least 3 strong canes 5/16" (.8cm) in caliper and up, branched not higher than 3 inches from the bud union. Grade #1 ½ At least 2 strong canes 5/16" (.8cm) in caliper and up, branched not higher than 3 inches from the bud union. Other standards apply to shrub roses and miniatures. Quite often grade 1 1/2 roses are used for potted roses. Edmund's wholesale bushes were all grade 1 1/2. J&P ships grade 1 1/2 to nurseries for their potted roses. The big growers who pot up and sell to the big box stores use grade 1 1/2. These roses are considerably less expensive than grade ones and the resulting bush is almost indistinguishable from a grade one. The average buyer just looks at the flowers and possibly the name of the rose when purchasing. Lots of grade 1 1/2 roses have three or more canes. They don't meet the caliper standards for grade 1, but produce nice sized bushes.

Those enestes are amazing!!!!!! I bought one in october and It could bearely stand up. Now it is standing up as best as it can, but the leaves are reverting back to green and they arent growing very fast. It has been about 3 weeks since Ive seen a new leaf come up. lets say it looks a little pathetic. Bright side is it is one of the few plants not infested by bugs (I say about half have something eating it that has to be treated). Hopefully mine will pick up the pace during the summer. I still cant believe you live in a zone 4. I can understand beautiful plants outside, but inside too... wow, that takes a lot. Good thing you have high celings! That snow outside probably makes a good reflector of sunlight into your house too. Are you going to give them a head start inside, or chop them up in the spring so they can fit through the door easier? Good luck and keep up the great work! Hopefully one day mine will at least slightly resemble that!! :)

Tibbrix, I totally agree about the slate. He can put that in his rustic/reclaimed bath he's building in the loft above his barn/shop. If we do a (reclaimed) wood it will just be on the wall the vanity is on. And thanks for the tip on researching how to protect the walls from moisture. I'll look for a picture. I had one I took for the cabinet maker but unless I've over looked it, I've already trashed it. There isn't a lot of wall space as this 5x8 bathroom as it has two doors...one opens to a bedroom and the other opens to a small hall. Holly Kay, I like mixing it up a little and putting something unexpected in a room. Our "Cowboy Chic" Monster (because of the size) den is a deep spiced pumpkin color with antelope carpet, cow hides, deer and bobcat mounts, lots of wood and stone but I try to level out the manly-ness of it all with some elegant touches :) In fact, I have a bowl from the same company that makes the sink (in both of our bathrooms) that sits on a formal-ish rustic stand in the den. This company also makes glass tile to match their sinks. I'd love to do some accents on the tub surround with it but DH has nixed that idea :( Here is a picture of the bowl/stand in the den. Violet, thank you. We're loving the offset faucet. SO glad we went with it. It was going to be super tight to put the faucet behind the sink due to the size of the sink and the thickness of the backsplash. In fact, it might not have worked at all! I didn't realize that the drain plunger thingy was so angled. outsideplaying, I wanted to use some matching glass tiles in on the tub surround but (as of right now) my husband isn't wanting any glass tile on the surround. (Cceana) copper and black glass tiles were the exact colors I had in mind as accent tiles. BTW, this is a tub/shower combo. There is no shower floor. Masculine framed mirror is already in the works :) Caramel...ohh that sounds nice. I deep caramel color. I'll have to look into that! Thank you! In case there are some that are sensitive to looking at animal skins, I've decided to post a link to the picture of the Oceana glass bowl/stand instead of embedding it. Been there, done that a few years ago and got pummeled :o Here is a link that might be useful: Ocean Glass Bowl

what a cutie you were!!! :) Moni ( who can't sleep tonight )