KJ I think it’s an easy task, especially with a young rose you planted yourself . In zone 9B, you can plant high above the graft and any Huey that pops out below the bud union will be very obvious, just snap it off completely when you see it. Claire those reasons make sense to me for cold weahter locales. If it dies to the ground, the rose will come back true to variety. In my mild winter climate I always plant as high up on the root system as possible because all the best soil is on top (there’s a reason it’s coalled topsoil lol!) , so its not wasted on the graft and can be used by feeder roots. Also, I don’t have to dig so deep into the much harder adobe clay below. I am quite opportunistic and get whatever rootstock comes my way! With good care and a benevolent climate, the great majority of roses thrive regardless of own root or whichever rootstock.

I like this kind of thread, and I've often thought about asking similar questions in this forum. My entire gardening life exists as a monument to family sentiment. My father's parents kept a large garden, right at the edge of the ocean, where they grew all kinds of things that conventional "wisdom" defines as being "unsuitable" for coastal conditions. If that sounds romantic, it wasn't. It was purely practical. They had both grown up during the depression, both the children of Northern European immigrants- they were frugal, to say the least. I don't keep a vegetable garden, but I can't eat a pea or a raspberry without thinking of my grandparents, and how much time they put into that garden all year long. They never looked at it as being a burden, or nuisance, or chore, the way so many people today seem to do (I just dont have the TIME-it's too much WORK). When I'm with my cousins, we ALL share very fond memories of time spent in that garden. But their flower garden is what I've tried to reproduce in my own life. They grew a great deal of flowers, the kinds of things you'd expect people of that generation to have had in their garden, and they ALL have sentimental value to me. I can never smell honeysuckle without thinking of the back porch, where we'd change out of our filthy clothes before being allowed to sit at the table for dinner. Or the sweet spicy smell of pinks, which grew along the river-rock steps to the front door. The sweet peas and Nasturtiums, which Papa grew as a curtain of curly tendrils climbing up the sides of the front porch. The yellow dahlias which I chose for Grammy at the garden booth of the County Fair when I was 5- which she ALWAYS referred to as "Zachy Dahlias". She kept those dahlias, or identical replacements, in that garden for the rest of her life. And of course they had a rose garden, where they grew 'Peace' and 'Tropicana' and 'Queen Elizabeth' (grown against an east-facing wall, to keep them out of the wind). I have all of these plants in my garden, (even 'Tropicana' whose color I LOATHE, but my mother gave it to me, because she remembered), none of them coming to me directly from their garden though. It's still there, even though they both died long ago. The family won't sell the land, but they also won't maintain it, so it's in a sorry state, and I'm the only one left in the area. I tried for years to keep it clean, but I decided instead to re-create that garden on my own land. And that's what I've spent the last 6 years trying to do. Every one of the plants I grow feels like an heirloom. I'm probably TOO sentimental, but like my Grandparents, I'm also practical. I'd rather grow roses in the present than sit around and cry for things that are gone.

Oh my Gosh! My mind is backwards! I said I would take the September swap, and can the school spirit. I should be posting sooN! I guess because it is August, and this is the September swap, it did not hit me that this is next! LOL! We can do something like an all bean swap? That was an idea of mine for the new calandar. Probably those small flat rate boxes would be good for that since beans are heavy. I was thinking of doing an all bean swap, where you send in the beans to me and I redistribute. You send in one of those $5 flat rate Priority boxes, and I will send yours back in the same box with money to cover exact postage? It is a few bucks more than the tomato swap, but that is because it is beans. I really want to do such a swap. But maybe I will wait on this one so it works. Or, I had this as an idea. I am hosting Ethnic favorites in November, we can do that theme now, and then do the bean swap in November, after beans have been havested? I dont know, just trying to think fast. But this bean swap I really want to be a "go" at some point, even if we wait for January or February or something. But I assume I will be doing the mass tomato swap again, so it may conflict with that in JAnuary. Do you like the bean swap idea? Do you think people will not mind sending the $5 postage for a flat rate box? I just thought since beans are so heavy, that that would be actually cheaper sending flat rate then sending it by weight. Any quick ideas if you do not like these? Becky, I know you are out there! LOL! We can wait, I am just thinking fast since I should be posting the September swap soon. Any comments? Help please! LOL! Christy

Well, I passed on Juno for a couple reasons. I cannot grow apples nor flower lilacs, for one, Romagen. The second reason is that I took a tumble down my slope and fell pretty hard on my hip. That brought me back to reality rather quickly. If I’m going to risk life and limb to tend to them, they’d better blow me away with blooms for that one time in the spring. For now I’m officially a couch potato, so ordering “iffy” roses doesn’t seem very wise. When I feel better, I may be feeling like ordering recklessly again:) Shame on me, but I know myself. I AM getting “Leda”. I didn’t fall in time to stop myself from ordering her, and when available from Greenmantle, “Marie de St. Jean”. This was Christopher’s beautiful recommendation. Lisa