Yes it is frustrating to get info about the EE roses from Bailey's. I'm a member of the ARS North Central District (MN, WI & the Dakotas). At some of our meetings, MN people have complained about Bailey's promoting their products to the gardener because they are strictly a wholesaler to garden centers & they just don't seem to want make any effort to deal with us, rather they just want to promo their products thru garden centers. So if you don't have a garden center that pushes Bailey's products in your area, you're going to find it hard to find many of the EE roses. Also about a year ago, I remember one of the other roses forums having a discussion about Baileys & Ping Lim, the EE hybidizer, parting ways so if this is true, the EE roses may be on there way out as a Bailey's product line.

After the bath, a couple shriveled, clearly not liking it. But it's definitely satisfying to see white dots floating in the water. I left them out to dry and started to pick more stubborn bugs from some of my plants. Most of them were motionless, so I assumed the soap bath did the trick. So I left the rest alone. Nuked all the soil of new pots with boiling water, followed by a 4 minute cook off in the microwave. I set them off to dry for a few days, and I tried to pot them up last night. And guess what? The mealies SURVIVE!! Except for those that I had picked on, the rest still had tiny bugs crawling in them. You can call them eggs, larvae whatever, I got fed up. Took out my tub of rubbing Alcohol dunk half a containerful with more dish soap, and yanked everything into the concoction. Rinsed them into another tub of water, and set them off to dry again. This time I inspected every single one. Miraculously, no white stuff or survivors. I'm guessing it worked. The poor remaining plantlets all don't look good. I guess only time will tell if these all can be saved. Will continue to update... Oh, and I also found infestations on my new jades too, thankfully I caught the spread and am now containing it, or at least am trying to..

FWIW - when ringing the bark below the point at which you want roots to form, there is no real advantage when you include the the zip ties. You'll get the same accumulation of photosynthate and auxin in tissues immediately above the upper ring cut whether or not you use a tourniquet. Rina - ToC mentioned an important point. Auxin stimulates root growth, but its flow is polar, meaning it flows downward in phloem tissues. That means there will be a higher concentration of auxin on the underside of a horizontal or diagonal branch. If you layer that branch while it's in a horizontal or diagonal position, you're likely to get roots ONLY from the bottom of the branch. To 'fix' this (especially important if you're layering a bonsai subject) you should prop the pot up with shims a few days before you prepare the layer so the branch you intend to layer is vertical. After you have constructed the layer, keep the branch you're layering vertical to avoid accumulation of auxin at the lowest point on the cutting and a 1-sided root system. You can return the pot to its normal orientation while watering, but as soon as you're done watering you should return it to the orientation you calculated would ensure it's vertical until you separate it from the main tree. The same is true if you're starting cuttings. E.g., if you want your new tree from a cutting to exit soil in the pot at an angle, cut the proximal end of the cutting at an angle so it's as close to perfectly horizontal as possible when it's stuck. Al

Sympathies on the losses, Beth. I know you love your oddball roses and you're one of the people in the US that has some of these unobtainable roses. It's frustrating to lose track of such things, but as you mentioned you've had a lot else on your mind. I'm glad you are at peace about your mom, but it still has taken a toll in emotions and time along the way. It's good that many of the roses will be replaceable, and I'm sure Burling would reserve some of them for you if needed. Take a deep breath and look at the roses that have SURVIVED and are blooming. For me that's the antidote to the rose carnage we have in cold zones after every winter. I grieve the ones I've lost till I pull the tags and wipe them from my lists, then they aren't staring me in the face to remind me of what isn't there anymore. Sometimes then I can look back at the losses after a year or two and appreciate something I've put in place instead as much or more. I wish I could share cuttings with you to help out, but getting plants in and out of California isn't something one can do on a casual basis I fear. Hang in there and take lots of fabulous pictures of the roses you still have! We'll be watching for them. Cynthia