So here's how they look from further back... which is why I mistakenly said they looked fine. It's been chilly here (to me... not to anyone else) for the past couple days, so I've stayed in the house and done "house things." Today, I went out there and took these pics: And here we have close-ups of some examples of what I'm seeing happening. Also, I've noticed the new leaves seem stunted. They don't grow very big before they either stop growing or fall off. Misshapen leaves, 'browning out'... Hard to really tell in this picture, but the leaf in the center is sorta 'browning out.' If this was a fancy goldfish, I'd say this one has 'dropsy.' Some weird new-growth habit, among other things. More brown spots, plus white spots. At the edge of the pot, you can see the leaves are dying here and there. This is an attempt at a close-up of one of the worst ones. Small leaves that fall off if you even touch them. Another particularly affected plant. The first sign of a problem on a previously robust plant. I don't know what the problem is, but it's obviously contagious. I'm going to have to pull all of this out, dump the brand new potting media into the trash, wash and sterilize the pots, wait for some undetermined length of time, then replace it all. Super bummer. I only hope that whatever it is doesn't spread to things that AREN'T Coleus.

I agree. Its hard to know what the rose is going to do when you see it sitting there at the nursery. All the tags tell you that each one is wonderful and so forth. Even a great rose will not grow well in a bad spot or may have a bad year due to weather or pests. Maybe you happened to get a bad plant. What can you do except try? Colors will be a little different than described and for me the plants are always larger than the book or label says. Some plants poke along for a few years and then magically take off once established. Then there is the matter of rootstocks which change the way the plant grows. Huey roots grow well for me in so cal but I have to worry about virus and larger sized plants than if they were own root plants. What I do these days is grow the mail ordered own root plants when I can. I like the shapes of the plants and they seem to give more new shoots each year. I try to get a virus free plant whenever I can. The small "twiglets" require patience to get going but in my garden, they surpass the grafted ones I can get at the nursery after only a few years. That being said, I still buy the random rose at the nursery just to try it. If I love it, I will usually try to get a virus free one from the mail order later. Getting advice here is the best thing I ever did. Years before I came here, I read a book, got all excited about once blooming antique roses, spent a small fortune mail ordering a bunch of them, waited 4 years and never got one flower. They don't bloom here. It's not cold enough. They are now happily living next to a pretty cabin in Big Bear. You will always have roses that did not meet your expectations and hopefully there will be a growing number of ones that are favorites.

Very odd things happening with my houses this year. I had bluebirds in one house that laid 5 eggs. For the most part I try to stay away so they don't get spooked. In this case the next time I checked there was one fledgling that I saw but he didn't seem ready to fly away yet. But when I checked 2 days later there were no babies or eggs. The nest was empty. This box was protected with the mesh on the opening. I'm hoping time just flew by and the brood hatched and fledged in my absence! Will the parents start a new brood in the same nest or should I clean the box out for them to start over? I had another box that had activity, 5 eggs layed and a week later no eggs or babies. I fear they were killed since it was an old house from last year and it did not have the protective metal mesh at the opening. I have a nest nearby with the mesh protection. I kept checking and there was no activity or eggs. Then suddenly there was one egg!! I assumed the mom would lay more. I checked for 2 days, still only one egg. The third day the egg hatched with a tiny bald with a little fuzz baby bird. I kept watching from a distance and I did not see the male or female going into the house. I skipped looking inside the box today. I wanted to stay totally away. Tomorrow I will check again. I hope the little guy is okay.... Is it unusual for a female to lay only one egg? I'm thinking that perhaps the pair that were in the other box moved to this box when a predator got their other eggs..... Thus only one last egg to lay??? The box with the one egg is about 20 feet from the empty box. Perhaps this is part of that brood? Can the mom or dad move an egg or did she just lay it in a different box?? I have another box about 100 feet from that one protected with the mesh that some sparrows have taken over. They have built a nest and hang out in front of it on the mesh opening and on top of it but no eggs for well over a month. Perhaps they are the culprits that got the 5 bluebird eggs. Very strange that they built a nest and aren't using it. I know they will build several, one as a decoy or to give the female a choice, but I don't see that they've done that unless they are planning to take over the bluebird box. I will be keeping a watch on that....

Since i'm a lover of *all* things historic, I absolutely love the house! Like nova, when visiting a city I love to walk thru the historic neighborhoods and go 'ga-ga' over the homes~my favorite place has been Wilmington, NC. The price seems a bit on the high side to me. A frind of mine who lives in the Dallas/Ft, Worth area bought a home about 6 years ago, very similiar, but BIGGER, and it was *only* $350K. They probably dropped another $200K on restoration and furniture, but that's usually an expectation if it needs updating to preserve the history. Tricia, sorry you weren't able to get the home. My dream has always been to have a 'regal lady' or even a Greek revival will do. I need to tell you a funny story:I just got back from Austin, and while there, came across an all brick, TDF, Greek revival. I told my DD, *that* was the house I wanted, would contact a real estate person, and send a letter to the owner, asking if they were interested in selling. It just so happens the home is in a small town, where they have a farmers market once a week. On my second week there, we went to the farmers market, and talked to several of the vendors, admiring their products. One of them was a lady who made soaps, lotions, etc., and also, beautiful hand-painted/home-made paper greeeting cards, made by her mother. I started looking thru them at the different pictures, and she pulled one out saying, 'this one should be in the front'. I about peed on the ground when I saw it was 'the house'! I told her I had been by the house several times, and *that* house was the house I wanted to buy, and asked if she knew the owner. When she said 'that would be me', I swear I felt the pee running down my leg!!!(sorry about being so discriptive) She gave me her card, and said I can come to look at the house anytime. By the way, she moved there two years ago from of all places, CA, and I didn't ask, but probably paid cash AND got a deal. If you've seen the movie/read the book, The Secret, I DO believe the universe told me I had to move on, and couldn't be daydreaming about a house that would never be mine. ;o) patty_cakes