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.

Hi Kathleen- I'll address you since the other posts are old. I am so very sorry that you have experienced this. Did you read what the responses were to the older post of one that lost a bluebird on the nest? I would just repeat everything that they said. If absolutely no sign of injury, I would suspect lawn pesticides, but considering what happened to the 1st person that posted & didn't see signs of injury on her bluebird, it did turn out to be house sparrows. I would highly suspect this. Do you think the female is dead too? If so, again I would be suspicious of HOSP. Answering your question, the male would not starve himself, nor is he able to brood eggs. If the female died too, the eggs wouldn't have hatched because the female is the one to incubate the eggs. She has a brooding patch on her lower abdomen that the male doesn't have. If she is alive, she may not be returning to nest because of the failed nest situation, especially if there was foul play. Make sure you know that she is not returning before removing the nest & eggs. If she is alive, she will probably try to find a new mate. Without repeating too much, make sure your birdhouse is on a pole with a baffle & put a sparrow spooker up after the 1st egg. If you know for sure that the nest has been abandoned & you don't get any activity, you may want to change the location of the box (birdhouse). If you immediately get a house sparrow setting up shop, then you'll know that was most likely the culprit. Again, if female is not returning, now would be the time to get a Van Ert trap for your house to trap the male & female HOSP. If you do, make sure you are monitoring every hour if possible so you don't trap a native bird. They can die in there if without food for too long. One of the previous posts left a website for the Van Ert trap. Again, the previous posts left great advice for your situation. This site is not as active as it used to be for bluebirders, so you may want to post to bluebirdnut.com. Lots of bluebird experts are on that site like this one used to have. That's where I go whenever I need advice. BTW, I lived in Atlanta for ten years (live in AL now). Very sorry to hear about your bluebird tragedy. Hope you'll have another pair come for a future nesting, but definitely get that sparrow spooker!

I like cats, but if it was up to me, I wouldn't have them, or only have an indoor one. But, we have livestock and chickens, which means livestock and chicken feed, which means mice and rats. I tell you, if you don't have a at least one cat those varmints will take you out. We lost our last cat to old age, and within two weeks the rats were back tunneling under the barn. I couldn't believe that one cat kept them out that well. So, my mom found 2 little kittens under her building and I said I needed more cats and I took them. They are great mousers, but they also kill everything else. We feed them well, so they are not hungry. They are just hunters. So I'm just going to try and make my bluebird boxes better set up and hope for better luck next year.

I'm making Chicken Marbella. Way too many people to serve and suits all. No table big enough. So buffet it is. Easy prep ahead in gallon zip-locks for the overnight marinade. I'll get lots of extra legs, extra thighs, and cut the breasts in half. I plan to fill one big sheet tray, serve, then put another in the oven. Wild rice and sprouted grain with seeds and nuts and maybe dried/soaked cranberries. Big tray of roasted veg and root veg for vegetarians to have with the rice/grain side. Salad. We will have an all day affair. Actually three days. But I do the main day. And the day after. Early risers breakfast,- granola, (check, made that), fresh fruit and yogurt. And whatever cereals my parents have...grape nuts, cherrios, wheaties, lol. Brunch, - Strada, (thanks for that!) with leeks, mixed greens, and asparagus. Probably goat cheese or feta, cherry tomatoes top with parm. I was going to make mini quiche or muffin tin frittatas, but Strada can feed an army in a tall sided sheet pan. Love that it is another prep ahead. Late Brunch, - 2-3pm, Cedar plank grilled salmon, shrimp/scallop skewers, mini veggie and lamb meatballs. (prep ahead as well.) Charcuterie plates and spring rolls. Dinner 6pm, - Marbella and sides. My family have always been 'grazers' and chatters. No point trying to sit down and so many friends and extended family stop by I like to have something on the 'grazing' table. The extra chicken is fantastic leftovers. Usually something veg/potato to make a hash next morning. We love lamb and all types of expensive cuts of beef, but no need for my family. It's a four hour drive day before. I can prep just about everything in my own kitchen, then it's just assembly and turn the oven on. I only have the spring rolls to make and my niece and SIL will no doubt love to learn and help with that.