Melody, I assume you've grown those kinds of seeds before, and know what they normally look like. Is there any chance that they've been exposed to a low dose of herbicide of some kind? I occasionally hear stories of deformed plants due to a bad batch of municipal compost or even a bad batch of commercial potting soil tainted with some kind of persistent herbicide. No way to really confirm those stories, but a low dose of some herbicides (2,4-D overspray for example) can cause curly growth, and it's easy to believe that some species would be more sensitive than others. If the potting mix is tainted, the only thing you could do is wash all the old medium off the seedlings and transplant them into some new mix. Alex

I live where blackspot pressure is high, and I don't use fungicides. I also have a handful of Bourbons in my garden, and some do better than others with regards to keeping nice foliage. For me, the cleanest is 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau', followed closely by 'Mme de Sevigne' -- which is like a "free-standing climber" version of 'Mme Isaac Pereire'. I don't know if it's that they're inherently less susceptible to whatever fungal strains are in my area, or if they just quickly shed affected leaves and replace them. In any case, they keep their leaves almost perfect until about November. 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' doesn't seem to get blackspot, either, but does get a touch of mildew in Spring before the first flush when it's cool and damp. This disappears on its own when the temperatures get into the 80s, and doesn't return until about November, when we often have had some cold spells followed by warm spells. In any case, its "ugly times" are when there aren't any blooms, so I don't pay it any attention. "Sophie's Perpetual" is usually listed as a China, but I think of it as a China-leaning Bourbon -- since it smells like a Bourbon. Mine gets touches of blackspot, maybe only slightly more than the others I mentioned, but since it's still small and growing slowly, one affected leaf is a higher percentage of the total number of leaves. So maybe I notice it more. 'Honorine de Brabant' keeps healthy leaves most of the season, but starts to lose those on the bottom foot to foot and a half. To give perspective, it's currently reaching over 6 feet tall. When it loses leaves lower down it doesn't replace them -- instead focusing on extending the tips of its canes and leafing out there. 'Mme Dore' and 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' both go naked or nearly so in July, after the first flush is over. They then leaf out again, only to go naked once more by about October. These two are slower growing, for me, which probably relates to how quickly they refoliate. 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' has me scratching my head, because it does have a few stout canes about 3 feet tall, but it seems to focus on making just one cane at a time, leafing out, then blooming. Maybe I'll give it a harsher haircut in Spring and see what it does. 'Mme Dore' I know doesn't get big, so I just snip off Winter damage and leave it alone, other than dead-heading. "Maggie" is new to me, having come only this year. So far, it's kept its leaves, but it's also still small. We'll see how it does. Then there's poor little 'Eugene de Beauharnais'. I originally planted this at the base of a tree in my front yard, where it got too much midday sun which burned its blooms. I moved it to the back, and it took some time to get adjusted again. Now I think I'll just turn it into a pot-pet, but that will wait until Spring. Why keep it in a pot? Well, I keep hearing how much of a wimp it is on its own roots, and I prefer wimps in pots filled with my "magic mix" to get them to be their best. "Huilito" is a bit of a mystery. It's usually considered a China based on its growth, but anytime I see a "China" with that fragrance, I think it's something else genetically. Maybe it's a Bourbon -- I don't know for sure. This arrived only last Spring, so it's still new. But it keeps healthy foliage for me. So there you have it -- a small but rather diverse group of Bourbons in my garden. Some stay clean, some don't. I may be trying a few more in pots, and if they do well, bring them down to my cemetery project. It's really hard to say for sure what will work unless you hear from others in your area, or are willing to try them out for yourself. :-) ~Christopher

David, you're building a new house to live in. Not a palace but a reasonable middle class house and you have an adequate budget and financing. Are you going to use electric resistance heating for heat? I believe the concept of "efficiency" for electric heating didn't come into use until the growth of heat pumps. Resistance heating was defined as 100% efficient, and then the energy efficiency of heat pumps could be expressed numerically as some multiple of resistance heating, the benefit and increased output coming from the different physics involved. Resistance = 100% is the baseline used for comparison measurement. It has no other significance to my knowledge. The dangers of coal plants have been known for decades, yet utilities in areas like yours (the South) have been permitted to continue using them. Yes, they're starting to be shuttered. 20 years or more too late. In my area, relatively much cleaner and less dangerous gas power plants are being taken out of service and shut down. We'll be paying even more than now for electricity but it is the right thing to do. The big challenge is storage for nighttime and other usage when the sun isn't shining. If you're interested, one of several storage systems in our state is the Castaic Power Plant, in service for many decades. Offpeak power is used to pump water uphill to a higher reservoir. It's then released when needed, and pumped back uphill to use again. There are a number of such water "battery systems" in the California mountains, though none are real large.

We had a Bosch Greenstar condensing 151,000 BTU propane combi boiler/water heater (model #FS151) installed less than 2 years ago - a brand new system in our old 1850's farmhouse. This supports the forced air heating system for our main floor. In the past year and a half - last winter, and this winter - we've had non stop issues with the system. We use a Nest thermostat to control heat while we are away from the house, or when we have guests staying there. Right now, the Nest app is showing the heat set to 80 degrees but the room temp not rising above 60. What tends to happen is the system blows cool air for a long period of time (more than an hour usually) which in turn cools down the house instead of heating it up. The company that installed it also provides our propane. We have had them out no less than 6 times over the past year and a half to fix it - each time they fiddle with a few things and then it starts working again... for a period of time. But it never seems to actually solve the issue long-term. Most recently they replaced a valve on the back of the unit. The invoice was over $300. This appeared to correct the pressure issue as the gauge precisely would sit in the lower red area, but after this valve replacement, was now sitting in green. Im trying to understand if this is an installation issue, if this kind of issue is typical, and if any one else has experienced this low level of reliability with their Bosch Greenstar boiler. Im told by the company that installed it that we are now outside the warranty period, but im frustrated that the issues persist even after several service calls. Any advice? Do I call a different company to audit the unit and installation? How do I deal with this beyond constantly feeling like the system is unreliable? Its brand new - replacing it is not really an option, as we spent $16k installing it in the first place - less than 2 years ago!