For zone 5, two good vendors of own root roses are Northland Rosarium in Spokane, Washington and High Country Roses in Denver. Both have carefully selected roses which can with stand the rigors of zone 5 winters, and both send out large plants which are ready to start growing when they arrive. Two good sources of grafted roses for cold zoners are Palatine and Pickering in Canada. Again, huge, healthy plants which are ready to plant and grow. I have not ordered from Wisconsin Roses, which does also have a great reputation. I think there is also a company in Ohio called Rosefire. If you want modern roses, the ones that look like florist roses, Hybrid Teas and Floribundas, you had probably best stick to grafted roses. Maybe call or email WR for suggestions. Do any of the cities near you have nurseries with good selections? The cheapest way to go is the body bagged roses which are showing up now in the big box stores. Those are a gamble, they might or might not grow, be true to name, be virus free.

Back to Nature products are wonderful. Instead of the cow manure I buy the BTN chicken manure. It is a little more balanced in terms of NPK than the CM. But that's just my personal preference, I had always used the Black Kow, but a lady in Mississippi changed my mind a few years ago and I started using the CM. One thing I don't have to worry about by using the BTN products is that they are very, very well composted and I've never had any plant burn. I have found a wholesale plant products place here in the OKC area that I buy from now. They sold retail to me cuz I only buy small amounts from them, and they have products that you don't find on the shelves in the big box stores and even some of the Farmer's feed and seed stores. I switched to Al's 5:1:1 potting mix this summer and could not find my pine bark fines anywhere. Finally found them at this place for about $4 for 3 cubic feet, But, they also carry potting mixes like Metro Mix, soil conditioners like Turface, fertilizers, greenhouse materials, pots, and so much more at wholesale prices that fit into a gardener's budget with room to spare. Next year I plan to get my perlite and peat moss bulk from them, too. I can get the larger grade perlite that I really want. Susan

I found the bags. I looked on eBay, for someone with an eBay store of vacuum cleaner bags, found one with good feedback and emailed him. He asked for the number off the old bag, so I looked, and it didn't have a number, so I sent him a picture of it. He emailed me back and said he didn't have any bags that would fit, but he told me to call Aerus customer service, 800-243-9078, and I could order them direct. So I called and ordered a pack of 12. They're in Virginia, so no high shipping charges from Canada. I don't know how the price compares to regular Electrolux bags from dealers, but the pack of 12 with shipping is $30 and change.

To the best of my knowledge, the two vacuum cleaners you are leaning towards do not have a "sealed" system. A sealed system feature is usually on higher end models of a brand like the Electrolux UltraOne, Oxygen or Oxygen3 Ultra. I would be curious to know why you must have a sealed system. Do you have really bad allergies? What brand and model are you presently using and is the filtration not enough for you? There are different levels of allergic reactions people have. What may be fine for me, may be worse for you. Vacuum cleaner design and filtration has evolved over the years. That Mighty Mite can filter much better than the Mighty Mite from 20+yrs. ago, if used with a microlined paper bag and exhaust filter. You will have a hard time finding the two style vacuum cleaner bags at a Walmart or Target. These stores usually only stock supplies for brands and models they currently sell. The Mighty Mite "MM" style bags will be the easiest to find, since it has been around the longest. The Ergospace will be the quieter of the two vacuum cleaners.