Hi folks I missed this thread the first time around before I started posting, so I thought I'd chime in now. I'm the friend Mindy mentioned that puts the chopped off complete bags of leaves next to but not around the roses, and as a system it works for me and my 700 or so roses. I thought I'd add my 2 cents to Seil's concerns about the bag method, since they're all important issues for rose gardeners. - First, I don't find that the bag disintegrates at all - in fact, I have some extra slices of bags from last year in unused parts of my garden that are perfectly intact, at least on the sides that hold the leaves (not on the bottom, which does sometimes start to disintegrate if moist). - Secondly, everyone is totally right to be wary of protecting roses with any method too early in the season before the ground is fully frozen, because of rodents nesting in the material as well as risking the roses not getting or staying dormant. I wait till the ground is fully frozen - usually around Christmas or a few weeks before that - so the roots stay cold, not warm. The danger in Nebraska and many other highly changeable climates is that the roses here experience relatively long cycles of warming periods in January and February that might disrupt the dormancy, and the point of the protection (at least in my yard) is to temper only the extremes. The bags keep the worst of the winter winds away and encourage the frozen ground to stay relatively frozen throughout January and February, but I uncover when the roses start to leaf out no matter the calendar (like this year was 3 weeks early at least) to keep them from cankering in the now thawed ground. - Third, I find that the bags are really helpful for me, not only in creating air circulation around the base of the plant itself, but also in keeping the main moisture away from the base of the plant. The paper bags are tough enough to keep even soggy maple and linden leaves contained in a solid frozen block of essentially ice that's a few inches away from the actual stem of any roses. I'd rather not collect those kinds of leaves, but when I poach 200 bags or more from neighbors, I can't be too picky (just no dog poop, please!!) I tend to fill in with my own oak leaves that I know will have a lot of air space and never get soggy, but that's only me. I consider these bags like little "down coats" for the roses, that create pockets of protected air around the roses that protect them like your coat protects you, even if it's not at all contacting your skin. The extra (still) air is a layer of protection too, in its way. RpR has my admiration, as that method sounds waaaay harder than what I do - to create wire cages and protect each rose, though I do like the idea of making one giant breathable cover for the whole bed of roses. I saw Karl (RoseNut) years ago post something of the sort where he puts styrofoam or foamboard (or something light) edges around the bed and builds their own little winter garage, but anything that requires tools other than pruners or a watering can strikes me as "work" and roses are "fun". One of the best things I like about my method is that uncovering the roses doubles as mulching the roses for the spring. Yes, I have to haul off about half of the leaves (which I do indeed lift off as a unit of sliced bag and dump in my wheelbarrow) but I have two neighbors who welcome them as free mulch for their vegetable beds in the spring. For me, if I bring the spring alfalfa and once-yearly fertilizer dose with me as I uncover the roses, every spring chore except for pruning gets done in one fell swoop. I like being a lazy gardener when I can be. And yes, I consider this covering lazy. Once I've collected all the leaf bags (most of the month of November, a slow gardening month anyway), I can cover all 700 in 3 relatively leisurely weekend days. My all-time record speed was two years ago when we literally had 24 hours between 70 degree temperatures and 2 feet of snow that lasted all winter, and I covered all the roses in a day and a half, but I don't recommend that. Frankly, if I had consistent snow cover I don't think I'd cover the roses at all, since nature would insulate them in the easiest way possible and uncover them when the climate was right without any work on my part, but we rarely if ever keep consistent snow cover even long enough to cross-country ski on it. Some time this fall, I'll post pictures if anyone is interested in trying this method, but everyone has their own techniques, and like our own planting formulas some of these are undoubtedly our personal (sometimes mythological I'm sure in my case) beliefs about what roses need, but they're at least derived from what works for us individually. For now, the Grinch poem elsewhere on the roses forum has my technique more or less laid out (if you can read between the rhyming lines). Just my two cents from my experience! Cynthia

dlm2000, it is a great place! You can even order comforters stuffed how you want them. If you want more at your feet, for instance, they will do it. There is also another website for this place that sells linen. I don't know why it doesn't come up under the other link I listed. http://www.dewoolfsonlinens.com/catalog/index.php The linens are great too, but I haven't actually bought any.....yet! I keep saying one day, I'm going to splurge and actually sleep in total luxury! I am lucky that this place is not too far from where I live and we spend a lot of time in the NC mountains, so I've been able to actually see what they have and it is definitely quality items! I know what you mean about the pillows. I've "invested" in down pillows and they are well worth the money too. They last forever it seems. I treat those the same as the feather bed and a couple of times a year, throw them out in the hot sun to "clean" them. It seems to not only fluff them, but makes them smell good too!

We purchased the Simmons Beautyrest Black Helena Pillowtop back in Dec 2006. I truly loved it for the first few months, and then it started with the body indentations. I thought the indents were from the mattress cover, so took that off, no change, turned mattress, nothing. It progressively got worse that we had 2 ditches in this King size. I called Boston Store Furniture Gallery, 20 months into owning it. Major back and neck problems set in. They sent out an inspector and sure enough, 1 ½ inch body indents and the sides of the mattress were busting out. Inspector told me that his report would reflect a defective mattress. I asked his opinion of how many defective mattresses he seeÂs and he said "off the record" to strongly fight for a replacement but to stay clear of this Helena as he has seen many defective mattresses. Simmons sold me on the single coils for less movement on the mattress as I flip a lot. In my opinion, those single coils are receiving a lot of strain. In order to get a replacement under the warranty, it has to be equal or greater than what I had spent. Well, I really donÂt want to get another Helena due to the problems I had on this one. The salesperson hasnÂt heard any of these complaints and actually had 3 other couples trying out the Helena as we spoke. She has sold over 100 of these w/o any other complaints. I have 21 days to decide if I want it replaced, or to try another mattress. She wants me to try it again, but I hesitate. Due to what I spent on the Helena, I would have to go with a Tempurpedic type bed but donÂt think that will work for us. Anyone else having problems with the Helena indentations? Suggestions on a Simmons or Sealy plush mattress?

I have my actual mattress encased in a zip up protector. On top of that I have the cuddlebed which is fairly thick, then I have my fitted sheet. I change the sheets at least once a week. I will from time to time when the sheets are off take the cuddlebed off and run it through the dryer no heat air fluff. It also gets washed on occasion, cold water wash gentle and air dry then I lay it over the back of the couch under the ceiling fans to finish drying and get air as close as I can get to line drying. It does not get dirty, oily, or have dust mites. It stays very clean with the sheet covering it.