Hi Reg, So far (touch wood!) I've had a good experience and I'm not very knowlegeable about all this internet website stuff. I think I may have driven them crazy for a while, but I haven't had any negative experiences so far. I do pay with my credit card online though. Can you not print out a receipt to submit to your Rose Society and have them reimburse you? You may like to check out this particular IP which is aceofspace.com. They were extremely helpful to me. I'm sure with your internet skills, you would soon know if they would suit your needs. I know there are cheaper ones out there, but I was looking for reliability more than price. Good luck with your hunt.

I found that PVC pipe over rebar worked pretty swell. My house was ~14' wide, maybe 5'-6" tall at the top of the hoop. I ran one pipe down the center of the roof as a purlin, and used 1x2 along each long wall for added support. 16-18 feet long or therabouts. Plain ol' plastic - well, it'll work if you secure it really, really, really well. No kidding - anything loose and it will flap it's way off, probably on the day you really need the protection. The greenhouse plastic costs lots more, but the stuff I got from Northern Greenhouse Sales went on, even mediocre tightness, and stayed on. It's the kind of material you do once and replace maybe 5-6 years later. I did the cheap stuff 3-4 times (same season) before I figured it was time to use the real thing. Venting is important. Cold days in the winter when temps were 35-40 and the sun shining - got me to 70+ inside during the daytime. When summer hits, temps go ballistic - you gotta have enough vents! I had a doorway at both ends I could leave open a bit for max cooling. Good luck whichever way you go. You can help insure the structure with some clothesline secured over the hoop house (like the low row covers) with a bungee on one end, so the elastic ensures the rope stays snug to the plastic - helps keep the flapping to a minimum.. :)

As fate would have it, I discovered this forum while looking for a part for my 2006 Cub Cadet LT1045 lawn tractor. I didn't read all of the responses and can only speak from personal experience, but my 1045 is far from a lemon. In 8 years, I've used it weekly to cut my half acre yard during grass growing season in the southeast. For those outside of this area, that would be about 8 months out of the year. I also used it to maintain another half acre lot for 2 seasons, cut my dad's half acre yard 2 seasons and my daughter's quarter acre lot for one season. I've done all of the servicing on it myself and haven't been very consistent with that, changing the oil and filter only 2 times since I bought it. The spark plugs have been replaced once and that was last year and the air filter was replaced for the first time when the plugs were replaced. I've replaced the blades pretty much every year and the deck belt about every two years. I believe I'm on my third battery. With that said, the only non maintenance repairs I have made is replacing one of the shaft/bearing assemblies on the cutting deck, replaced the mulch plug, and as of now I'm about to replace the stator. This tractor resides under my back deck, uncovered at all times when I'm not using it. Because of that, I need a new seat. It's the best investment in lawn care equipment I ever made.

Judy--there is a Tampa chapter of the AMerican Begonia Society. They had their first judged begonia show in late February if I recall right. Marcia--the word "dignified" is the level of respect and development of horticultural endeavors. Comparatively speaking, there is much less experience with plants and/or maintenance issues with landscaping companies and their employees (illegal workers is yet another issue)...and,the quality of programming and other aspects of local botanical gardens is one that combines visitor needs with education and display and overall non-profit health. I have not encountered so much scoffing at "gardening" than in FL while mixing with people at various events--it's as if horticulture is equated with only rich people and then, only a subclass would dare to do it for them. I've also read of many city-governemnt based initiatives that seem to sound "groundbreaking" or "modern advances" that are off the mark (Port St. Lucie in particular!) It's like they are given a brochure and they buy a program or idea and have no grasp of hte context for its use. Perhaps another interesting observation is how belligerent many people are to the whole water restriction thing in south FLorida (is it same elsewhere?). Darn near EVERYONE has an excuse (placing blame on the water district, not me, I don't wanna, catch me if you can, blah blah). I have experienced droughts in other regions with same enforced restirctions and all, and in FLorida I've seen a lot of arrogance and indifference, even with governments. This holds true to a lot of professionals that give misleading info publicly about info that tends to blatantly undermine known facts about what plants need more water, when to water and how much. In a nutshell, there is less overall population that holds high regard or dignity with a passion of horticulture and the closely related good land stewardship and good (proven) maintenance practices. Go to other regions (more like regional pockets), and nearly everyone looks to a single botanical garden source as the leader or as a world-class example of a organization, etc. Or, all understand the need for say, shade trees, or drought-tolerant plants and thus it is easier to locate these plants in nurseries. Lots of things comparatively speaking make FL such a drought for the horticultural passion that dominates other areas of the US and Canada. "landscaping (horticulture)" is a business in FLorida, not a passion or lifestyle across the board.