Thank you for answering.........Here's what's happened so far...........Oh, chicks were hatched out on the 13th, so 2 days old at the time of 'operation chick insertion' My 'broody' hen, New Hamshire Red, was a sleep on the nest (9:30 or so)(past my bedtime, lol) my DH and I did the sneaky pete walk out to the hen house..In his hand were a couple empty egg shells, he dropped the door we have on the nest boxes (carefully of course, still in stealth mode) As he pulled the eggs out from under her and crushed the empty shells in his other hand, I put the sleeping chicks under her. She didn't bat an eye, there was a little adjustment as the chicks burrowed under her, then all quiet. Now, this morning, 'bout 6 or so (it's Saturday, I sleep in a little ;o) ) I let the girls out and then closed 'their' door and went through the 'man' door to check. My Mamma looks like she's ready to take on a bear (although she let me check) and chicks are still w/ us, so far so good, we'll see....... dgkritch: About the broody hen.........I 'got' her over simple 'oversight'. My nest boxes are elavated ('bout 1 1/2') I had one of my hens lay an egg under the nest boxes and I usually check there regularly, I hadn't.....With my girls it seems that if an egg is left for a couple few days, they'll try to set it. I generally discourage this as I have a girls only club, and it's a 'fruitless' venture on their part....But, I had just 'lost' my big aracana (nice hen, darn it) and I wanted to add 1-2 more to my flock.. I have 4 barred rocks, 3 australorps, 4 new hamshire red, 2 rhode island reds and 1 aracana.

Charlotte is a monster here, too. But I saw one in California that was old and short, so probably you should ask someone in your area about what size is more realistic. You say 12' diameter. Does that mean it's a circle? So it would be 113 square feet? My opinion on the roses listed that I grow: Pat Austin - wonderful fragrance, not too big, blooms in flushes that are very far apart. I love this rose. Great fragrance, great color. But I wouldn't put it in a showcase bed because of the big pause between flushes and the blooms which only last for 1 day - max. Less than 1 day if it's hot. Europeana - I've wanted this for a long time because it looks so good everytime I visit the Tyler TX rose garden. But I finally got it and it lacks in fragrance. Beautiful rose, long lasting blooms, but it's too new to know much else about it. With or without fragrance it must be a showstopper since it caught my attention out of the thousands of roses in Tyler. Happy Child - I've heard great things about this one and I know it stays short. Mine is too young to say much except for there isn't much fragrance considering it is an Austin rose. Scepter d' Isle - LOVE IT! But it's big, at least in my garden. Blooms every day of the season. One of the best smelling roses in the garden. Every sniff makes me happy that I grow roses. Molineux - mine is too young to comment on. I've heard so many good things about this rose that I hate to say anything negative. But the blooms on mine get wilty really quick. Maybe it's just mine? Gruss an Aachen - This rose doesn't light my fire. Everyone else loves it so I must just be weird. The form isn't outstanding and neither is the fragrance. Julia Child - I don't grow this one but I've heard great things. Blueberry Hill - One of my husband's favorites because of the color, but I can't smell it so I don't care about it one way or the other. About the colors: I'd have to see Pat Austin next to a red before I felt right about choosing Hottie. That could either be really good or really bad. I'll put a red next to her tomorrow and see. Lemonade sounds good because of all the Austins. A warning about minis- I wouldn't buy one that I hadn't seen growing in a garden in person. The minis I got are about to be taken out because they grow tall and upright and the only thing tiny about them are the scentless little blooms. It kind of makes me mad, because I called the supplier directly and asked which ones would be good. Identity Crisis sounds the best to me. Apricot Carding Mill next to Blueberry Hill? Yum. Maybe you could put Happy Child in the place of Charlotte. Or Kronprincessin Viktoria, which is a really short, always blooming white rose. Good shaped plant, too. Or Tamora or Ambridge Rose, which would put more apricot in the front. Then again, Identity Crisis doesn't have Scepter d Isle in it, and out of all the roses you listed this is my absolute favorite.

Alex- No big deal, I can put it in a spot where it may only get a couple of hours of early sun. They are indoors at the Lowes so they are not getting direct sun at the moment. it sounds like it will do fine in the Condo in the winter. I'll just buy a slighly larger pot to put in. it's just in one of those cheap plastic nursery pots now. I can re-pot in a bigger one next spring. i will give it a dose of systemic granuls. When you buy something like this you never know if there are dormant mites or scale in the soil. Ever since I bought my first two palms 8 years ago and they ended up infested with mites I have given all of my palms a dose in August and never had a problem again. I just cant pass on it. they are too big and in too good a shape and the price is right.

I'm with you lowspark, as far as blaming the training. I'm a business owner, and the way our employees communicate with anyone who calls my business is extremely important to me. Every scenario is thought out, nothing is left to chance. I have a friend who owns several fast food franchises. He and his wife started with one and did all the work - along with recruiting her brother and sister. Now he pays well to have excellent management. Small franchises are either manned by an owner/operator, or by hired hands with no real manager on site. Guess which ones you get better service at? Some franchises require an owner/operator or an investor with experience in that franchise. It doesn't do all the rest of the franchises any good if there's the few that are poorly-run. People don't think it's just the one franchise. They think, "all Acme Burgers are bad!" Jerzeegirl, please reconsider not talking to the owner. You may be saving someone their entire livelihood, as most small franchises like Subway are "subsistence" shops - they bring in just enough profit for the owner's family to live on. The real problems are with large corporations/public companies (like certain phone carriers, department stores, gorcery stores) who don't foster good service, and there's noone to complain to and noone cares.