If the underlying cane stubs are damaged, trimming the shoots will not help. Do shoots coming from certain areas of old wood have smaller leaves than normal and blind growth? If so, you didn't prune enough in spring, and the plant needs to be forced to produce basals from further down. I am guessing this on the basis of reports that PNW zones 7 and 8 had temperatures near zero last winter. At temperatures somewhere between 10 and zero, canes of most hybrid teas will sustain internal damage, and the shoots they produce from these areas will never amount to anything. You probably already know this, but, since you didn't respond to the point, I thought I should raise it again.

Where I have bought my plants: I have focused on getting my plants at the best prices I could. 1). Native plants. Madronas, vine maples: Watershed Garden Works. (wholesale nursery, but will sell to retail customers) 2). Lilacs: a).Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens (during lilac festival) b). Means Nursery (limited selection, but if they happen to have one you like they are cheap) c). Tsugawa Nursery d). Lowes (you can get some nice ones at half price on closeout around June or July.) Got a nice Natchez Crape Myrtle and Goldfinger Potentilla there on closeout also. 3). Azaleas: a). Encore Azaleas are my favorite. Available at most local nurseries, but there are so many varieties they tend to only have a few. The last ones I got I bought by mail order from gardenerdirect.com so I could choose exactly the one I wanted. They were reasonable at $20 each for 1 gallon (same as you can find them for locally) adding shipping bumped the price up to $25 each, which was still pretty reasonable considering I got to pick exactly the one I wanted. 4).Crape Myrtles: Al’s Garden Center. They carry a lot of them and some are at really good prices. Wasn’t able to find the Midnight Magic locally so I bought some by mail order from soonerplantfarms.com, but they were pricey- small ones for about $35 each. I see that evergreennursery.com offers some very inexpensive so I would go with them if I hadn’t already bought them. I plan to order a few Moonlight Magics from evergreennursery. 5). Parrotia Persica: Big ones at a low price at Tsugawa. 6). Trachycarpus Wagnerianus: (Temple Palm) Cistus Nursery (Portland Nursery also has them but they are more expensive) 7). Unusual camellias: Sometimes Cistus Nursery has some nice ones like Black Opal and Zigzag, the prices are good. I have gotten some nice Zigzags and a Donation Camellia by mail order from Gossler Farms. 8). Popular Camellias: Portland Nursery gets a ton of them in the fall, the 1 gallon Monrovias are affordable at $20. On the bigger ones you may find you can get a better price at a place like Tsugawa, although they won’t have as many varieties. 9). Indian Hawthorn: Got a Majestic Beauty at Farmington Gardens, only place I could find one. Portland Nursery and Al’s Garden Center carry some dwarf varieties from Monrovia in 1 gallon at an affordable $13 or so. 10). Magnolias: I wanted an inexpensive Butterflies Magnolia. Whitman Farms of Salem (primarily a mail order nursery) had on their plant catalog a 1 gallon for $25, but they were out. Portland Nursery had a 1 gallon on their pricelist for about $23 but they were also out. 11). Flowering Quince: Got some really tiny Scarlet Storms mail order from Hirt’s for about $12 each. Tsugawa has quite a few of a more regular size at a reasonable price. 12). Roses: Portland Nursery has a ton. Tsugawa has quite a few also. In general good sized roses are in the $20-25 range so it’s not necessarily worth shopping around that much, although I got a bare root Blue Girl at Lowes for something like $8. These are the best sources I have found for shrubs and trees. If you are looking for annuals and perennials there are additional nurseries, for example Joy Creek, that would be worth trying.

Muddydog I thought your opening statement was rude & moronic; unnecessarily hostile to a kind person looking to help out fellow plant lovers. I can only assume it comes from you being somehow monetarily linked to the retail side (money driving meanness). Sure there is truth to a similar thought, that it's important to support our local nurserymen & women, but there is nothing wrong with a little scavenging clearance items. If you really wanted to support the locals, then instead of your nasty little whining about 90 cent clearance items, you should be *kindly* extolling the virtues of local nursery stock & service. Crypper there is nothing wrong with Sedum Matrona on clearance. It's bulletproof. The common sedums always go on sale in the early winter at the box stores and they're always an excellent value for beginners because they always survive. Once you grow them for a couple years though, you'll be wanting to visit the better nurseries to get the more elite cultivars. :^) - Tom

I love Mr. Lincoln! Yours is beautiful and growing so well. Ours is ancient.... well, about a dozen years old. It's grafted, and it really suckers. Plus, now it has that big wooden crown that grafted roses get. I would love to replace it with an own root when we can. Such a great rose. Sandra