^^ Yikes LOL Turns out their is actually a tire ingredient that is now known to actually cause environmental harm, which is the first one I've heard of. All the other warnings in this thread were based on hearsay and "if it's there, it's toxic" which is not exactly the case. 6PPD is added to tires as a preservative for the rubber. Specifically, it reacts with ozone, preventing the ozone from damaging the rubber itself. Unfortunately, the product of that reaction - 6PPD quinone - is leachable and also quite toxic to salmon (and possibly other aquatic critters). Researchers knew for years that something was killing salmon during the mating run in certain streams in the PNW. They have finally pinned down this chemical as a major culprit. After a rain, it washes off the roads into the streams. Of course ozone is required for this to happen, so it is much more likely in urban areas with higher levels of ozone. Anyway it's another reason not to use tire mulch. As an environmental chemist, I was not that concerned with toxicity of other tire ingredients up to this point, but with this stuff, if you live near urban waterways especially, it might be best not to use it. https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/Tire-derived-chemical-kills-salmon/98/web/2020/12

Lux, here in a coastal environment on Puget Sound, western Washington, I grow both 'Sombreuil' and 'White Cap.' The former is so far quite healthy and the blooms have been lovely. The latter has blooms that ball for me almost always, even during the summer when it was warm. Fragrance is variable, of course, but I never detected a scent from any of the WC blooms. The petals of WC are a little on the thin side, I think. We have a mild climate too, so I thought it was worth mentioning to you, Lux. But otoh, a lady in British Columbia has reported quite good luck with WC, so it may be that mine is just not in enough sun. I am going to dig it up and move it just to see if that helps. 'Clair Matin,' right beside it, is just fine, although I think that CM is probably more shade tolerant. I am not sure any of that is helpful, but thought I'd throw that out; maybe it will be of some use to you. My young 'Sombreuil' really is good here so far, though, and it's in a much more shady spot than WC is.

It is unfortunate that misinformation continues to be repeated about glyphosate. Denmark has not banned glyphosate, nor have "many European countries". Denmark at one point thought that some of the monitoring they were doing showed that glyphosate could move into agricultural field drainage water in autumn but once they looked at their data and related it to the methodology they used, they enacted no ban whatsoever. As the Danish Environmental Protection Agency specifically stated: http://www.egeis.org/home/main/Evaluation-GlyphosateDEPA.PDF "Against this background, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency believes that no unacceptable risk of pollution of the groundwater is associated with the currently approved agricultural use of glyphosate. The Agency thus does not consider that the updated state of our knowledge provides any technical grounds for the imposition of restrictions on the autumn application of glyphosate." Used properly, glyphosate will not pollute drinking water nor will it have adverse effects on humans. Once applied, it binds tightly to soil particles and is not herbicidally active. If it is applied to hard surfaces such as sidewalks it can move offsite of course. It can also move if there is active soil erosion carrying soil off site. It is of very low toxicity, and breaks down completely into natural constituents over time. It is of equal or lower toxicity than most household products such as detergent, soaps, shampoos, cleaners etc. and far less toxic than some of the "alternatives" often discussed such as bleach, kerosene, high strength vinegars and so on. There is so much misinformation being repeated on the web that it is difficult to get reliable information. This link provides an published overview of the available literature. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology Volume 31, Issue 2, April 2000, Pages 117-165 Safety Evaluation and Risk Assessment of the Herbicide Roundup and Its Active Ingredient, Glyphosate, for Humans http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1401479

That truly captures my enthusiasm just before the holidays!