I dipped a toe into growing teas last season with some success and tried a few more this season. I am in zone 6b south of Cincy in south central Kentucky. I started with containers which I overwintered near my house's south facing brick wall (I'm too lazy, I have no basement, and my garage is too cramped to move them inside.) I was successful with Mme. Lombard, Devoniensis (the bush form) and Georgetown Tea. I had actually planted GT in the ground in the fall of '06 after growing it in a pot all summer. It came back with flying colors. I lost the Cl. Devoniensis however - remember we had that Easter freeze after a warm spell and it developed canker and did it in. Poor little Mme. Lombard, a one cane wonder, survived all summer and through the winter in the little one gallon pot it came from the nursery in - and half the soil was gone! I had to find a place in the garden for this tough gal, so I finally planted it this fall, after another summer in that same pot (bad gardener!) It has three blooms on it now, what a trooper! This year I tried Mlle. Franziska Kruger, Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux, Marie Van Houtte, Souvenir d'un Ami, Miss Atwood, Mme Jules Gravereaux (not to be confused with Rhodologue JG), and Lady Hillingdon. Most were grown on in BIG pots this time, with only Rhodologue JG and Mme. JG immediately going into the garden. LH grew a lot over the summer, it's a real beauty. I would definitely try it, at least in a pot for the first year to see how it does for you. Use a large foam or fiberglass pot and you'll be able to overwinter it outside. The foam pots provide root insulation and there is no worry about the pot cracking. I have 16 different roses in pots on my deck (this year) that I am overwintering. The varieties and number of roses change from year to year. Some go in the garden after a season or two. Some just don't make the cut and are given away or composted. It's a good way to test them out and grow them on (all mine were own-root babies when I got them.) On top of that I can justify my "pot ghetto" if they are in "real" pots and not the nursery pots they came in, decorative or not! BTW I also have Hermosa in the ground, it does very well, and has a very nice fall flush.

...and I am glad I sprayed Serenade 3 days ago, just in time for our first summer Nor'easter. My Texas Cages are getting a workout with the steady wind. Nexy year I will stake them a bit. Everything is still standing but "what a test!" for my different staking methods, poles, angle iron, cheapy cages, iron and cross bars, as well as the Cages. Will be very interesting to see. Last year the blight hit in September. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

I agree that it's the orangy-gold-yellowy paint that seems to be throwing everything off. I wonder what a warm blue might do for the room? It may be a bit tricky to get the right shade - you need enough warmth for the cabinets, but your counter reads slightly cooler. With the garnets that are in your counter, you could pick up the reddish-wine color and use that as an accent...that can work well with a blue. Usually with colors it seems like it's more about getting the right undertones rather than the right color family. You've got oak cabinets - I'm assuming they aren't going anywhere for a while, so you need to make peace with them. I think that with the right paint color, you can make the cabinets and the granite work. There is always the gel-stain option and if changing them I'd probably look that route. I don't think that painting the oak is a good idea since it tends to look like...painted oak. And that's a look that I really don't care for. You mentioned that the ceiling is changing - does that mean that you're putting in some can lighting as well as the pendants? I like the linear tiles...but not with your cabinets. Their style is more contemporary/transitional than what I think your cabinets can muster...the cabinets have a much more traditional look so you might do better with something a bit more classic in the tile line.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and your interest in our "growing" little family! Baby Tonto quickly found his way into our hearts, and as with Posy, we are absolutely smitten with this kitten! He is SUCH a little lovebug. He will literally run and jump into your arms when he sees you come through the door (he's still sequestered away from the rest of the gang, but we are doing slow introductions), and he nuzzles and kisses like crazy, and has his purr-motor going constantly. I have a fuzzy pink robe that I wear in the mornings, and he has taken to kneading it like mad and suckling on it. It must remind him of mama! I just let him do it ... it'll wash! In typical kitten fashion, Tonto is nonstop movement and it's hard to get him to sit still long enough to take his photo. This one looks slightly possessed, but this is pretty much him in action! He manages to somehow look like a big boy in the pictures I do get of him ... But he's still quite itty-bitty, as the size of his head will show here ... The other cats are having mixed reactions to Tonto. While Posy initially seemed ok with him, she's started acting a bit more aggressive towards him. She sits right outside the door to "his" room, but when brought INTO his room, she sits next to the door and whines and yowls, sticking her paws out underneath the door as though to say to the cats on the other side, "Get me OUT of here, you guys!" She has run at him a few times and slapped at him, and of course there's the hissing that comes from BOTH of them. Tonto sounds like the tiniest little snake! He seems to be able to hold his own, and while he hasn't been the aggressor, he doesn't run away from the others either. After awhile, they'll sort of settle down, and even sleep within a couple of feet of each other, but they are still keeping a wary eye out. The playful interaction I'm hoping for just hasn't happened yet. In the meantime, Posy is getting more and more integrated into the activities of the older cats. She is almost always in their presence, and they don't seem to mind her anymore. Penny especially is doing much better with her. Although they still won't play or cuddle together, Posy does seem to have infiltrated their little "posse" and more or less become one of the gang. Old man Pooh seems to like BOTH of the young newcomers. Molly is still ambivalent and a little grouchy about the whole thing. Penny is not at ALL keen on the new baby. I'm sure all things will work themselves out in Catland, as they always do. That doesn't stop me from longing for everyone to get along well in the here and now, so I'm working on my patience as well! Here is Posy after tiring herself out Friday evening being grouchy towards Tonto. Perhaps having a baby makes her seem so much bigger in comparison, but I swear she has had a major growth spurt just in the past couple of weeks. This pic of Posy was taken just recently: And this was taken on Saturday. (I love how her face is a little bit Spuds MacKenzie looking here! Remember him?) She is an amazing little cat. :-) Finally, here's a quick snap of Penny I took yesterday. Her eyes looked so green up against the colors of the bedding. Doesn't quite translate in this photo, but I thought she was still looking pretty. :-)