Don't feel bad, mine didn't make it either. I was told there was only a 30 day guarantee (not sure where I heard it) so I didn't call them either. I got 4 from them. Jubilee Celebration....dead as a doornail Catalina....again, dead...dead...dead Mr. Lincoln.....2 stick wonder, made it through the winter..barely, 1 bloom so far :(( and Crown Princess Marg.....doing fairly well, color me surprised. I talked to Bill Patterson ar RU about Jubilee Celebration and he said after J&P exclusive expires next year...hopefully they will have it since they are a certified Austin lisc. I have gotten to where I only order from 4 nurseries, Roses Unlimited Ashdown Roses David Austin Chamblees. I think I ordered Fishermans Friend from Pickering a couple years ago, for my son. It was an excellent rose. Mary

This may not be hardly on the same theme as annoying comments about your gardening skills, but I just need to vent. For the past several years, job,family and not a very good location kept me from doing much gardening. always in the back of my mind was... someday and somehow I am going to return to a property that I had owned for years, and have a garden. During that time, friends that knew my dreams would give me startings from their gardens and family and friends would give me a plant for special occasions. If I found a plant I liked on clearance I would buy it. Dh had been told many times that instead of a vase of roses, I would much rather have a rose plant. My yard basically became a "holding place" for my dream. A year ago things finally fell into place, for this to happen. But first things,first-- the house had to have major renavations, and my mother had a stroke and was hospitalized for 5 months before passing away. Needless to say my dream had to move down my list of proierities. Since we still own the property, we had just moved from, I thought my "treasures" would be safe until I could get a chance to move them. Imangine how I felt when people would come up to me and ask what I was going to do with all my flowers since I had moved away. One person remarked " you"e got flowers I have never seen before". Well, I am moving them to a new "Holding place", and will eventually get them into the right spot. If I had anything I didn't want to move, I would like the liberty of deciding what to do with it-- trade it-- gift it-- or even compost it. I"m not a selfish person, I love to divide--- but I want to know when I finally find the right spot for a special plant that it will still be there for me and that someone has just not helped themselves to it. Sorry for the rant-- I"ve waited 15 years, and I just don't want to be rushed now! Janet

I'm one that don't normally judge others by their skin color or where they came from. I once made this mistake. I was at a flea market and was bargaining an item with the seller. Once we came in agreement of the price, I noticed the seller was waiting for the payment as I was waiting for her to hand me the item purchased. When asked, the seller said that she did not received the money. I argued that I had given her the money already. I asked her to check in the cash register. She insisted that she didn't received it. I looked in my wallet and purse and didn't see the cash neither. The seller was of Indian (as in India) background. My sister, who had a businees, always warned me of how stingy Indians are. Remembering this, I immediately assumed this seller was conning me. I was getting angrier and didn't know what else to do. Seconds had gone by but felt like eternity. I lifted my purse and handed it to the seller to prove that no money were in there. Then, I spotted what seemed familiar, a $50 and $10 bills, on my lap (I'm in a wheelchair). I was at my utmost embarrassed and could only apologized to her again and again. I was angry, very angry at myself for days. I was angry for letting myself assuming that all Indians are the same and for being so rude at this lady. I would never allow me to be rude to anyone for that matter. On that day and moment, I was everything that I was against: discrimination, judgemental and rude. I hated myself for days and vowed never to be that type of person again.

Hi Maingrower, well, I hadn't checked my email until now, but, anyways, I have just planted this Rhodie in the huge pot about 2 hours ago. I will say that the rootball of this Rhodie would be really difficult to plant under any of the big trees I have now. I have planted MANY small native rhodies under some of my medium sized oaks with no problem, but, this rhodie was too big. Imagine digging a hole in a densely rooted piece of ground, and that hole would need to be about 9 inches deep, and about 16 inches wide, and that is after chipping into the rootball to get rid of circling roots. I have the Eastern white pines and a row of Silver Maples, which are the neighbors trees on the property line, but, being in a pot, a want to be able to stretch a hose to the pot in cases of drought, those Silver Maples are way down at the end of my property line. I know I asked for opinions, but, I am going to just hope for the best here. The fact that this rhodie did great being potbound in a much smaller pot for a year or 2, and who knows how long it was potbound before I bought it? This pot it's in now is likely a 200 gallon pot, maybe even 250-300 gallons. I've even mulched the Rhodie in that huge pot. I am not worried, I have purchased more native Rhodies, they were small but, upon planting (in the ground, under several of my oaks) I discovered that each of the 4 small native Rhodies, were actually 2 or 3 little Rhodies each, so I actually got 8-9 rhodies from that purchase of 4 small rhodies. These are all Rhododendron Maximum. I've planted them all in mostly or all shade because I like the form they take when grown in full or mostly shade. You know more lanky, and a bit twisty, not compact, and I have many trees in my yard, I really love the look they take on in nature in dappled shade, and my oaks should provide that, and I want to get the baby Rhodies roots in there with my medium sized oaks, so they can do well with my oaks roots, which aren't too invasive, but, will make some competition too. I do have to protect them from the damn deer in winter, though. Besides the E. White Pine roots, there is also a volunteer Sassafrass tree there, anyways, thanks for your opinion, and you may be right long term, but, I have seen many plants live in smaller pots for many decades, and they are plants that get much larger than the native Rhodies, so I am hoping it all is fine. I have seen them growing on cliffs with not much soil also, but, maybe there was a long taproot going down into some soil etc. Anyways, I'm hoping this will be fine.