I'm not aware of any rose that needs to be deadheaded. I think most rose gardeners do that because it looks a lot neater. Some people maintain that deadheading encourages new growth and blooms--which is why they do it. Likewise, most roses don't require pruning although there can be certain benefits from pruning. Other than deadwood, I usually only prune in the very early spring and then only on roses that had winter damage from low temps. For general care, roses need a minimum of 6 hours of sun, water, and at least one feeding per season--any 10-10-10 type food will work, but many of us like rose food like RoseTone (or any one of the --Tones) which we may put on in the early spring and after each bloom cycle--perhaps 3 times a season. Kate

Don't fertilize. It inhibits blooming. To bloom they need some sun around bloom time and on into early summer. That is when they are forming the new flower buds. Do not prune until after they bloom and then prune soon after they bloom since they will start forming the next years flower buds then. Drought also inhibits flower bud formation or will prevent flower buds from opening. Here are some more details. You will have to look to see if you have buds that didn't open, or if you never had buds. Failure to set flower buds may be a sign of too much health and vigor in a plant. One solution my be to prune the roots by cutting around the plant with a spade or moving the plant. This will check foliage growth and encourage production of flower buds. Application of nitrogen rich fertilizers are the main cause of vigor which suppresses flower bud production. Deadheading flowers as soon as they wilt can promote flower bud production. Too much shade, a cool wet summer, or inadequate phosphorus or potassium in the soil may also suppress flower bud production. There are a number of other reasons for a lack of flowers. The effect of each variable depends upon the variety of the plant. The effects include: Pruning. The buds are formed in late summer and early fall so pruning then or later is not advisable since it will remove flower buds. New leaf buds will form in the spring, but new flower buds won't form until the next year. Variety. Some plants will never bloom. Some azaleas that come from the seed of a hybrid plant will look good but will never produce flowers or will produce very poor flowers. To come true to the parent plant, a hybrid may be propagated by cuttings or tissue culture but not from seed. A good hybrid seedling only comes about once in a while. For that reason it is important to know that you are getting a good named variety or a good species. Fertilizing. Nitrogen promotes leaf and branch growth and discourages flower bud production. It can also force late season growth that gets killed or stunted by frost damage. Phosphorus promotes flower bud production and hardiness. Potassium is necessary for well being. Weather. Cold weather can kill flower buds. Usually you see the brown buds in the spring. Cold spells in the fall or spring can damage buds that are not hardened off. Bud blast (blooming in fall or winter) uses up good buds which are then not available at the normal blooming time. Age. Most azaleas take 2 to 3 years to bloom from a rooted cutting unless forced. Some take longer and some bloom sooner. From seeds the plant may take 1 or 2 additional years. Sun & Shade. Some azaleas need full sun to bloom and others can take fairly dense shade. In general, the more sun the more flower buds but also the greater exposure to damage from desiccation in summer or winter. More shade produces tall spindly foliage and less flowers. Inspection. You can usually tell if the plant has ever bloomed. A azalea that has bloomed will have the seed pods on it unless it has been dead-headed. If dead-headed too late after blooming, new flower buds can be damaged. There are many other cultural variables that influence the plant's health and hence, its ability to produce flowers. Failure of flower buds to open could be due to a number of reasons. On a mature plant if they ever bloomed they will have a few of the seed pods still here and there. If you can't find any old seed pods, then they may have never bloomed. In any case, here are a few suggestions that may help: Bud blast. Disease may attack the buds before they open. If it is a fungal infection, the dead bud will be covered with short hair-like structures. Bud set. The buds could be foliage buds rather than flower buds. In this case check the previous section about flower buds not setting. Fall Blooming. Some causes of fall blooming include a dry summer and moist fall and/or warmer climates including a warm fall. For some reason, fall blooming is more common in Georgia according to Dr. Sandra McDonald. Plants which are not sufficiently hardened off or are exposed to unseasonable warm spells can start bloom prematurely. These blooms are seldom satisfactory and many times get frozen before opening fully. In any case, the seasonal bloom is lost. Avoid application of nitrogen after late spring, but phosphorus and potassium may be applied during the growing season. Application of nitrogen too late in the season can hinder hardening off in the fall. Low temperatures. The buds could be flower buds that froze. Early frosts are especially destructive. Plants harden off progressively in the fall. If a frost occurs before hardening is complete, the frost can kill flower buds. Late frosts in the spring after dormancy is broken is also a problem. This is especially true of early bloomers such as PJM that break dormancy very early. Cold climates may be too cold for many azaleas. Most azaleas have a low temperature at which the flower buds are damaged and will not produce flowers. It varies greatly from variety to variety and somewhat from season to season. Flower buds can also be damaged by cold, dry winds, particularly when warm winter weather is followed by a period of bitter cold. Nutrients. Improper nutrients my be a problem that affects cold hardiness and flower bud set. A few things you can do are to fertilize with phosphorus (super-phosphate) per directions to increase hardiness and flower bud set. This can be done any time. Do not use nitrogen rich fertilizers as they may inhibit flower bud production and also reduce cold hardiness. Lawn fertilizers are notoriously high in nitrogen and should be kept away from flowering plants. Acidity. Measure the pH and acidify if necessary. Flowers of sulfur (powdered sulfur) or iron sulfate are the best chemicals to use to increase the acidity [lower the pH]. Do not use aluminum sulfate since aluminum salts build up in the soil and eventually becomes toxic to many plants including azaleas. If soil is too acid, the symptoms can be the same. Very acidic soil can prevent the roots from taking up nutrients. As many of my azaleas are planted in very acidic forest soil, an application of Dolomite and a light topdressing of mushroom manure in late spring is all they need. Sprinkle the lime on in late winter, very early spring. Don't overdo it - just a light sprinkle. If it is mid-spring, get the lime on right away so the azalea roots will be able to take up the soil nutrients in time for new growth. If you don't have rain, water it in well. Protection. If the plants are wrapped in burlap during the winter, they may gain a few more degrees in hardiness. Drought. When soil moisture is too low, the buds will not open as shown in photo on the right. Watering will usually resolve this condition if detected soon enough. Also, summer drought with a moist fall can contribute to fall blooming. Deer Damage. Deer and rabbits may eat many of the flower buds as they browse in the winter, particularly if the weather is harsh and other food is scarce.

Yvette, I've had the same problem with Mossimo. The colors have also faded wicked fast IME - I bought about a dozen last year, short- and long-sleeved, after DH *ahem* cleaned out my dresser. (He does the laundry, and sometimes if he deems something too ratty to continue wearing he'll dispose of it, informing me that he has done so and that it's time for me to go get a new "whatever".) We have a front-loader washer and use a very tiny bit of detergent, and other clothes don't fade anywhere near as fast, even the $10 Docker knockoffs I get DH - he rips the pockets by catching them on the chair arms at work and gets that weird worn-out spot where his wallet is in his back pocket even in the expensive brand-name pants, so why spend 4x more to have a brand tag on his butt? (My Mossimo swimsuits are also disintegrating after about 7 months. When they went on clearance last summer I bought a pile of tops and bottoms - I only wear tankinis - to rotate at my twice-weekly pool sessions, so I never had to wear one suit more often than once every few weeks. Seams and hems are unraveling, patterns are fading and the lycra's getting those weird loopy rough bits in wear areas like under the arms and on the seat. I got sent home one day last week because my suit top was stretched enough that one of the "girls" kept popping out! Into the trash it went. Luckily it wasn't a favorite. I'll keep buying them when they go on clearance because getting a plus-size two-piece suit for under $20 is pretty good, and the $80-100 suits haven't held out a whole lot longer, but I really do hate throwing clothes out after a matter of months.) I never pay full price for Land's End anything though. Clearance department only for me! roselvr, that's why I have a lot of 3/4 sleeve things. :-) I inherited the "gorilla body" from my father - long torso with a barrel chest, no butt, long arms, short legs. I'm an old-fashioned freak, I want my pants waist at my actual waist. If they're below my waist I feel like I always need to hike 'em up. (I have a bad case of White Girl Butt and what hips I have are up at the pelvic crest, not down by the hip joint like most women's, so there's nothing to hold lower-cut pants up!)

@hlove - you did a great job on your kitchen. It took a minute for me to realize you moved your ceiling up so much. It was hard to reference with the upper cabinets missing. We were originally going to do that here, however, that would mean we would to have to build yet another addition elsewhere to add a bedroom, so we decided to live with 7' ceilings. @Maine_Mare - your cabinets fit in very nicely! Your contractor did a wonderful job. They look like they fit perfectly in the house. I am so glad that others have to deal with 7' ceilings also. Most people enter my house and wonder why we haven't tore it down. Of course that was before the renovation started, so I am hoping to make a ton of converts. We have decided to go for the recessed lighting, I am with you and not a huge fan, but I like a lot of light in my kitchen and there was no other way I could get it where I needed it and for years we banged our head on another light in that kitchen and decided no more. We found some really nice options for trim for the recessed and hubby has some other ideas if we don't like that once it is up, so we will see. I absolutely am in LOVE with your sink though!!! I so wish I had enough space for that. Where did you get that? Do they have smaller versions?