When Minnie Hill Palmer passed, The Acre was deeded to the city and fell under control of 'Parks and Wreck'. The Chatsworth Historical Society was formed to save The Pioneer Church and finally came to support The Acre. Candy and Dean Craig resurrected the gardens and added many OGRs through their friendship and connection with John MacGregor, Clair Martin's predecessor at The Huntington Library. They were rose garden volunteers there and it was they who introduced me to the place and got me started there. Candy also had a friendship with Peter Schneider, the editor of The American Rose Rambler, a marvelous rose newsletter, and now the editor of The Combined Rose List, which he generated with Bev Dobson (who originated it) and whom he succeeded. The Craigs lost a daughter to a drunk driver and Peter named an apricot floribunda he created for their daughter, Eden Ellen. There was a bed of it growing there for many years. They surrounded the house with roses, making it a popular venue for weddings and other parties, arranged through "Parks and Wreck". With tightening belts and the aging of the Historical Society and surrounding rose societies which often used the gardens to hold their pruning demonstrations, it appears roses (not all, but from the photos, many) have been removed (or, perhaps died) to reduce maintenance and probably to increase room for events. Candy held an annual Rose Festival in conjunction with Pioneer Days, a community festival, for many years where she sold old, rare and unusual roses to help pay for the potting soil and other supplies required to maintain the gardens. Many of them were passed through her by Peter from his imports and were the source of things such as Julia's Rose, Greensleeves and quite a few other unusual European roses not in US commerce at the time. A number were propagated from the OGRs existing on the property when they came to be the volunteer caretakers and many more came from The Huntington and my old Newhall garden. There are still some roses there, I'm not sure which though. It's suggested to start plants out in pots which best fit their root ball size so the roots fill the pots and knit a solid root ball. Starting a band out in a five gallon can will frequently lead to weakened root ball between the crown of the plant and the pot edges due to the long length of roots between the center and edges. Removing the root ball from the pot could then permit loosening or even damage to the roots at their weakest point, between the crown and edge of the mass. Starting a small plant in a gallon until the roots fill the pot wall surfaces shortens that distance, creating a more solid root mass. Increasing that from a gallon to a two or three and permitting it to then fill out the increased mass results in a more solid soil/root ball which is less likely to fall apart or otherwise be damaged by removal or handling. The organics in the soil break down, digest, over time, leaving only the inorganic material (sand, clay, stone, etc.). Eventually, all potted plants require replanting to replenish and refresh the soil in the container. A looser, weaker root ball is more easily damaged than a tighter solid mass, so the plant will experience less damage and shock from the root ball falling apart. If you're trying to protect smaller pots from heat and cold extremes, it's far easier to protect multiples than one. They can be grouped together so each helps shade and insulate the next. (another logical "excuse" for larger pot ghettos!) If your goal is to keep the plant potted until it's matured sufficiently for planting, this would be the more secure method of accomplishing it. If you intend to keep it potted, it still may be safer to start with a smaller size them transplant into the desired size to stack the deck in your favor for safer repotting when the time comes. You may be able to safely accomplish transplanting after starting the smaller plant in a larger pot, but the chances of the soil ball breaking up are greater. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: American Rose Rambler and Combined Rose List

I am probably not going to be posting many pics when asking questions any more because I find that too many people are only looking at the pictures, NOT reading the text, and thus their responses are either directly contrary to something I've said in the text (for instance "get rid of XYZ" or "the color of ABC is wrong" when I've already said in the accompanying that I love XYZ so it's not going anywhere or that the color of ABC is really more toward mauve when it shows up as puce in the picture) or have nothing at all to do with what I'm asking. I find that intensely frustrating. I have almost no pictures of my current house because it's still in "whatta dump" stage. No paint (walls need a TON of work), short on furniture, dreadfully designed kitchen that's a perpetual mess because there's nowhere to put things... and forget outside pictures, a few weeks ago we ripped out almost every trace of vegetation outside (and will not be replacing it until next year, probably fall '09 to get the end-of-season sales) due to a honeysuckle invasion that I swear was growing by feet per day and was starting to attack the porch. I'll happily post pictures of my previous house because I think I did a pretty decent job with it. We're not on Google Maps but we're kinda-sorta on Google Earth - but the best you can get is a fuzzy whitish blob in the midst of a bunch of other fuzzy whitish blobs on a fuzzy grayish stripe. No closeups. Our town is clearly not a high priority as far as Google is concerned! WRT security - we live in a somewhat iffy neighborhood so I am one HECK of a lot more worried about the people a dozen houses down the street breaking in looking for meth money than I am about someone trying to track me down via the Internet (I Googlebate every so often just to see what's out there re: me) from half a dozen states away. I've been email-stalked and -harassed a bunch of times in my 18 years online because of my outspoken ;-) opinions and my ISPs have always been helpful in dealing with it. However, I've had meet-ups with a whole slew of people I've met online over the years, twice flying nearly cross-country to do so, and it's been grand fun.

These plants are not very water sensitive in Florida, but are incredibly susceptible to crown-rot, lower stem rot (not root rot but more like the rot yours shows), and sunburn. I grow mine outside until nighttime temps drop below 55 and then indoors on a south facing window. During the summer, as you know living in FL, mine gets that Florida rain 2-4 times a week. The leaves have not split and in fact the plant has some sun damage and is at times almost stone-like in texture, indicating it has been grown rather hard. After a long rain it is softer, but hardens up over the following day. However, sometimes standing water will accumulate in the crevice between leaves; my roommate pulled out the dead flowers from my plant last year (!!!) And combined with some standing water, this caused the new leaves in the central stem of my plant to dry up and die. However, it has sent up a side shoot that is actively growing. I think the key is the Florida heat and high UV levels, and the fact that my soil is 20%grit, 40%perlite, and 50% coconut coir. I learned that coir is especially important in FL because it keeps a high oxygen to water ratio in the root zone, which prevents waterlogged and anoxic roots. I think this and the heat keep this mesemb slowly growing throughout the summer, which helps prevent rot from over-watering. My Fenestraria grows the same way, but if I put it outside too soon and it rains too frequently, many of its leaves will rot in a similar manner to your split rock, from the lower stem but not the roots. But when temperatures reach 80-90, it starts shooting out tons of new growth, even as old growth rots. tl;dr - pot up your replacement in a mix of grit, perlite, and coir, and put it outside for some heat during the summer. It may survive the rain, but it may be better to leave it on a screened-in porch if you are concerned about losing a stem to crown rot

As others have mentioned, spider mites are an ongoing challenge with English ivy. I have managed to keep about 7 ivy plants alive indoors. Though I have found spider mites on a few leaves, and there are probably a few plants that have some mites right now, I think the most important thing is early intervention. I don't think you should obsess over eradicating mites from these plants entirely, as they tend to come back quickly, but the goal should be to keep them under control in the first place. That being said: 1. Remove any infested leaves with a mottled appearance immediately. I see you have some relatively healthy leaves left, and you could keep those in tact and perhaps save part of your plant, but cut off the others. 2. Every time you water the plant (because I have a chunky soil, it's about once a week), gently spray the leaves with a shower or sink spray attachment. Turn them over as you spray them, feel the texture of the leaves over your fingers, examine them, and remove anything that looks discolored. 3. Some here recommend an insecticide, and I think that's fine, but in my experience, you just have to be diligent in observing the plant more than anything, before things get out of control. 4. Avoid transferring indoor plants outside in the summer. This is just a personal preference, as I don't want to have to deal with a bug issue once I bring them back inside or infest my other plants. 5. Ivy likes medium-high light, but also likes cool evenings, but also likes humidity so their leaves don't dry out. Can you say, "Goldilocks plant?" It's a challenge with most home environments as we tend to regulate temperature more moderately. Ivy is beautiful, and it can be fussy, and I am by no means an ivy expert, and I have lost a few. However, having learned over time, I think the extra work is certainly worth it! Don't give up!