cweathersby, don't feel alone! I have had the very same problem with the Tea Noisettes in particular for decades. They grow and bloom magnificently for a couple of years, and then go into "suspended animation," followed by slow die-back over several years. Tough guys like 'Gloire de Dijon' still try to come back, sending up new canes; but they die back in the second season. Heart-breaking!--and I've finally given up on them. Teas grow magnificently; and a current 'Desprez a Fleur Jaune', though hesitant in growth, hasn't shown the characteristic die-back. The roses showing the problem have come from many different sources over many different years. I don't know if the problem is something in the soil, or some disease which specifically harms them but which other my roses carry (and so gets passed on the to the Tea Noisettes). A few of my non Tea-Noisettes have also succumbed to this mysterious malady. Bah!

As for that "swamp Basket oak" I can never seem to get ANY tree to grow there. It's RIGHT on the property line, and I can't help but think that maybe the neighbors are killing these trees. That Swamp Basket oak just died, it hadn't put on any growth for about 3 years, then it just withered away to nothing. Really, I've tried 3 different species of trees there, and NONE of them have lived. I tried to grow 2 different oaks And a Silver Maple, which I only planted because the neighbors had planted a row of them MANY YEARS earlier, and their trees had been growing well for many years. I have hated their Silver Maples, they drop branches and send out seedpods all through out my yard, but, I did like there to be a consistent row of the same trees. But, for some reason all of those new Silver Maples I had stupidly planted ( really just 3 seedlings) they all seemed to die for (who knows) some reason, I'm really glad they died, I don't really like Silver Maple trees. But, anyway, I will be trying a Sycamore again in my yard. The neighbor who has the Sycamore tree that I had planted years ago, when it was my property, his Sycamore had shed seed far enough into my yard to where I have a Sycamore baby (about 20 feet away from his mama tree) and so I'll be digging up this small seedling, and planting it in the place that I had once had a small Sycamore seedling years ago, but, the seedling died, and I had then planted a Chinkapin oak seedling there, but, THAT tree didn't grow well there. I know that it's likely this Sycamore seedling will likely not do well either, but, I have gotten this Sycamore seedling for free, and this is the place that I want a Sycamore tree to grow, so I really am hoping that once that I dump a good bit of natural fertilizer, and some new soil, which is from my pots that I had tried to grow some flower seeds in, maybe I could get a Sycamore tree to grow there. I also think, I need to spread some Garden sulfer there because we had buried a couple of horses and dogs there, and I seem to remember that LIME was used because my parents were told that you need to spread lime when you bury an animal. Our soil has been deemed PH 7 so nuetral, but, if you add lime where pets, some being big like Horses, and we'd had to bury at least 3 horses on my current property, so maybe there is Lime under the soil. But, really, if you haven't had to bury an animal, or know of there being Lime added to your soil, I would just say that if you smell something foul around your Plane tree or Sycamore tree, just post here and maybe we can figure out where and when these foul smells take place.

Scent varies a lot and some have no significant scent. Like a rose is as good a comparison as any, but the available range is all the way from very light, all through sweet, to heavy musks, and there is fruity, flowery, or spicy to choose from :)

I use an infuser that fits into a mug, I love it. I think Lipton's loose leaf tea is pretty good. Not the bags, ugh, but the loose leaf. I can get another brand of loose leaf tea in the local grocery store called "Swee touch nee" which I also think is pretty good. A far better cuppa than bagged tea, but not as good as you might get from a high end specialty store. "Orange pekoe" is the standard black tea but I think even that comes in grades. A high quality orange pekoe makes a great cup of tea. I'm not a fan of iced tea, so I can't help much. I like a malty tea hot, so I drink loose leaf assam, but I don't think it would make good iced tea. Not sure though, different tastes. Tea offers a lot of taste options other than the ones I've mentioned. Sadly, I can no longer drink my favorite beverage due to my bladder going to pot! Here is a link that might be useful: Mug tea infuser on Amazon