Northspruce...ROFL..I thought the same thing about the "domestic help"...Very interesting...I'll remember to use DW...beacuse she is dear and like all of the spouses, thinks' I've lost my mind about gardning...oh, she loves the finished product...but thinks I'm nuts..(a debatable topic) Why I like this forum....there is a spirit about those of you in the far north I don't see elsewhere...I can't explain, sorta frontierish but more like resourceful..self reliant and innovative......I'd take the summers if I could do without the winters...then again, today I got bitten by fire ants, a real problem in the south...and every time it happens I SWEAR I'm moving to say...ORegon? Certainly not far north...but a 2 day trip away perhaps to Souther Canada... Anyway, I hope some of you continue to put up pics...I really enjly them. I spent all day planting things I got on sale for $1 at Lowe's, Salvia Greggii, some other salvia's, Tennessee coneflowers, and even some sad looking zinnia's...a good snip, some fertilizer, and they'll be blooming in 2 weeks...sure was hot today....90's...I';ll make you a deal,,I'll send up some warm if you'll send a bit of cool...of course, when the cool weather gets here, it means you guys are under snow...so I'll be patient! Sierra...batting eyelashes is no fair and against the rules!!!! ( even my daugher's now figured that one out...."Daddy"...flash flash....oh, the camera thing....shame on me, I have an nice (now old and not enough pixels) video with a still feature, I lost the download cord, so there it sits...so now I use an Easyshare 3.1 MP, bought it for my daughter...works for the most part.....and very handy...I'd like something that is simple to use, easy to download, and no fooling around with photo editing programs....and some good closeups.....and I just can't imagine what it looks like when cars go by....

You're welcome! Oh, yes, I know La Crescenta weather! I had a very large (twelve-hundred-plus plants) rose garden in Newhall for eighteen years. Happily, I'm down to under two hundred here in Encino, now, not counting seedlings. I'd think once you have the plants sufficiently hardened off, putting them outside when the weather cools off, in a protected area while they continue maturing would be much better for them than anything indoors. Do you have issues with squirrels, rabbits or other rodents where you are? Hopefully not, as they can devour a new, tender young plant like those in a sitting. I budded some plants earlier this spring and they were developing nicely...until a rat or squirrel gnawed the shoots back to the shanks. They went far enough to even get the guard buds, so they failed. As long as you're not concerned with the plants blowing away or being washed away by heavy erosion, there isn't any winter storm weather you should really have to be concerned with there. It doesn't get cold enough to damage roses as a general rule. They're honestly not as fragile as we like to think they are! As long as the potting soil drains and doesn't remain goopy, soggy, it shouldn't be an issue for cuttings. I've planted all of mine in the plain old Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Soil because it remains damp enough for smaller pots to not dry out in a day when we have the heat and wind spike so common in our areas. It works just fine, much better than the non moisture control has because it does hold more water than the "regular stuff" without being soggy. The only bagged soil I've encountered in recent history which was real garbage has been Super Soil. It USED to be decent, but now is a mucky, goopy mess, so I'd avoid that like the plague. My dissatisfaction with the other brands I've more recently used has been they have dried out too quickly, often requiring being watered daily when it is hot, dry and/or windy. The Moisture Control hasn't. That can make a huge difference during a heat or wind spike. I even use the Moisture Control soil to raise my rose seedlings in with good success. I only cut it with either seed starter mix or perlite for the seed cover to prevent it from being too heavy to allow small seedlings from breaking through. If your bags are remaining sufficiently moist to only require watering every two weeks, you probably don't need to mist the cuttings. It sounds as if they are remaining moist enough. Too much misting in the bags can easily turn to rot very quickly. I'd only mist them if you're seeing them being flagging or wilting from heat. Otherwise, it seems you have your bases covered. Good luck! Kim

Look under my post "Two Questions" below and you will see that a glue Ilove to use is called "Quick Grip" and I finally found it at JoAnn's. "Try It You'll Like It" !

Wits End, How long will your husband be gone? So you are in a kind of emergency for advise. I lost sight of that when I wrote my previous post. Is the 21 year old trying to find new employment? So your husband is mad at you because you wouldn't let his son in to use your phone. Why wouldn't you let his son in to use the phone? Did you know that is what he wanted to do when he tried to force himself into the house? I'm not saying that you over-reacted then, or ever over-react, but some people get upset so easily and bring out the worst in the people they are around. For emergency kind of advise for you while your husband is out of town...just keep yourself busy and enjoy your children and baby. You must have plenty to do. Make up your mind that you are going to have compassion on your husband while he tries to help his son. You will be much more appreciated if you go along with your husband trying to help his son. So you can see lots wrong with the way the son has been enabled to be a kind of cripple--but that kind of discussion with your husband on the phone or with anyone else at this time should be avoided. Don't be fueling the fire inside you with thoughts of despair and reasons why you should get worried. This is a stressful time of the year--try to be easy-going. OK, every day can be a stressful day for people that don't handle problems. Your husband's son is stressful most of the time because he doesn't know how to handle problems. He lashes out and blames others for what happens and thereby is able to live with himself. It's important for your husband to help his son--he is going to do that whether you like it or not. Accept that fact. In a way, you have to know your place too. Yes, you DO have a problem, but right now it is more important that you join your husband with the spirit of cooperation.Were you living with your husband when the son was still living at home? Think about this, the son can't come and go into the home that was once his home. Think about how that might feel. Have some compassion. I don't mean that you should cater to him, just have some understanding and don't be quick to put him in his place. It is the dad's responsibility to explain some things to his son. It is the dad's place to let his son know that he cares about you and wants the two of you to enjoy a family life. The son feels somewhat rejected by your emergence--take these ideas into consideration and don't start planning what you are going to do if the son comes back home. Not yet anyway. If you are going to stay in your husband's life, then you have to accept his son the way he is. He may get help and he may not. If the father wants to help his son, then pay for his son's medicine--that would be a step in the right direction. Something absolutely very, very important--the son will need to have a doctor that he sees in order to keep getting his prescriptions, and the son will have to take this medicine thing very serious. I don't know if you know anything about being on drugs for bi-polar or some kind of mental condition, you need to get informed. Get yourself educated about bi-polar, etc. The time spent on becoming educated will be a step in the right direction. It will help you know how to help and respond. I don't have time to go on about it. Face it, you are involved and need to be educated to cope. PAY FOR THIS KID'S MEDICINE!!!