Hi Phyl, With over 300 rosebushes (and growing) I don't limit myself to just the old roses, rugosas, Explorers, etc...although I do appreciate them for their ease of care. I grow many, many roses that should not be hardy here in zone 4 and yes, I do have to cut them back all the way to the ground every spring. They always rally and put forth new growth and I am content with plants that will never exceed 2 to 3 feet at the end of the summer. I just enjoy them for their lovely blooms and expect no more than that, always happy that they come back each year in spite of my nasty winters. The upside to these more tender roses is that since they will never get large, I can plant MORE of them since they aren't going to use up my precious rose real estate like the hardy ones which get huge. This winter we had record snowfall and I thought that would be a good thing, since the roses would be more insulated. It was good in terms of them not having much winterkill from the cold, but the weight of the snow busted them up so much that I ended up cutting even the hardy roses back severely because there was so much breakage. It was heartbreaking because even the tender roses came through with more green cane than usual. But already they are sending up shoots and looking vigorous. I never let it discourage me for too long, because giving them their annual "haircut" stimulates them to grow and bloom just fine. Its discouraging at times to live where there are so many obstacles to rose-growing (japanese beetles being my most dreaded foe) but my passion for roses is a greater force than anything Nature throws at me. I just deal with it, and love them all the more! Celeste

Roberto, If this is true, then Prain cannot be considered the true author. He did not correctly follow the process of nomenclature. If you do it quickly, S. trifasciata Roberto (Surname unknown on line) could be it's name! However, if laurentii is to be considered validly published, then the name must be S. laurentii fma. trifasciata. This ends with the variegated plant being the species, as it was first named. Now this would REALLY be messy in the system! All the cultivar names would be flipped and switched, wobbled and tipped!!! Yikes. Oh, but I do love your unorthodox viewpoint to stir the cauldron of science. Don't you just love taxonomy?!?!?! Michael Interlaken NY Z6

Fenworth, here's my rant about relying on Consumer Reports reliability ratings. While it is true that it's all we have, the methodology is deeply flawed, and the high-end brands have such a statistically low number of responses as to be random noise. You really have to take the Consumer Reports reliability and repair records with a huge grain of salt. It's the magazine's greatest weakness, I think. The data is entirely gathered by subscriber polls. There is no distinction for repairs needed because of 1) installation issues, 2) users need help, 3) so-called "infant mortality" when an appliance might fail early on, 4) shipping and handling damage, 5) common wear and tear, 6) design flaws, 7) other issues such as a power surge or natural disaster, 8) abuse, and 9) whatever else I can't think of at the moment. In addition to this, it should be also noted that expensive low market share products fair worse too. They simply don't have a large enough sample to be fair or accurate of a brand. This is why luxury appliances fair poorly in their eyes. All the poll asks if if your appliance has needed a service call. Period. I like CR, it's a fine magazine and I use their info when I make many purchases. But the reliability and repair ratings are the weakest part of the whole organization.

This is what happens when people try to have things both ways instead of making a choice. I agree that he should've chosen the wedding, but that isn't the point. It was trying to do both that made the trouble. Some people haven't yet responded to my daughter's wedding invitation, and in a couple of cases I suspect it is because there are FOUR weddings in our community that evening and they are among the people that are invited to more than one. One couple, very good friends who are even closer with one of the other families, told us they aren't coming to our wedding but will come to one of the other weekend events. Another got lucky and didn't have to choose, because they have a family event out of town that day. Others chose our wedding. Our rabbi will have to leave after our ceremony to go perform one of the others -- they moved the time for him, so he has to! -- and then return for dinner. It will mean missing the appetizers, so his wife is still deciding what to do. :) But I know to order dinner for them. But there is one couple that I have a hunch is going to try to do something complicated -- they often do. Honestly, although we would love to have them (I mean, we invited them), I wish they would just choose one and have done. I know it is awkward to have to choose (don't blame us -- we had the date first of all of them :) !), when it gets super complex, it starts to feel less like they are doing it because both weddings mean so much to them and more like they feel all their friends will be devastated if they don't choose them. I can live with a "no." I vastly prefer what my friend above did -- say no, and ask if there is some other point in the weekend at which they could celebrate with us. What I really don't want is to get a "yes" from people, put them at a table, order food and liquor for them, and then find out that they aren't going to stay for dinner. That usually happens with someone who is sick or something at the last minute anyway, but please don't set me up for it just so you can play musical parties without deciding your schedule in advance.