MauveGirl8 -- I plan to stay here for a few years. I haven't even yet applied to school, and the program I'm intending to complete is 5-6 years. My next move will be way south -- Florida. As such, there are a lot of things I have that won't work there, so I wouldn't take them with me. And in any case, I'm not going to dig anything out. If I want to "bring any with me" it will be via rooted cuttings. And before I go, I intend to share some other rooted cuttings with friends -- and my landlord. He and his wife will be building a new home on empty land in the near future, and I said I'd be happy to share anything he'd like for his new yard. Certainly I'll be bringing along my "pot pet collection", and cuttings of anything appropriate for Florida that I got from Vintage Gardens that isn't available elsewhere. And by that time, I'll also make an announcement here for anyone interested in "hard to find" things I nabbed for this garden. For example, the Hybrid China 'Nouveau Monde' from VG doesn't seem to be available anywhere else. I'm using it as a climber against a raised back deck railing. The few flowers it had when it arrived were very fragrant. I posted two pics of it on HelpMeFind from when I first repotted it. Since then, it has grown quite vigorously -- one cane trained horizontally against the railing is easily 10' long from the ground. :-) ~Christopher

Thanks kudzu, that is just the type of info I was looking for. I don't know how I missed that thread because I did some searches before starting a new thread. Anyway I called Mr Drip this morning and asked them a few questions and they got me straightened out. Thanks to this helpful advice I saved about $45, so thanks! :) This is our second summer with our GH and we are now at the stage of refining things and making it run better, rather than scrambling to keep things under control as we did last summer. This feels great!

I just happened on to this old post and in hopes that someone might still be interested in "what makes a mini a mini". Here is what was explained to me many years ago by Ralph Moore himself, " the classification for a mini rose is determined by the size of the foliage not the size of the plant". Blue Mist has very small foliage but the plant itself will get more than 5 feet tall in our central California climate, the same goes for Sweet Chariot. For those living in colder climates you will find that the winters will keep the growth in check. I have several micro mini's that are 6 to 7 feet tall and still growing but the leaves are still micro mini in size. I hope this is helpful to someone.

Hi! Thank you Gill and Andy. I had a b&q trip and made the mix you suggested Gill. The roots looked ok to me (white and dry) and they'd grown a lot since I last re-potted it - so I think that's positive. If it would be better out of the heat during our 'heat wave' (hottest day in 9years!? Apparently) I'll pop it in one of the other rooms for a while. I did read the link you sent Andy, very interesting and informative. I admit I never even thought about air availability in the soil! Bought a good quality potting mix instead of the cactus mix. Thanks again. I'll let you know if it's improved in a week or so! *fingers crossed*