Because your employer likes Austin roses, which are bred to have bloom shapes which resembles that of Old Roses. , you might try introducing your employer to some of the original Old Roses, many of which do particularly well in the South, and hundreds of which - bloom more often than Austin roses can because they do not have a period of dormancy, - are beautiful plants, even when not in bloom. - more information about these on the antique roses page at gardenweb each of these roses may be seen in photos at helpmefind.com /roses under search and plant. or on gardenweb under search -Old Garden "Tea" class ( a totally different class (or group) than Hybrid Tea. Because Tea roses do not go dormant in the winter, and they bloom on short flowering stems, they re-bloom faster than Hybrid Teas or Austin roses, and begin to bloom earlier in spring, and later through autumn. a few of the more popular Tea roses that I love: apricot 'Lady Hillingdon' a fragrant apricot rose that I've counted as being in bloom for more than 150 days, ( an average rose flush lasts between 28 and 33 days, during its first bloom cycle of the year with no less than 33% of its full bloom output during that time. (its' pollen is sterile which is why it blooms so much without ever needing to be dead-headed). Yellow 'Etoile de Lyon' my favorite lemony yellow old garden Tea, it has a scent which is called "delicious" by one author and to me smells of honeysuckle, and fresh cream with vanilla in it. Yellow/ with some pink. roguevalleyroses.com Marie Van Houtte (lovely scent, lots of prickles) Mrs. Dudley Cross similar hues but nearly no prickles. Golden Yellow Reve d'Or' can be grown as a 5 and 1/2 foot tall shrub or a climber so can Alister Stella Gray which is a creamy yolk hue, and which has smaller roses. White Tea roses Westside Road Cream Tea (roguevalleyroses.com) Ducher' is said to do well in the south, both are very fragrant, and covered with beautiful white roses most of the year. Mme. Alfred Carriere, a white Tea-Noisette climber which is very popular. Pink, or pink blend. Mrs. B.R. Cant Le Vesuve (China-Tea) very floriferous, has dainty pink blend roses that seem to alight gracefully on the plant like butterflies. a very attractive plant. Maman Cochet large pink and cream roses which show some lavender tints. Red blend Monsieur Tillier this and mrs .b.r. cant can grow to be more than 6' tall in two years. Noisette class Rosebushes from this class are particularly well foliaged, and most are fragrant, some greatly scented. -small flowered -scent is often sweet and spicy, like cloves and roses. Blush Noisette is very popular in the American South, it was bred there, in c. 1803, by a rice farmer named John Champneys. Nastarana a white Noisette. Rosa moschata is a wild white Musk rose that is very fragrant that was used to breed the first Noisette rose. It too is a wonderful garden plant. I'd ask locally which roses are most disease resistant in your area. The only reason, I believe, that everyone doesn't grow Old Garden Tea and Noisette rosebushes is that they cannot: roses of the 3 evergreen classes are not cold hardy, but we who are fortunate to live in California or the South can grow such wonderful roses. Plus, roses from the evergreen group do not need to be pruned to bloom at their best. One need only to remove diseased wood or wood that is out of bounds. I water my largest evergreen rosebushes only once a month, because many have deep roots that reach lower levels of water in the soil. Well thats my tuppunce. Good luck and God bless, I'm sorry if we were rough with you, Lux. P.S. all in all, I'd say my evergreen roses need about 1/3rd to 1/2 less care than my Austin roses. another perk, Old Garden Tea roses grown on their own roots can bloom for more than 50 years, Mr. Austin suggests his rosebushes be replaced after ten years.

And imagine, a tiny bulb that shrivelled to almost nothing, Exotic Star, is bringing a scape. Amazing. It is in the brink of dying, yet, it will still give out one last swan song... But I will take care of it. I will make sure that it survives, even though I am not too crazy about Exotic Star. Jodi, be prepared that Exotic Star tends to wilt very quickly. At least mine lost its flowers in a matter of days, and only gave out two flowers per scape just like it's not so distant predecessor, Papilio.

LaHonda area is a gorgeous setting to live in, and on maps may appear as a shorter commute to Stanford, but the elevation and twisting roads and storms and fallen trees and mudslides can all make the regular commute a daily grind if you don't enjoy driving very twisty roads. It is also alot harder to find that great California winter sun while living in a redwood forest, which is dark, wet and cold all winter, while it can be quite pleasant in Palo Alto. One of the south peninsula area has any areas that could be considered reasonable rents or house prices compared to South Carolina, but East Palo Alto is an up and coming area that will only continue to improve over time, and is conveniently close. Crime and unemployment and a more racially mixed dynamic that is still somewhat weighted towards less Anglo prevails there, but there are lots of new homes and remodeling going on there, and it is gentrifying. If you want to be close to Stanford and keep your home purchase price as low as possible, it is really the only alternative. Also be warned that the further north you get away from Stanford, the less summery weather you will get. I grew up in nearby Burlingame, abit further north, and the summers are alot cooler there than in Menlo Park/Palo Alto. If you like cooler nights,(regular fog almost every evening off the coast cools things down), it is fine; but if you like wearing shorts and sandals and hanging out in the backyard after dark, you won't be doing this much if you live north of Redwood City, but the days are still very nice. If you move as far north as San Bruno/South San Francisco/Daly City/Pacifica, you may also be entering the daytime fog zone, and you should really prefer it cooler rather than hot summery. Alot of people who work in Silicone Valley/Palo Alto area also do commute from the East Bay, which is a long commute, but housing prices are still much more reasonable in Alameda County. I myself live in the alternative university town of Berkeley, after having grown up on the peninsula. I like it because it is much more diverse both racially and economically, as well as being closer to San Francisco for entertainment and employment. I do know people who commute from Berkeley/Alameda all the way down to Palo Alto/Mountain View for work, but I don't particularly recommend it, as it would be more than an hour each way with very heavy traffic during commute hours. Good luck with your decision, but get used to spending alot more money on housing, which will probably mean some lifestyle changes to make the budgeting work.

Newbies should ALWAYS go to a local nursery for their first plantings. They will learn so much. And they should practice KISS until they learn from experience. In my zone 5 area, all the big stores try to muscle in on the growing season. For some crazy reason, this year Fleet Farm had the most healthy and luscious plants around. They must have gotten a new buyer. Plus, every thing was hardy to our zone, or marked as annuals. Our old KMart switched to Sears, and I miss the Martha Stewart brand of flowers. Pondy