Good questions Brady. I will only comment on what I have observed with my plants in my area because I haven't been doing this long enough to say what's right or wrong. Im defiantly still in the learning curve with my plants. With Rabbiteyes I think there are a few things to consider. I live right next to the gulf of mexico, with in 1 mile of Galveston Bay. Needless to say its very humid here in a normal year. Add a very wet spring on top of that and leaf fungus becomes a issue with the spring flush of growth. My limited experience with them has shown me they are more sensitive than SHB to really humid/rainy conditions when it comes to leaf fungus and premature leaf drop. I saw this last spring. In a dryer environment it's probably not a big deal? Can't say cause I don't live in a dry environment. Because of that I tend to prune to keep the center of the bush open which seemed to help with my fungus issue. Also some varieties of Rabbiteyes can get very tall and I'm not crazy about breaking out a ladder to pick fruit. What I've doin the past 2 years is after harvest I cut the fruiting canes back to about four feet. By the end of the season they are right back to 7ft or so when they stop growing. Perfect for picking I'm my mind. Now some varieties are more up right while some are more spreading so prune accordingly. Also in late winter I will do a light prune to thin fruit buds on the tips of branches. I dont know if I even need to do this as I obviously thin next years crop by topping back the plants at 4ft but I do it any way. I leave 5 to 6 fruit buds but I may really be shorting my self on fruit. Maybe some one can correct me here? I do know that berry size has not been a problem. They are very large so far. Chill hours have also been a concern for me here with Rabbiteyes. From looking at a chill hour chart for my area we only received 180 or so chill hours in 2011-2012. For some reason it didn't seem to effect any of my Rabbiteyes negatively. They all fruited and leafed out fine. This year I'm showing 250 or so chill hours so it should be a good year for them if the past holds true. All mine fall in the 300-450 chill requirement. Maybe excessive pruning is keeping them fruiting and growing???? I don't know,,,, I would think lack of chill hours would keep them from fruiting and leafing out but I haven't seen that yet??? SHB are a little different. Now keep in mind I'm growing all my SHB in pots with the exception of one Emerald. I can tell you this, the one Emerald in my raised bed is massive compared to my potted plants. It's actually wider, just as tall and much more impressive than my rabbiteyes! Now with SHB it's all about controlling crop load as a over producing plant can bring on unwanted disease. Stem blight is bad one that can kill a plant in a matter of months. How much fruit is too much??? Don't know and don't want to find out. I'm not in it to push a plant, I'm in it to feed my 3 boys home grown organic goodness! I have pretty much followed Fruitnuts and Bams advice on pruning them. Prune heavy after harvest and a light bud pruning in late Jan before the buds break to control crop load. I've gone with 5-6 fruit buds on all the major branches. All small thin branches or weak shoots that spout in the fall get pruned out in Jan. So far so good. I haven't had leaf fungus problems on them like the rabbiteyes, at least not yet. I do tend to prune with more of a open center though with SHB also just in case. Keep in mind I tend to over kill everything so take my post with a grain of salt. I try to be as proactive as possible rather than reactive and that's probably helped me more to this point than anything.

I think I have said before that I get whatever hostas I like to look at, regardless of their parentage. I read Tony's info years ago after I was already growing some of the ones he would not recommend for my zone. Too late for me. As long as you can give them the required number of chill hours they will be fine. Of course, none of them will be as magnificient as the ones that get a good hard long freezing nap, but that is the trade off we make by having mild winters...and wanting our cake and eating it too. I'm happy as long as I have a place to tuck them away after they go dormant so I don't have to look at bare dirt filled pots. Then I can gaze upon all the wonderful broadleaf evergreen plants that flower during the Winter months. I have a weenie little lot with a Japanese style garden and space is at super premium here. Hey, Mocc... get out your Q-tips, brushes and baggies and do some controlled crossing and see what you get. ;-) -Babka

Guess I am going to pipe in a bit as well.There are plenty of zone 5s in the rockies,I live in one.But have plenty of experience from zone 3 as well since my old home an hours drive was 3/4. This being a prime source for growing in the rockies hmmmm,It has great people who have information that is wonderful,, but rocky gardening covers so many issues from state to state and zone to zone that it takes several resources the best starting at where you live... Zone 4 is a nice magazine just starting it is pretty and has some great info.That said if your an old hand at living and growing out here it will share some wonderful gardens to go visit..I very much appreciate them they also offer to put in events including ours which they had in their last mag.Thanks guys,,, I try to tell people instead of looking on line and reading mags get your butt out into the world and socialize with the growers in your own local.. I know, I know not everyone has the time for that.I make time for anyone who wishes to come down and learn....Personally I do not take the time on this site that I used to simply because I am focused on teaching those in my area who have an interest in gardening in my local. That way they benefit from not just our experience but also those who show up for our classes.Hey and our classes are free. I would say this is what many in the Colorado areas are able to reach out more socially here because they do get together on occasions not being as rural and spotted as across many miles like others here.. I feel I can comfortably say that having been one of the originals from spikes days of gardenweb when we had very limited forums.A small handful of us requested this forum which took a few requests as we watched him open up others,,,It has taken years for RMG to grow into what it now is.I guess it is nice to know that some people do look at it for so much info,,I just always thought it was a nice place to connect with others who have our garden challenges..

My wish list would be something everblooming, as close to year-round blooming as possible, as happy and disease resistant as Louis Phillipe, Mrs. B. R. Cant, or Madame Lombard, but with a very strong damask scent. I'd like shade tolerance, too, and lots of dark green foliage with a pretty bush. I'd like this in just about every color, including very dark red, like Pulich Children or The Prince, in a variety of bloom forms and growth habits. (If that existed, a lot of people would want to move to Florida!) I'm suprised that nobody has done this yet. I'd try it myself but I'm hopelessly inept and impatient. I've previously wondered why Louis Phillipe is not used much in breeding. Paul Barden says he may not be very fertile. But his cousin Cramosi Superieur is often used. I'd be happy with that! I've searched HMF for noisettes, teas, and hybrid musks that have the damask scent. There might be one or two Lenses available in Europe but alas, not here.