It sounds like relations with your brother aren't so great, either, or else he has a bad conscience about his wife's behavior. For the sake of family peace, I'd be tactful, but I'd be clear and firm: express a willingness to share cuttings and explain how to get them to root, but make it clear that your sister-in-law is not to take cuttings without your permission, so that she doesn't damage rare and vulnerable plants. It might help if you explain that these roses didn't come for the nearest big box store, as lagomorphmom said. If you can work in an implication that she'll have a better garden in the long run if she has you as a friend and gardening ally rather than as an enemy, so much the better, but unfortunately a lot of people don't understand this line of reasoning. Good luck!! Melissa

Reading this post I can only gnash my teeth. Here in the frozen tundra we call Michigan (waves to Annie) I quietly weep looking at the price of citrus. Another use for citrus is homemade skin toner. Combine 1 part dried citrus peel and 1 part oatmeal. Whir in a blender until powdered. Mix with a small amount of yogurt and honey until it's a bit like cold cream in texture. Test a small amount on a bit of skin in case you react poorly to it, though most don't. Gently rub into skin and rinse with warm water. Citrus bath "salts" 1 part dried Orange peel, CS (Cut and Sifted) 1 part dried Orange flowers, WH (Whole) 1 part dried Lemon peel, CS 1 part Comfrey leaves, CS 1 part Camomile, WH 1 part Almond meal (ground almond) Put a large handful in the toe of an old stocking and close the stocking with a rubber band or twist tie. Drop in bathwater. If you can't find comfrey and camomile you can substitute camomile teabags. You can also make citrus flavored sugar. Combine the zest of 3 lemons with 1 cup of sugar in a food processor or blender. Pulse until the zest is finely chopped. Place in a bowl. Add 1 more cup of sugar and mix until well combined. Spread the sugar on a cookie sheet and let dry. Place in a covered jar and put in fridge. You can use orange zest for this as well. (The lemon sugar makes the most amazing ginger cookies you'll ever taste. Well, at least I think so.) Homemade citrus extract- zest of one lemon or 1/2 a large orange (in strips not grated) 1/2 cup vodka 1/4 cup water Chop the zest add to vodka and water in a covered jar. Let flavor develop for at least a week before using. Make sure storage jars are sterilized. Do not store in sunlight. The book I got this from says it's good for a year but I confess I've never tried it.

LL, I'm thinking the hot tub in the corner is the right move. It will give a better sense of enclosure, and use well the space that will otherwise be underutilized. Having the edge of the deck available for a seating arrangement or small table will be nice, because your view will be much greater from that spot. And if you have a lot of rocks on your property, putting rocks beneath the floor can help use that space as a heat sink. I'd recommend you look into setting that up, to give some extra heat to your house in the evening after the sun goes down and it radiates heat absorbed by those rocks during the day. Summer probably has knowledge of how to design the greenhouse to give some payback to you. I think the greenhouse idea will be a great addition. I'm always for a plant space. I'm going to point out something to you about the star jasmine though. It will provide you an evergreen plant inside like that, BUT IT ONLY BLOOMS IN MAY AND JUNE. I would suggest that you get a couple of nice blooming begonias in pots, or geraniums in RED, to brighten up the space. And I also have a potted (not hanging basket) bougainvillea which will end up climbing by its long thorny limbs, and IT WILL BLOOM ALL YEAR ROUND. They come in yellow and hot pink, and mine is a white and pink combo. I cannot wait to get it into my Teahouse. It likes heat, it likes moisture, it likes lots of light. Keep it watered. And if you want a spectacular large tropical plant, look into a MUSA species of banana. They can be hardy at your latitude indoors all year. Incidentally, I just love your house, and the more you tinker with the plan the better it gets. Sarah Susanka says that most people just design the rooms with no selection of furniture spots, but you are doing the whole deal. I think you are about ready to CHOOSE THE SPOT FOR LIGHTS AND SWITCHES AND PLUGS. AND DIMMERS. Dimmers are part of it too. Go for it, lady, you have the right ideas to choose from.

I am watching this with interest linjellet, I have a cumquat planted in my flower garden as special feature, so I will be most interest in hearing what others say, I would like mine to have a nice round head on it as well, it is only about 3 feet high at the moment and am not sure if I should cut the top off to shape it more. regards Karn