Any flower of any kind which presents its stamen and pollen in the open will afford something for bees. I don't notice butterflies attracted to roses in general. They usually like more composite type flowers, but bees will visit any flower with exposed pollen. Choose more single roses which open to expose their stamen and pollen and you'll make the bees happier. Those are also the more fertile types, so dead heading is likely to be more necessary to keep them flowering. Hips are pregnancy, flowering is ovulation. Most organisms stop ovulating, or at least significantly slow it down in the plant kingdom, when pregnant. Kim

Thanks, Hilda. That 2nd Annual Blithewold Tomato Taste Test Sunday, August 24, 2014 is tempting. Claire

Oh, rabbits, they have been "tuber pruning" my potatoes this year, wretched things. If it were November or December I'd be eating hasenpfefer and getting a return on my investment, but, chances are they will hole up and hide once they are safe to eat, much to my chagrin. One rule I have heard about for bees is they prefer blue/purple flowers, followed by yellow. I guess they can't really "see" the red spectrum very well or something like that. They also adore mint and basil flowers, and borage is a good one as well (although, except for the flowers, the plant itself is hideous and a huge reseeder. It's also an annual, not sure if your into that). If you want to attract a cool native pollinator, grow lots and lots of squash! Squash bees ONLY visit squash flowers and they are so neat! They will even sleep inside the flower once it closes in the late morning, lol. I have never had to hand pollinate a zucchini, though, I had to disappoint them this year because powder mildew was so awful last year I took a break from growing even cucumbers. Anyways,,, I looked up the Mt. Royal plum and I THINK we had one of those at our house as a kid. It survived for several years, though, I did not grow up in a gardening household and it slowly declined until it eventually quit giving fruit, and then it died. The stump where it grew is still there. We did get lots of fruit from it the first few years we lived here, much more than we could ever use fresh (and we would GORGE ourselves on them) and I think the one year dad tried his hand at canning them there was still bushel baskets left over on that tree. Squirrels were a major pest of them, but, I think that's true of ANY fruit tree. Another "pest" you will encounter growing fruit is bears if you happen to live near them. But, if you live in the major suburban area, probably not a problem lol. Once again, I get off on a tangent, geez louise! Back on topic.... To be honest, I think I personally prefer the American plum flavor, its more tart/acidic, which I enjoy. But, I think either kind will work good for you, especially if it was recommended to you by an actual nurseryman and not a lay person who only has slight, anecdotal knowledge of growing fruit trees haha.

Hi Tom We just put it in last year. The house we are in now, we didn't buy until 10/15. I bought a sterile variety at Lowes, mid range size I would say. It's doing fine. I have actually started Rose of sharon from seed before, 2 houses ago. If you planted very small/whip sizes, they are probally just a year old and may need a year before they really start putting on growth. Once roots take hold, unless you have very bad soil, they will grow quickly. Once they seem established, don't be afraid to prune them to get them to branch out more. I don't think they do much for Butterflies, but Hummers do love them. Also if you have the time to dead head the flowers once petals drop, it does extend the bloom season, might be too time consuming for some though. Keep in mind the more you put in, if it's not a sterile variety, unless you get rid of the seed pods, Rose of Sharon is known to be invasive. I personally love to just be in my garden, so dead heading my bushes even when I had over 10 of them, wasn't a chore for me, but some may think it is.