I didn't check out the chain stores this year except when someone asked if Midas touch was available. I saw only Granadas at Lowe's some were huge and that rose own root from Chamblee's didnÂt do anything for me although every other rose from this company did well so far; but the weather of last year was awful in every sense so that might contribute to the subzero performance of that rose. Still, I just could not bring myself to buy any of those huge Granadas because I remembered all those roses I had to discard due to RMV. I think I have one bagged rose purchased 10 years ago that has become a stellar performer; two that are OK and I kept two cl. Peace with RMV because DH loves that rose. The others were discarded. I agree with Ann, and with my various ailments plus DH's growing resentments of digging up, discarding and replacing roses, I rather buy a multiflora grafted rose or an own root if the source is good enough than experiment with bagged roses. I do get excited if I see some interesting varieties but then memories of roses from 11, 10 or 9 years ago come alive and I walk away. Trospero is right - the rose itself is usually the least amount one spends on the roses: fertilizers, fungicides, labor (yes, your own) etc. add up. Considering how greedy Paul Neyron is, I somehow doubt that it would do well in a pot. It needs very fertile soil, a lot of water and fertilizer and all that given, it does rebloom even in summer heat for me. Paul Neyron is among those rare HPs that like heat. I love that rose and I hope you got a very good specimen.

Jon, love your posts and this entire thread has been so much fun to read. I am one of those who loves, loves, loves hosta, but can identify very few (Liberty and June are two). I started putting in labels, beautiful metal ones with labels printed on a label-maker. I had dreams of becoming like many here-brilliant, kind, funny, and wise in knowledge of all things hosta. Sigh. Dogs ran over and bent all the ones in the back and a cut paw told me it was time to get rid of those. No idea what became of those in the front yard. My memory of which is which might be summed up by the statement "the past is a foreign country and I don't have a passport." Now, I just drink in their beauty, add more, forget the names of those, and pop in here for inspiration...and often a laugh. Thanks for that today! Cynthia

For peach scale I have used the dormant oil spray. I spray it every winter so I am not sure how good it works but I have not had a problem with scale. I use dormant oil and fungicide as the only preventive sprays. I watch for plum curculio and will spray as needed, so far only once a year. The problem I have is everything I grow is an edible so I have to be careful with spraying. Fires ants present the worse problem for containers because I have not found a good safe way to kill them.

I'm not trying to defend the pro, but if I had some tiles or ? that I hated, (not sure if that was the case here) and there was a way to cover them without ruining them for the next owner (in other words, in a way to preserve them with no damage and easy reversal) I don't see any reason not to. Sometimes a poster doesn't really convey their strong likes and dislikes. And sometimes, actually a lot of times, pros suggest things that they themselves would do if it were their home, or just according to their style of decorating. I've seen a lot of suggestions from pros and non pros repeating the same style, color, etc. when the poster has not given their preferences. Which is fine, especially when they just want a range of ideas. Now, the way the suggestion is made, the tone, makes a big difference. But really the pro should have asked if the home owner hated the tile enough to want to cover it. Just think the response to the suggestion of painting them is a bit harsh. Or am I missing something? Does this go deeper than just this one post? ETA Personally, if I didn't like the lime green and it made it difficult to decorate around, I would find a way to cover it. I wouldn't want to be a slave to a sliver of color. And I wouldn't be swayed by an army of lime green lovers. Don't hate me because I don't like lime green!