Sorry for the late reply, still recovering from Christmas! Personally I don't like to have a certain date to do gardening chores because the weather conditions vary from year to year. For pruning I just like to wait until it's been cold enough for the roses to have gone into dormancy. This year we had a really long warm fall and it took longer than usual. I've heard that if you prune too soon it will encourage them to leaf out and then get damaged by a late cold spell but here in Las Vegas I haven't really noticed that happening. Even last year when we had that cold week in late winter that damaged the early fruit trees flowers I didn't notice any problems with our roses. This week I plan on doing a lot of pruning including roses and don't expect them to really start growing until later on when it starts being consistantly warmer. Maria

Hansa is another Rugosa that folks like, nice reddish purple color. Roses Unlimited has a sale $8 gallon-size own-root last June....delivered to your house with blooms! They will have that sale soon, either 2nd week or 3rd week of June. Kordes Roses are very disease-resistant..... Roses Unlimited sale is sold out fast ... they won't take orders through e-mails ... phone calls only, and checks sent through mail only. It's the rose vendor with the most customer satisfaction, 25 years in business. If you google, "the scoop on ..... "name of nursery", that will give you people's reviews of any nursery in the country, be it bulbs, perennials, or roses. Best to call Roses Unlimited when the sale starts this month, and ask for the type of roses you want, and they will recommend, 1/2 off own-roots, which are much healthier than grafted on Dr. Huey. See below link for Roses Unlimited' vast selection: Here is a link that might be useful: Roses Unlimited own-root roses

BAKED POTATO SOUP (serves 2-4) 1 cup sliced celery 3/4 cup chopped onion 2 TBL butter 2 TBL flour 2 cups half-and-half 1 tBL chopped parsley 1 chicken bouillon cube or 1 tsp chicken granules 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 4 large baking potatoes, baked & cubed Garnishes: grated Cheddar, sour cream, chopped chives, bacon bits In a large saucepan, saute the celery & onion in butter for 8-10 minutes until tender. Blend the flour with 3/4 cup of the half-and-half. Add to the celery & onions, blending well. Add 1/2 cup water, the parsley, bouillon, salt & pepper. Simmer until heated but do not boil. sitr in the potatoes. Add the remaining half-and-half & heat through without boiling. Serve with a choice of garnishes.~~Perennials: A Southern Celebration of Food & Flavors

I received my 3 DAs from Wayside Gardens (last day sale) yesterday, planted them today after soaked them over night. Just received 2 bare root rose trees from JP today (ordered on their last day sale after 11:00pm :-), I was just testing them out, didn't think the order could go through). I have been watering all my newly planted bare root roses everyday. Helen, What's the temp in CA? You might need shade and a lot of water for those bare root DAs. What are the names of your DAs? I got Gentle Hermione, Olivia and Heathcliff.