@pug The dollar store is called Dollarama, but it's Canadian so I'm not sure which stores in your area would stock the same items. I've been reading up on some differences in H. imperialis morphology and it seems Ted Green's website lists a bunch of them, although I'm still not really sure which one mine is. There really doesn't seem to be any authoritative classification though, it's likely that the differences are just natural variation between collected samples. imperialis, Lindley 3", violet-red, thick flowers; 8-l0 on a heavy, drooping umbel; leaves to 12", light green with smooth edge, on a robust, heavy vine. var. alba Flower as the type except that it is white with a slight greenish tint. var. Palawan Flowers and growth as type but flowers may be golden yellow with some pink blush or sometimes reddish - quite variable. Palawan, Philippines In Sweden this is erroneously called var rauschii. var. Dark Form Plant and flowers like the type, except the color is much darker violet-red. var. Mary's Pink Plant and flowers like type except the color is a handsome pink. var. rauschii Flowers much as type except color is maroon with paler corolla than type and corolla lobes narrower than type. @greedyghost Thanks, I really hope these plants keep up their pace. The imperialis and the macgillivrayii have both started forming peduncles, although I don't see any flower buds just yet. With any luck, I might get one or two flowers out of them sometime this year. I'm mostly hoping to see some flowers from macgillivrayi though; every photo I see online looks spectacular. @banannas No problem, there's always lots of stuff in dollar stores that you can repurpose for growing stuff. Just yesterday I picked up some rubber coated wire, I'll be using it to help train growing vines that are too delicate or too short to tie to the trellis.

Thanks tropicalzone7. Yeah, I hear you. Spider mites.... the scourge of mankind! They seem to come from no where. You can spray your plants till they are soaked with insecticide, and they still come back! They must float in on the air currents! Good luck....

Your rose cuttings need very intense light, especially when you are rooting them out of season. I actually would NOT try to raise the temperature of the roots -- this may encourage fungal or bacterial growth. I have also found that some tea roses especially take much longer to form roots. Be patient, don't over water, and keep them under as 12 hour cycle of lights.

Hello Gardeners. I'm new here and also new to gardening so please bear with me :) First the new: OSH had a a 3 for $10 sale on Japanese boxwood and since they have a lifetime guarantee on their plants I couldn't resist. They are quite small and obviously not of the best quality but I'd like to give it a try. I would like them to eventually form a small hedge. Our local soil pH is in the 7.5-8 range in my area. My mother said not to bother testing and adding sulfur. Should I ignore her and do it anyway? Also we have a sandy loam type soil with hardpan underneath. These beds had roses in them for 15 years but have been empty for the last 10. Any tips on amending the soil? Also how should I space these? At OSH they said it depended on how quickly I wanted them to grow together. They usually give pretty good advice but that just didn't sound right. In the pictures I have them spaced 24" on center. Lastly I was contemplating plating kale in between the boxwood so I wouldn't have to go all the way to the back of my property this winter. Lazy, I know, but I figured it would save me a trek and also conserve water. And now the old: We have boxwood lining the front of our house. It is at least 35 years old, could be 60+. They all seem to be pretty healthy except for 1. I've been watering that one extra and it is greening up but would like to know if there is anything else I could do to help keep it from dying. We had one die in a different spot and it took YEARS for the neighboring plants to fill in the empty area, and it still doesn't look right :( Lastly the boxwood surrounding the front planting bed has become overgrown and is creeping over the border. It has been trimmed on a regular basis but its been 25 years since the brick border was put in and naturally the boxwood has grown. I'd like to cut it back but am afraid to do so. Any advice? One last thing. The picture above shows the other side of the planting bed and the boxwood crowding it, on the left of the picture is a 20 year old rosemary. It has gotten way too big. Is there any chance of cutting back to a reasonable size and it surviving? It has sentimental value so I'd really like to save it but if worse comes to worse I can take cutting and start new plants from it. After all that is how this one started out way back when I was a little kid. Thanks in advance!