I've killed 3 Souvenir de la Malmaisons as well. It is not very cold-hardy. It seems everyone else I know in the area has kept it alive though. It dies to the ground here in cold winters and for some people comes back, but mine did not come back strong enough one year so I got rid of it and tried again. The second one did not come back at all. The third one was tiny when it arrived and it failed to grow. I tried grafted and own-root versions, and the grafted one stayed alive the longest. I have the climbing version and it is very vigorous and easy to grow in comparison. I guess I'll give up on the bush form. I wish there was an in-between form that is vigorous but not a climber. I'm on my third 'Oklahoma' too. Same issues with hardiness plus it blackspots and weakens if not spray and I don't spray at all. The first one I had five years until a particularly harsh winter killed it, the second one died its first winter so never got established. The third one is approaching its first winter so I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens. My success story is Sharifa Asma. The first one was own-root and was a puny thing that slowly died. Second one is grafted on multiflora and has been bushy and improving each year!

For those that read the tropical fruit forum, I apologize for you reading this twice as I meant to post this here. I have two acerola cherry trees that have very sweet juicy fruit when ripe (dark red) that do remind me of cherries. They don't stay on the tree very long. If the dogs are out in that area I have to watch them because they will sniff out the ripe berries on the branches and eat them - all of them they can reach! I thought all acerola/barbados cherry trees produced sweet fruit. Are there different varieties? I ask because I saw them at Home Depot and recommended them to a friend. If there are different varieties, I want to warn her. I bought mine at Excalibur

Have you tried Etsy? There are quite a few people who sell them on there. Frankly, it'd probably be cheaper to buy off there than try to make your own, once you figure in the cost of materials. My late MIL got some for her boots for her sons wedding, but I don't know where she got them. They were along the lines of what you'd posted, but had some charms on the outside. Good luck with your search.

Well it's a done deal! However I am going to have to be in on the layout of the template on the stone. I reserved enough stone for my island and they have that set aside but have only ONE slab left. And that one has a 2 x 4 ft chunk out of it. There were at least ten from this lot left in January. So...I guess it will be what it is. Beth, I know, that small piece is a chunk out of the lighter part of the slab and in the lighting in the LR it looks much lighter. I do love the swirls of the darker gray however and on the last slab its going to be touchy getting it not to look like a black and white cookie ;) The lighter parts have a little tan color and it just looks dirty, so... Anyway thanks again for cheering me on and I am so glad to have made the decision. With GW help! They should have it installed by the end of the month so I will post pics when its all finished.