My chameleon is Martha Gonzales. My aunt & I both grew this rose from ARE for many years. In the coastal zone 9 climate it was hot & humid, the water was somewhat alkaline & hard, the soil was rich black "gumbo" clay. Cuttings rooted from both plants matured to resemble the mother plants. It grew as a typical China, but the flowers were especially small. Bright red, just a bit more than single, quilled petals, white centers with occasional white petal streak, very little scent, lots of blooms, constantly. You could tell MG all over town from the distinctive little starry bright red, white-centered flowers. And even big mature plants tended to have dainty little smooth leaves. I hauled up 2 young plants I personally rooted from cuttings. This is a deserty area, alkaline limestone & caliche soil, alkaline water. Cool nights most of the year. One MG is throwing cupped near double blooms this year, much bluer color & they have a fair fragrance. Last year she threw the big, near-single, flat open, cherry red MG blooms you see in most photos. So did the 2nd plant. Both have "normal" sized rose leaves, not the little ones typical of the old zone. This year the other plant has scores of dark--more bluish blooms. Nearly single, but so dark you'd think this is a Dr. Huey. The petals stay a bit cupped, not the flat-open blooms of last year. Mild to no fragrance, still see a bit of white petal streaking but the white eye is very reduced. Nether plant quills its petals, which was so distinctive in the old climate. The two bushes look like different varieties, now--neither resembling the original plants grown for so long in hot sultry zone 9. I asked Michael Shoup about it & he said they noticed some variation especially in cool night areas. It surprised me because I am SURE of the provenance of both plants, they are planted in the same area, were planted within a very short time of each other, and I had grown the mother plants of both for many years in a very different climate & soil.

Hi Karin, Interesting questions you have. Here is a write-up from the Violet Barn on trailers: "Trailers are African violets that naturally branch and spread. Grow them either as hanging baskets or in shallow pots as ground covers. Feel free to pinch or prune, it will only encourage even more dense, lush, growth. Their size and shape when mature, is entirely up to you. Because they are multicrowned and spreading, they have the potential for producing large amounts of foliage and massive amounts of bloom on a single plant. See the "plant care" section of the main website for more detailed information." From that, it sounds like you can grow them in your hanging basket if you wish. As for multi-crowns on standards, I have a couple of them that I did not get a chance to separate before they bloomed. They have grown symmetrically, back to back, like bookends. In my experience, when I have separated a multi-crown plant, it is happier--it immediately stretches out and lies flat. The plants that have been asymmetrical are those where leaves were knocked off. In my experience, the plant will naturally try to shape itself into something symmetrical, even if it has multiple crowns. It seems that one crown slows down to wait for the other crowns to catch up. Joanne This post was edited by fortyseven on Thu, Dec 26, 13 at 22:18

Susan, whack the rogue canes back to 3". You can let them bloom first or not. Then the cane makes 2 or 3 laterals; cut these back to 2 or 3 leaves each and you get more branches. Etc. Or, if the canes are flexible and 4-7' long, bend the cane in a hoop and tie it to its own base ("self-pegging"). It will make 3 or 4 laterals at the top of the arch. You can cut off the outer/downward section later if you want. Or, something that works with some varieties not others is to pinch out the growth tips of strong basals when they are about 14" long. Be sure you get the fleshy growth tip, not just leaves. Some roses will branch in response, others will make just one shoot and keep going up. Most shrub roses have an awkward adolescence. You have to be patient and work with them for a few years, just as you know your daughter won't be 13 forever.

This leads me to believe the soil in Plot B is causing the problem. Could this be true? Easily. It has nothing to do with the tomatoes other than that is what is growing there. The effects would be the same regardless of the crop planted. The problem is the vastly different soil composition in the beds and the drainage problems, nutrient retention problems, pH imbalances, decomposition issues, and soil structure problems those differences create. The fact that they performed equally well last year was likely the result of happenstance/coincidence more than anything else. Given the info provided on composition there is little to no chance that Bed B could perform well in following years. It is both mineral and nutrient deficient and will have severe water drainage/retention issues. lasagne gardening method by piling on coffee grounds, leaves, and grass clippings atop a bed of cardboard Lasagna beds are also supposed to have layers of soil incorporated into them when built and require regular additions of compost throughout the season and at season's end and again prior to planting. And that compost needs to be very diverse in ingredients and as pH balanced as possible (leaves are very acidic) for it to work. It was never intended to be a build and forget method. Rather it requires continuous building to work. One can learn a great deal about the effects of different soil compositions as well as the problems associated with lasagna beds that aren't properly maintained and amended over on the Soil & Compost forum here. Dave