The sweet potato vines are ornamental so I don't believe you could start with a regular sweet potato from the store. My mom used these a few years ago and raved about them. I found mine at a local hardware store, but I'm sure the Lowe's-type stores here carry them as they are very popular in this area (Southeast). There are several colors, but the chartreuse and dark purple are the most popular. I hate that you can't see that photo. It was the very first photo by Jenny_in_SE_PA. I think it is exactly what you want. The combination of bright green SP vine and dark purple coleus was stunning! Here is a photo of mine at the beginning of last summer: I *think* that is one vine. It might be two, but I'm almost certain I used one sweet potato and one petunia in each pot. By the end of the summer the sweet potato vine was trailing on the ground. I actually had to give it a few haircuts. When our temps hit 105 in July (and the concrete patio and brick retaining wall held in the heat like an oven!), the sweet potato never flinched. I need something taller in my pots and considered some sort of evergreen, conical shrub like an arborvitae, but I think my heat would kill it. Since you're in zone 6, you might have better luck with a permanent shrub. I may experiment with some tall grasses this year. Here's a link showing some containers that use evergreen shrubs along with some other interesting non-flowering plants. http://www.finegardening.com/plants/articles/10-plants-for-year-round-containers.aspx?nterms=74930 At one time I only wanted flowers. Flowers, flowers, and more flowers. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE flowers, but I've begun to appreciate foliage and texture as well. I think I'm finally maturing a little. (But did I mention that I still love flowers? The gaudier the better?) I think it is fun to think outside the box a little when it comes to container combinations. Have fun with yours! Nin

I've seen a research article that determined 'Perle d'Or' had good salt tolerance on par with Rosa rugosa (I'm not sure about salt air; I think they were working with soil only) and recommended it for trial planting in saline-soil parts of Egypt. It certainly has heat tolerance, and is also quite fragrant and has good disease resistance.

When driving from the west side of Washington state to the east side you pass from Doug fir/hemlock dominated forests to Ponderosa pine dominated forestland, virtually as soon as you traverse the mountain pass. The scent of the pines is extremely distinct, especially in warmer weather. And I'd have to say that my experience with incense cedars, Calocedrus decurrens, is that they also have a very detectable fragrance. And the foliage of popular lemon-lime cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' (or 'Wilma Goldcrest') has a very pungent citrusy fragrance but only when bruised or disturbed. It's not a pleasant fragrance - many consider it rather 'cat-like' - but various species of juniper can reek on warm, sunny days. IME, it seems to be warmth that triggers most coniferous fragrances......plus, larger groupings of the plants rather than single specimens. But none of these are firs :-( I also notice the very camphor-like aroma of eucalypts everytime I visit southern California, where these trees grow like weeds (and in many cases, ARE weeds). But I do believe the scent or aroma of plants has a lot to do with how sensitized you are to them - they seem to be less distinguishable if you live with them on a day to day basis. The scent of the eucalyptus becomes much less pronounced after I've been there a few days :-)

Hi @KJ (9B, San Jose CA) I am still evaluating most of my roses. It's too early to tell, but I will definitely post at the end of the summer who lived and who fried on my zero shade frying pan of a rooftop in zone 11. I am observing my plants and rating them. I hope I don't sound like I'm splitting hairs, but I think there's several degrees of heat tolerance. In my notes I rank things like this. A+: Rose is totally unaffected by weeks of 100+ degree weather. Blooms and foliage still pristlne. A: Plant itself is healthy and undamaged in the heat, but blooming stops. Perhaps some will disagree but to me no blooms is better than fried blooms. A plant that knows when to take a break from blooming to preserve itself is a smart plant. B: The plant itself tolerates the heat and foliage is undamaged, but blooms fry. Aesthetic inconvenience rather than a true intolerance of heat. C: Some fried foliage. Canes healthy, or minor sunburn. D: Foliage and canes suffer sunburn. Plant looks very bad, but recovers when temps come down. F : Not gonna make it.