Kudos of what you've accomplished so far. You could either give the carb a more thorough cleaning or add and ounce of Seafoam to your fuel. With it running , it may very well smooth out your running. I assume that the air filter is good and the fuel is fresh. Changing the spark plug is a good thing to do automatically if you have runability concerns.

My cat plastered herself over my not stitched part of my stomach the moment I came back from the hospital. I was to lay flat and not move for a couple of more days, except for some walking every couple of hours. She had never slept in my bed before. During chemo she was always there when I came back from treatment and to this day, if I don't feel well, she sleeps with me. Oh, she also was my excercise coach once I had to move more, by always wanting to get out of the door which was the furthest away from where I was and it always involved 2 sets of stairs. George, I am glad that you also have a nurse cat. Listen to her when she bosses you around.

Since my climate is a bit similar to UK, it seems that with teas a problem is not that much caused by our winters or lack of heat in the summer, but rather late spring freezes and temperature fluctuations in early spring. Overhere we can get very warm February (up to +15C) and some roses break dormancy, just to get zapped by late frosts in March/April. It is my constant cause of frustration with hydrangeas, since if the new growth freezes, it is whole season of meh. It seems that you have to winter protect teas and chinas here at least for the first years to get some of the more woody canes, when settled they have way less problems with the climate. Own root probably would be a better option as well, since even if it is not cane hardy, it can grow back. I know somebody attempting to grow Lady Hilingdon climber 50 miles more inland from here and apparently it comes through the winter undamaged, but late spring, especially when wet, often is what kills it to the ground. It grows back and blooms though with no problem, so you get some sort of perennial rose. I am going to try a few chinas/more tender noisettes this season, so will see if it is possible to grow it here, although I am going to wrap them into agricultural fleece for the winter. I will go for own roots, but if to get it grafted I would vote for getting it from Trevor White, although Beales ones did for me almost as good. ;)

Well, people, I am no expert on Heliotrope. Never grew it, personally. I can not advise anyone on growing plants I have not grown myself. Grannie never grew Heliotrope in pots. I just thought I would try some in pots by the patio so I can move it around to see where it does best. Grannie and Great-Grammie grew it "amongst" other flowers, so it was sheltered and shaded in the afternoon. I do know that it doesn't like hot blaring afternoon sun or drying winds. It is native of Peru, if that tells you anything about its preferred environment - comes from a land of cool Misty Mountains. Probably why it became a favourite in England and particularly in Scotland. (Scotland is cloudy, moist and no one ever has a "natural" suntan, if that tells you anything about the climate where Heliotrope loves to grow). As far as I know, it grows EASILY from seeds. Great-Grammie said. "Too darned easy!" [BTW - My DH is a Scotsman. His mother is from Inverness. His "Grand da" was the chief deputy inspector in a village there and he has many fond childhood memories there. His Grand da was also an avid gardener and kept pigeons. I try to plant vegetables, flowers and trees that evoke happy memories for him, too. He spent many years in Holland, so of course, his favourite is to plant tons of bright coloured Tulips and other Dutch bulbs.] It was my Scottish-English ancestry that grew the Heliotrope and lived along the Hudson river. Grannie grew many of the old family favorites from Ireland, Scotland, SW England, as well as Native Calif. flowers and many of the Spanish introduced plants too. As you strolled through her gardens, you passed from one climate and environment to another. It was totally amazing! My childhood home in Southern California was in a sheltered, arid canyon area in the mountains, not far from the Pacific ocean, as the crow flies, so we had cool, pea-soup foggy nights and it didn't get hot until in the afternoon. By 4 or 5 p.m. it would begin to cool down again. We wore sweaters in the morning, even in the summer. Everyone in the area was closely related to us back then. My back patio here in Oklahoma faces the east, so gets morning sun filtered through the small trees back there. It is shaded and sheltered in the afternoon by the house on the west side and by the carport/shed to the south of that and the now gigantic Colorado Aspens I planted some years ago. I am planting a fragrant climbing rose to grow over the breezeway between the house and carport (after I build an lattice arbour there). The breeze that sweeps up through there will carry the rose fragrance up and around to the patio in back (I hope) and its shade will cool down the breezes. I am going to mingle the Heliotrope with my other cottage flowers and roses. Marilyn, I also have "Lilac memories" from another side of my family, and many others. :) Have those in my garden, too, and they are laden with blossoms right now. Oh the fragrance! - And my peonies are all up and a few are beginning to bud. :) At present, the three peonies I have are a hot pink one, a white with tiny streaks of pink, and a pure white one (don't know their names - are passalong tubers from my mother). I am LONGING for a pure red variety. It all sounds grander than it actually looks right now, but that is my plan. We shall see how it progresses!