welcome to the forums jan ... with 18 year old plants.. not much in the way of weather is going to kill them ... especially the huge old root mass ... so though they might have taken some above ground damage.. and need some pruning after they bud out ... i suspect they will be back ... even if they die to the ground.. with no insult to the root mass.. you might be surprised how fast they can regrow ... but.. you might lose this years bloom.. give them a month or 2 longer.. to see how and where they bud out.. and then we can go from there ... [you dont mention where you are???] i suggest you take some pix then.. and start your own post.. with the pix.. and we can opine from there ... ken

In my experience several different spirea cultivars will root spread in my flower beds. Especially if they do not have something else as signficant as them competing for space with them. So it does seem good that you are wanting to plant the Wine and Roses weigela with them. The more dominant 4 inch Weigela leaf size, color, and form seem to me as being a better fit as a background planting in your bed. That is as long as their flower colors still compliment well with the color of the siding (be it brick, wood, stucco, or other) on your house. When creating the bed where you plan for this landscaping, simply install a root barrier along the front border, beneath the above ground edging you plan to install. Then consider: why hide the weigela shrub behind other shrubs? Instead why not simply choose a spiraea in front of them which will only grow 1-2 feet tall, and make certain that you purchase the size of Weigela, which is at first planting about 3 times taller than the actually grown size of spiraea you choose to purchase. For this purpose, maybe you could consider planting the Spirea Double Play Gold, which is reported to grow to about 1-2 feet tall and spread about 2-3 feet It's my opinion that the Wine and roses weigela and the Double Play Gold spirea seem to contrast nicely to bring out some of the diverse color shades in wiegela'a leaves. That is unless you would prefer a spiraea cultivar that still grows to only 1-2 feet, but also has leaves, which seem to often times stay more consistantly a slightly, bluish green color throughout the growing season. If so, then you might consider the Spiraea Japonica 'Norman,' which grows to about 1-2 feet tall,is reported to only spread 1-2 feet, and which is reported to bloom from June through August.

We have really rabid deer and I've found that "deer-resistant" is pretty much meaningless. The only plants they truly avoid, in my experience, are ones with aromatic foliage. Around here, that means rosemary, many sages, rockrose, lavender, sagebrush, catmint etc. I think with the exception of the rockrose you can find varieties of all of those that will work in zone 6, even the lavender. Actually, I have never seen a deer touch coyote brush (baccharis pilularis) either, so that's another option for you. There are other plants that deer will kill when they're young and tender and just out of nursery pots, but after a couple of seasons in the ground they become less enticing, so if you protect them for a bit they will probably be fine. Western redbud is a really beautiful shrub, tough as nails and now that it's a little taller the deer are ignoring it. The same goes for the birch I planted in front of my house. A third strategy is to use fast-growing plants that quickly grow too big for the deer to take down. Ceanothus "Ray Hartman" comes to mind, and that will certainly take a freeze. Flowering plum trees are also very vigorous and if you plant a five-gallon specimen, they'll be safe from the deer in a season or two.

Regardless of the type of "houzzing" you choose, start small. Grow your knowledge and techniques as your first small, insignificant, inexpensive worm operation grows. You'll be better able to recognize the rights and wrongs you'll be trying to keep up with. During this time, you'll find out just how much leeway the significant other (?)....while watching your every weird move..... will allow you to get away with. As far as the "feed the worms every week or so, they estimated a cup or so of food scraps" goes: pay no attention to that. Feed them as they eat it. Place the feedings in different spots each time and feed again when that feeding seems to be gone. If it's a week, OK. If earlier, increase the amount of each feeding or the frequency of feeding the same amount. There'll be a period of adjusting the amount of scraps you produce to the amount of food the wormies will consume. As you become consumed by the passion that is worming, the amount of time you'll devote to it will likely increase. If not, you'll probably not be cut out for playing around with worm dung and you can go back to fishing or golf or chemical fertilizers with less regret. (You probably won't). If you're getting into this as a money-making venture, forget all I said. chuckiebtoo Moderation, Diversity, Patience