The "two zone hardier" rule may have some validity as a very rough guideline, but it really is one of those enduring horticultural myths that never seem to die. The original poster is in Z5. According to "the rule" he ought to be able to easily grow Alberta spruce (Z2 hardiness and 3 zones hardier) in pots. Fifty percent root death for Alberta spruce occurs at -10. Several days of Z5 temperatures in the -15 to -20 range will kill it for sure in a small pot. Other plants are even more subject to root death. Magnolia stellata, for example, is generally considered hardy to Z5 or Z4. Fifty percent root death, though, occurs at +23 degrees. The thermal mass of in ground planting regulates temperature in a way a pot simply can"t. Zone listings are low air temperatures as measured over time. Root hardiness, except for the obvious causal connection, is a seperate issue.

Maybe there is more than one kind of leaf cutter bees? We have had them in our garden for at least 20 years - as described, do little damage for a little while and then stop. However, the holes they make in my rose leaves are much closer to 1/4 - 1/2 inch - definitely much smaller than those in the picture above. Some of them are complete circles, but most of them are partial circles. So, perhaps drudadunat has the same sort of bees that we do. Jackie

Wow Matthew $9.99 for 5gal roses??? Nice!! Let us know what you find. I'm getting anxious to see what potted roses will be coming in this yr. I'm jealous of you guys living down there in So Cal.. all those places to go looking for roses. We're limited to a few places up here. Probably just as well. I'd be spending all my spare time driving around everywhere looking for them. Hopelessly obsessed is right, man!! Yeah, we could do the trade-thing in the fall. It'll be til then that I'd feel comfortable shipping the SS's out anyway. So, do me a favor and take pics of that SUNSET CELEBRATION when it blooms. All the pics I see of it are apricot-y. This is what mine usually looks like: It's usually this orangey color with a yellow reverse. I seriously think it's something else. Either that or I got it and another rose mixed up when I planted them yrs ago!

Neither picture shows the grade involved. We don't need a picture OF the left side, but taken FROM it. In other words, you'd need to walk over toward the left neighbor's house and take a picture looking back at your house ... from enough distance away that it shows the complete bottom and top of the grade and a bit more. A "heads up" ... depending on your municipality, the vast majority of them do not allow parking, or parking places, in the front yard, while most allow a circular driveway and don't prevent parking in it. Exceptions to straight-up parking might be if the proposed location is behind a building set-back line. If not, usually, a variance (which requires an application, a fee and hearing) is required. (Attorney's, or other professional, fees might be required if you don't feel like you could make a good case speaking on your own behalf at a hearing.) Whether the variance is granted depends on the personalities involved. In a small town where everyone knows everyone and there is not jubilation for imposing regulation, it might be easy. In a large community, there might be a lot of resistance as bureaucrats can be paranoid to death about creating a "precedence" and opening the floodgates for similar requests, Even if there is resistance, in my experience the variance will likely be granted if need is demonstrated (as I think it could be here on account of the grade change) and if the proposed improvement is attractive. They can say all they want that objections are based on safety, but the truth is that they don't want things built that look bad for the next 30 years. As Rev pointed out, it will cost a lot more for a circular driveway simply on account of the amount of material involved. IMO, if the configuration is well done and the details are nice, it can be a great addition to the home. A main consideration would be if you want to be able to drive to the lower level from the circular drive. This would likely require some reconfiguration of the existing drive. A parking pad off to the side of the drive would be less involved. (But how the grade changes needs to be shown so that the area can be understood.)