How odd. I had a similar thing happen here. I bought a new rose and didn't have time to re-pot it, so I stuck it along with the ugly black pot it came in into an attractive ceramic container. Along comes the Big storm, monster winds (40-60 mph) with over 5 inches of rain. I figured that with that much water the rose should hold for at least 3 days or more given our mild 70's weather. Nope, 2 days after the storm it's wilted. Took the rose out of the ceramic pot, watered it, left it sitting in a saucer with drained out water and sure enough it perked right back up. To me the two obvious problems could be the growing medium that the rose is in is too well drained; And/Or, the roots have been so chopped off to fit the plastic pot that despite the downpour, the moisture was taken out of the leaves faster then the roots could absorb it. There is a 3rd extremely remote possibility, but I won't know the answer until I find the time to repot the rose...What's the root/soil situation with your roses?

khinmn, Thanks for the warning. I have found some information online---good and bad---about luxury vinyl tile. It seems that one key to success is meticulous floor preparation. The material we are looking at is a bit heavier than the ones I've been able to find information about. Also they don't have adhesive strips along the edges, they actually click together like laminate floors. Our friend speaks well of the product, but I thnk the viewpoint of the installer can differ significantly from the one who lives with the floor over time. For that reason, we're considering buying a smaller amount of the LVT we want for our kitchen and putting it in an upstairs bathroom (a DIY project). Then we can see how it works out there before committing to putting it in the entire kitchen. mabel, Isn't all vinyl resilient? Or when you mention "resilient vinyl" is that a distinctive type of vinyl? The sheet vinyl we have in our kitchen now is, I believe, over twenty years old and has just started showing some wear in the past year or so. I think it's a great product for wet areas, and I like it better than the ceramic or porcelain tile I've had in the past. I would consider a sheet vinyl, but we haven't seen anything we like that much yet---of course we haven't looked at that many places. I know I want to be sure to get a good quality, not too thin, floor that won't be prone to tearing or denting. By the way, I love the floor you chose for your laundry area---it really complements the wood. I only wish my laundry room looked so good. bmorepanic, The Karndean looks very similar to the Downs LVT I mentioned. Have you seen it installed or do you known anyone who has installed it? The LVT sounds good, but I wish I could find some information from someone who has actually had it installed in their home. kirkhall, Is you "slate-like" floor sheet vinyl or vinyl tiles of some sort? Do you have a link to what you put in? mamadadapaige, Please let us know what you decide to put in and how it works out for you. While I'm glad we have so many options, it does get a bit overwhelming when we have so many choices, doesn't it? We were, at least, able to rule out anything that looked like wood, as the floors will be adjoining real hardwood floors in our foyer, living room, and dining room.

I haven't been on this site for a while, so haven't seen any of your earlier posts. When I saw the Hoosier cabinet in your "before" my heart sank and I thought, "Oh, no, they're going to tear out that perfectly lovely cabinet!" I was so happy to see the "after" and how great it looks! The whole kitchen is really nice. Good job.

Thank you all for your replies! Glad to hear it doesn’t seem like anything too dire. Our winter has been pretty wet so the roots could well have struggled to absorb nutrients. Conditions will be drier from now so I’ll keep an eye on the new leaves to see if they show the same signs or not. They were planted about 18 months ago, so hopefully by next winter they’ll be better established to cope. I need to weed and put more mulch down to tidy up anyway (there’s no plastic), and was considering using a “mulch&feed” product, which is a mulch containing organic amendments such as blood&bone, sheep pellets, chicken compost etc. This way increase the nitrogen and maybe improve soil drainage a bit at the same time. Does this sound like a good idea? Rather than specifically fertilising?