I've been watching my lady bugs lately, of which I do not have many. What I've seen is that, for the most part, they're totally unaware of food around them. I don't know how much walking these guys have to do in order to stumble upon a meal, but they're sure don't seem very adept at sensing a meal nearby. I actually took one of my ladybugs, placed it on a leaf with a bunch of pink/red aphids on it, and it walked by the whole lot of them several times before I grabbed a plant tag, scooped one up, and put it right in front of the ladybug's face, at which point it immediately grabbed it and shoved it into its mouth. Again and again this happened, and I finally decided I would just keep the ladybug there as long as I could keep finding aphids to scrape off and hand feed it. I'm sure they do a fine job at devouring aphids on their own or else they would have collectively starved to death by now, and I know the larvae are faster eaters than the adults, but man, was I disappointed to see them walking right by perfectly good food.

I love my Lady Banks on the house because even though she grows big, she has no thorns! She does only bloom once a year, but she blooms for over a month. I love the buttery yellow color. I grow mine on the southwest corner of my front porch and she has grown big, that is true, but she shades 1/2 of the porch beautifully all summer. I only have to trim back her long new-growth canes twice a year. (and the trimmings make great weaving material for creating towers and little garden hoops for fencing things like cabbages, petunias, &etc, or for flower supports. Once they dry, they are strong and durable for several seasons) However, she is not cold hardy in zones colder than zone 8, or pushing it in zone 7. Since I am right on the zone line dividing 6 & 7, I planted her on the SW corner where she would get winter sun and my concrete porch would provide protection in winter - creating a mini-zone of 7b-8a right there. Some extra nasty winters she has gotten freezer burn, but came back out of it. Some years she has gotten her leaves and blooms frozen with late cold snaps, but she recovers to bloom again the following year, and often bigger and better than ever. I'm not sure she could survive for long in your colder zone. I think hardier rose in a red, medium to dark pink or perhaps even an orange rose would look better against your white house. Plants grow differently in different areas and different soils, so it is hard to say how big a rose will get. A rose reported to get only 3 feet tall may grow twice that in another area, even climbers. Do a little more research-look around your area and talk to nursery growers there. I do think though, that a rose growing up on your house right there would be absolutely gorgeous. That's my two cents worth on the subject. ~Annie

To get the best of its spring stems color and fall foliage it needs to be planted in at least 4hrs of sun. If your soil is acidic you will have Lady in Blue during the normal bloom time then reverse to LiR as flowers will age. I have two of them and both are rather wider(4-5') than tall (3-3.5').

As usual, your talent and creativity...not to mention your energy....blow me away. You're amazing! Immediately I LOVED the LOVE letters on the tree. Just looks so neat with them! I'm going to take the easy way and "ditto" what the others said about every single thing you did. :o) I am normally not a fan of pink and green, but I'd grab that floral in a heartbeat. Its gorgeous!! Sure would like to have you here to decorate my house for Christmas too. Are you ready to give up your day job and become a professional decorator yet? hugs, Karen