warrengk first Welcome too the Forum, I had herrenhauser garten, for 3 years, I have too put mine in the basement for winter it never did Bloom for me there are others that it has done really well for, I gave mine up, donated it, too a conservatory, still don't know if it Bloomed for them in your climate it should do really well for you good luck Elizabeth

Hahaha, I'm guilty of that too FD. My skids sometimes talk just to talk, and it's hard to listen to that for too long. I sometimes cut them short and sometimes I just miss half of it. Especially when they want to talk me through some movie they saw, it's just not that interesting if you haven't seen it yourself..Hihi funny Come to think of it; my MIL does that too. Except with her I think it's a bit rude sometimes. Say MIL and FIL come around for coffee and the 4 of us are having a conversation. MIL will always try and get me out of that and start a conversation with just the two of us (so the 'girls' and the 'guys' can both talk about something different). Not really my cup of tea, but I usually go along with it, even though it's hard to concentrate with 4 people at one table and 2 conversations. So I do my best to just hear her and respond to her. Only to find that in the middle of my reply to her, she suddenly starts laughing with the 'guys' because she switched back to the other conversation herself!! Ok no worries mate, I didn't think it was such an interesting topic either! Anyway, let's not get stuck into my MIL......

Michaelg, thank you for the guidance. I would have thought that spraying the folaige with water would aggrivate the problem, since this is often the case with blackspot, and they are both fungal issues. I'm also suprised that you aren't having any of this in Asheville, I was just there for the weekend and the climates are so similar, it's even a little cooler at night there than it is here, but I guess that just goes to show that no two climates/growing situations are exactly the same, no matter how similar they may be.. I'm not sure if I can put up with MAC if she does this every spring, as I was expecting to use her as a large climber on the back of my house & that level of treatment may be feasible when she is small, but not when she grows up. As lovely as she is I don't think I'll be able to keep her. I would be more willing to try this with the others though. Jeri, thank you for your input as well, I've read your sterling reviews of Lamarque several times, and looked at photos of it longingly, however I fear that it may be too tender for my zone.. even though I'm very tempted to try it, I want it to be a fairly tall climber & I fear that if it does survive here, winter may stunt it into some gangly half shrub half climber. I may eventually try it in another area of my yard, just to see, but I have already purchased a "white cap" as a backup tall climber, with some help from some glowing reviews on gardenweb and HMF, I think it may fill my white climber niche nicely, although it isn't one of the "antique" varieties I was hoping to use, it seems to be very healthy for a large number of folks & it has lovely blooms, so I have high hopes for it. I just don't know what to do with CS, so many people say it is extremely healthy for them as well, I hate to not give it a chance, but it is off to a horrible start so it may have to find a new home.. I don't seem to have much luck with Chinas as a class in general, although I haven't tired many, the few that I have have not done well, maybe it's too cool &/or humid here? I'm wondering if there is anyone on this forum in my area interested in my two Madame Alfred Carrieres or my Cramoisi Superior?? If so, please let me know!!!

Looks like cut stone to me. That is why you never paint stone or brick, it looks awful. A sledge hammer will do the job, but you will probable also destroy the new surround in the process since the surround is on top of the stone. .