There are lots of differences besides vegetation: As a person born and bred in Baltimore ( 40 years in NH and MA) I never ever miss the humidity of a DC/Balto summer. It is insufferable. However, east coast MA & NH have equally hot spells and humidity, just not week after week after week.. As you know, Md and DC are 4 season climates....there is certainly spring (long) summer (hellish) fall (just fine) and winter ( just not so snowy so often so long) You would not miss the drivers who have never learned to drive in snow. On the other hand, you'll have to learn. You will lose two months of real warm weather gardening and the long lovely springs which encourage azaleas. New England springs are rather short and violent.....here today, gone tomorrow. But beautiful, for sure. Oh yes, it can snow on May 1. You will miss reliably delicious tomatoes you can grow yourself, the operative word is reliably and soft shell crabs ....real crabcakes. (though you have to search as far and wide down there as you do here for the authentic lump crab) You can get Bud here. Maples we have, but the oaks down your way are fine. I miss the southern graciousness and friendliness that linger in more southern areas. Many parts of New England are more racially segregated than the greater metro area. I continued to be startled by that whenever I went home or visited DC. Maybe I wax nostalgic and inaccurate, maybe times have changed.....but around here one rarely "stops" by for a beer or a drink after work, people don't "drop in" or "drop by" . At least where I live, nobody hangs out on their front steps or front yard, though you'll certainly get a wave from the neighbors. Sure, we chat when we get to know each other, but I honestly think people are more reserved here. Maybe in part because we're holed up so long in winter. I feel very homesick right now.

Vaporvac, ac91z6 - I have both Florentina and Princess Alex de Lux, and I highly recommend them both. Florentina I've had for about 4 years and it's an enthusiastic bloomer all season with entirely cane hardy survival in an average zone 5 spot. The blooms are very full and dark red and it's among my favorite climbers these days. PadL is newer, since she just went in last spring, but I can already tell she's a typically enthusiastic Kordes rose. She's putting out canes in every direction trying to elbow wimpy neighbors out of the way, and I've seen clusters of those thickly petaled blooms off and on all season. She hasn't gotten to her third season yet so her repeat isn't all that frequent, but I don't expect that in a rose's second year. I think she had some but not all surviving cane over the winter, which is typical of most of my roses. Both were from Palatine for me, and both have done extremely well. Cynthia

perhaps your own post.. with more facts and we can help you I pink ... in my z5 MI.. there is a world of difference between the hardiness of a redbud.. and a foo foo dogwood ... so i doubt the fact that whatever is 'weeping' is the issue .... congrats ck ... i suspect you wood fence.. cut the blistering winter winds ... which MIGHT be the down fall of your redbud ... in my MI ... winter winds are from the NW ... and based on the other forums you list .. you probably have the same ... btw.. z5 is about half the US and wildly divergent as to winter... i would be curious as to big city name ... the fence might actually be a problem... with an evergreen... as winter sun might cause issues ... heat build up in winter.. but i digress ... in this case.. you have no leaves to save or be injured in winter .. go figure ... ken

@Ann Marie, I have a few climbers and ramblers on a trellis and my best advice is to make sure your rose is hardy for your climate by choosing ones that are atleast one or two hardiness zones below yours. That’s the best way to ensure cane survival through winter (right plant, right place). If the rose is near a wall that retains and reflect heat, then I do zone push and have had success with climbers my zone or one zone above. For example, I’m in zone 4b and I have no problems with New Dawn and James Galway surviving winter without protection on a northwest and southwest wall, respectively. As for training the rose, my approach is to tie the canes tight against the support so that it is secure and doesn’t whip around or rub. I do this in the late winter / early spring when the rose is dormant along with pruning so that I can see the rose’s framework. It also means that I’m working with only hardened canes (I never tie soft or semi-hard canes). I use simple garden twine and tie tight double knots. I don’t skimp and make sure the final rose frame work absolutely does not move. I tie the largest, most established canes to the support first, then the rest. I may even tie smaller canes to the bigger ones. Yes, it’s “crossing branches” but so long as they are tied tight and not rubbing, I find it’s totally fine. Key is no movement of any of those framework canes. I intentionally use twine because it blends in, is cheap, and will eventually degrade (since I do this all over again every winter/spring). If the rose cane is really old and has a tough bark and I know it’s not going to expand, then I tie into the support with black zip ties (gasp!). I’ll also mention that optimal blooms form on canes that are positioned between horizontal and 45 degrees. Here’s a pic of my William Baffin climber last year on a wooden trellis.