Sherry, my MJP is doing very well. She's still small, and I've had only one bloom from her, but it was lovely. Cream and apricot and pink all washed together. She seems quite healthy and is currently putting out new growth - I think she is just a quiet little aristocrat who doesn't take giant strides, just little dainty steps. Another small rose that I got even later last year is really leaping ahead, and has given two flushes already (only two blooms each flush, though!). But I don't hold that against MJP - they are just different from each other. I am also facing the problem of less sun this year (the trees have grown), so I have been moving them all around for maximum exposure. Also I'm repotting the ones most in need of it, one at a time (I'm not known for my stamina), and this has helped the ones that have been done. In the ground is not an option for me, but it sure sounds like it helps! Your SdEV is exquisite. Laura

Rhizo-1, yes, I too love experiments. But granted these are not serious experiments, just fun things to do for people who enjoy the process. It's fun to play around with organics I feel! You might as well make things fun while waiting. I expected tons and tons of BS to overwinter since I didn't get blackspot until the rainy fall and I thought hmmm, since this is my second year of rose-growing in my garden I expected an onslaught because I didn't clean up my BS ridden leaves until March 1st 2010, and never was any sulfur applied to the soil either plus I have tons of rotting composting annuals in my soil. But so far everything looks great! I still FORGOT THE CORNMEAL! lol! We'll see, not an ounce of powdery mildew or BS yet. But just wait until I get the onslaught of fall rains, lol! AnnTN I definitely agree that true experiments involve very tight control groups. Everyone has different soils and different roses so this can tremendously impact the effectiveness of the experiments. The only "accurate" experiments I've ever tried was doing a test group of 6 transplanted baby lavenders. Each of those lavenders was placed in the exact same soil and were of identical sizes and came from the exact same organics grocery store. I fed 1/2 of those transplanted lavenders with B1 vitamin and the other 1/2 with Gardenville sea tea. I quickly concluded that B1 vitamin didn't do a whit for my baby lavender-they remained tiny for two weeks, whereas the sea tea fed lavender doubled in size. Hence I concluded that B1 vitamin was a bunch of bogus in terms of "helping with transplant shock" or being a plant nutrient. But again these organic experiments are just for fun and for curiosity's sake. Maureen, fantastic idea! A Foliage Award, I love it!. Let's add this foliage award for 2010...I expect to be the last-in-place, lol! Also the Foliage Award gives more motivation and gives visual "proof" of one's experiment. O.K. here is how I would describe my soil...heavy clumpy clay. My climate is hot in the summer 85-100 degrees in August, winters used to be mild with only 3 snow days, but not this year! Record-breaking snows and cold. Spring has been very reasonable in terms of rain, lots of clear skies so that is why I am guessing there is no blackspot or powdery mildew yet (last year my full-sun roses remained BS-free for Spring and Summer only because my roses are 1st year roses). Two of my newly planted roses receive shade, but there will be 4 total with shade. In the backyard there will be full sun for half of the day during summers, when fall comes they will be in partial shade because the direction of the sun will shift and the shade growing roses will actually increase in sunlight just a little bit. Next I will categorize the health of my vulnerable hybrid teas versus my resistant OGRs separately so that we don't confuse issues. Unfortunately the OGRs will experience their 1st year of growing so that there is no comparison between past performance and new performance. My goal is to remain BS free during the fall rains, FAT CHANCE, but at least I can entertain myself, hee-hee!

Thank you all for your suggestions. mother of 3sons- are you doing the 3 cabinet finishes or the 4?? and I actually got that picture from doing research and saw your post!! Michelle- if you could get a picture, and let me know what white she used with the cumulous, that would be awesome, because I keep going back to the cumulous.

Thanks, but I've already run that search. I've read every thread in which Coretec in mentioned. You may have noticed that none of them has any actual information of reviews of the product. Though I suppose that I could email the one or two people who mentioned having purchased it.