Isn't there seeds that you can purchase called Cheyenne Spirit - an AAS award winner that you can try and you'd only be out the cost of a package of seeds and your time? If you winter sowed them, you would probably see some flowers this year as they are described as blooming the first year. The flowers from this mix are bright and quite varied. I, on the other hand, have had very good luck with the new cultivars. I bought many of mine the first spring we were in this house and we've been here for 7 years now. That group includes Sunrise, Summer Sun, Harvest Moon, and Sunset. I would say that Sunset is the only one that is still a small plant and never gets very big. I received Milkshake in a trade a couple of years ago and this double is very healthy and produces quite a few flowers. I had a seedling come up that looks exactly like Tiki Torch. My guess is that it is a cross between E. Paradoxa - another great grower for me - and my Sunset since they grow fairly near each other. I purchased PInk Double Delight in a trade and it did not make it through it's first winter. I received a piece in a trade last year and it bloomed and grew well. We will see if it makes it through this winter. My daughter has had Raspberry Truffle for two year and it is a good size plant that produces a lot of flower. It's a very pretty plant. A friend sent me Pow Wow Wildberry and it has done very well. I love the vibrant color of the flowers which are much more saturated in color than the regular purple cone flowers. Another plus is that PWW is a small plant, great for the front of the border. The same friend sent me Colorburst Orange, which is a bright, orange double. Alas, it has not bloomed as yet and I will move it this spring to a sunnier location. I think a quick growing lilac growing near it has provided too much shade for it. I can share some seeds from some of these if you are interested in giving them a try. Let me know, Linda

. sczcasa; Yes, and no. Sounds like a car salesman answer, huh ? . . . The spectrum that the sun puts out is FAR wider than just visible light / photons. This is the part of the spectrum that we see. And, these photons do bounce around; some will hit something AND get absorbed; some will not and will be reflected back out the window. A solar collector is optimized to capture a WIDE portion of the spectrum of the sun's energy . . . visible ( that's why they're usually black/matte finish ), infrared, UV; whatever. Therefore they are good black body absorbers . . and hence collect from a wide portion of the sun's spectrum. They simply re-radiate whatever they collect across the entire spectrum; as heat for the most part. That's why the window material and type can make a big difference in their operation . . . . a high efficiency glass may indeed block some of the spectrum that could be used to generate heat. Stick black and white ( otherwise identical ) buckets full of water out in the sun some day . . . . see which one gets hotter . . . they're both subject to the same type and amount of solar insolation; but ABSORB differing amounts. So, yes; you're right . . . the very same energy that could generate heat with one of these heaters is present in a room without one . . . . but much of it randomly is reflected and therefore ununsed . . . And no; you're wrong . . . by choosing the makeup of a collector instead of relying on random things in a room; allows you to optimize the capture of a wider range of the spectrum to re-radiate as heat. I'm not saying these things are great and work wonderfully . . . I haven't used one. But the principle of their operation is indeed sound; and not a hoax. Bob

Starfish We went through the same decision process earlier this year - we had fewer baths but needed a single HWH to, additionally, provide space heating for the whole house. With the whirlpool tub, multiple shower heads and 5 bathrooms, you will potentially need a lot of flow. I thought our main concern was to have high recovery and respectable flow; my solution was the AOS Vertex unit with 50 gallon, 75,000BTU/hr and 127 First Hour Delivery Gallons all with a power exhaust that hooks to a 2" pvc pipe - claims 90% efficiency. I've been pleased with the Vertex - it meets our needs and is quiet and efficient. Since then, AOS has released a Vertex 100 model with 100,000BTU/hr and 164 First Hour Delivery Gallons. John

I think you have superb taste in roses. I planted S.D.L.M in a triangle, one in front and two in back. It has rapid rebloom for its' class being fully 50% Tea, good fragrance, and is a no-spray rose locally. Lady Hillingdon has the longest bloom season and the most blooms per year of any Tea that I've documented. La France is a wonderful rose, with shapely roses that have a strong scent. climbing W.M.C. blooms once in spring, summer and autumn, where I live, while the bush form produces a couple more bloom cycles each year. I love Sombruiel. too though I cannot smell the flowers on my plant. Buff Beauty is loved by many, I prefer 'Reve d'Or' because it has a longer bloom season with quicker re-bloom in our climate and because of its' versatility, it can be grown as a bush, or climber or limbed to produce a rosebush with a tree like silhouette. The three ways of growing a rosebush is also true of the sublime beauty 'Grandmothers' Hat. A local rose park has several planted along a pathway limbed from the ground to 2 and 3/4 feet from the ground, and a bit more than 5' tall, they are planted upwind, from the path and it is a wonderful thing to walk along that scented pathway. I'd suggest a 'Susan Louise' to provide a shade for a sitting area. 'Susan Louise' is a Hybrid Gigantea (Rosa gigantea is Latin for "gigantic rosebush" it produces thousands of large pink and cream rose blossoms at a time, all year round, and locally I've seen it grown against a low fence of c. 4 feet tall where it grew to be 4 and 1/2 feet tall by 35 feet wide, I'm limbing my plant so it will resemble one grown a few miles from my home, which has a sillouette like an apple tree, with one trunk- thick central cane, bare from the ground up to c. 7 feet and a canopy of 18' wide by c. 11 feet tall. Good luck creating your rose paradise, Lux. P.S. I noticed you don't have any red roses on your list, I never appreciated red roses until I saw 'Gloire des Rosomanes' in full bloom. Because I always thought red roses appeared somber, but the white streaking that is seen in G. des R. and other China genetically influenced roses changed my mind. L.