Wow! You guys provide better info than the Master Gardener did. I am glad I did not stop there just because her ID. It just didn't seem right. I am afraid ((sob)) it looks like Downy Mildew. All signs point to it, and that picture on the link Jim kindly provided looked just like mine. Except mine does not seem to have open lesions like that one. -Jim, you are wonderful! You provided such a wealth of information. Thank you for taking so much trouble to help me! I really was baffled by all the info I read on Downy Mildew. Most sites said it was rare to see it out side of a greenhouse situation, and really isn't a problem in gardens. A couple of sites also said that Downy Mildew will quickly defoliate a plant. My infected plants still have foliage, which I think is interesting. There are even some flowers on them. -greenhaven, what came first were green 'water spots'. You know how when water dries on a leaf it will sometimes leave a slight trace left of where it was? That is what it looked like but under the 'skin' of the cane. It was still green, but had a sort of outline. These irregular marks darkened into the reddish-brown in my pic. The marks were slightly tough, like scabs. No swells, lesions, sunken, or shriveled areas. I scratched this area with my nail once and the fiberous stuff under the skin looked okay. The first year it wasn't major, so I didn't stress over it (now I am, lol!). The second year was worse. I read up on it and started to look at it frequently in order to chart the growth/evolution of it. In the late fall the brown patches had white-gray fuzz on top, just like some sites said it would (in both Downy and Powdery Mildew cases). I probably should have done something when I first noticed it, because it has spread to other roses. My DA rose 'Carding Mill' was the fisrt to get it. It was a weak grower from the time I planted it. Maybe stress/dislike for this climate made it prone to disease? Could it have been infected when I bought it? It didn't seem to show any troubles for the first year or two; can Downy live dormant for long periods of time? Anyway, the next to show the marks (run! its the plague! lol) was a scrawney 'Gold Medal', and then a brand new 'Windermere'. 'The Dark Lady' also seems to have it, but (knock on wood) it hasn't spread much on her. She seems healthy, and put on a good show in the spring. None of the roses infected seem to want to put on new growth after the first spring flush of growth. Do you guys think I should try to save any or just trash them? I don't want it to spread, but I do hate to get rid of any. I don't know if it is going to be possible for me to do, but where does one go to have a sample examined under a microscope? Back to the County Extension? Do you happen to know if it costs much? I want to cry from frustration. This makes me want to give up on all roses... CMK

Suel. I usually pot up my tree peonies for the first year, as soon as possible, here in VA. I have a bad back, also... The ones in the ground for many years, ('Higurashi' is already starting to break dormancy!) & yours may as well be planted if your ground isn't frozen solid, if you can have someone help. Unless of course it's been indoors too long & is actually leafing out already. You don't want the leaves to freeze, or a flower develop toosoon, only to be frozen by getting conitinued severely low temps.. Outdoors, they grow at a rather slow rate, whereby the buds/leaves seem unaffected by light frost. Even the one fron from Michigan Bulb Co. (cv. "Heaven Scent"?) is breaking dormancy & I can see it has a first flower bud appearing & still is/has been potted all though the winter & was bought mail order, last spring & stayed outside all winter, unprotected. Try to keep the graft union, below soil level, so as that it can grow it's own roots enventually, unless that is, it was purchsaed as an actual division & not grafted... gringo

A window that lets in that much light and air is not correctly installed. Get them out there ASAP. Imagine the moisture it's going to let in.

Thanks everyone for your input! Pearl1976, I love your description of it being a 9/10 - that makes a lot of sense and puts it in perspective. Rantontoo, thanks for the feedback on the patterns - apparently I have a lot to learn about design techniques! Thanks Mayflowers again for your suggestions on what to change. I'll talk to the contractor tomorrow and figure it out. If it's too much to change out the tile at this time, at the very least we'll remove the tile on the left side, which wasn't supposed to be there anyway. The tile could always be changed at a later time if we don't do it now. I've showed the pictures to people and a lot of people seem to like it, even though it's not as light as I wanted. Thanks again everyone - everyone's input has been very helpful!