From another poster, I went to the Cricket Hill Garden website and copied their info because it was very helpful for me and I think it will be helpful to everyone here because it discusses why tree peonies work better, how to force dormancy if it doesn't happen naturally, and zonal pockets in Los Angeles, CA. The area in particular, Studio City, has very hot, dry summers, which may be of interest to you in the South, although I know you have high humidity. Many thanks to "White Peony" who suggested and provided the link to the website! http://www.treepeony.com/southwest.htm Southwest Zone Planting It has been more than 10 years since a fellow horticulturist, H. Pruet of Studio City, CA wrote to us with his techniques of growing tree peonies in zone 9 California. His ideas created quite a stir on the West Coast, because most gardening books at the time dismissed the tree peony with the herbaceous peony in needing real freezing weather to produce good blooms. Since then, we have shipped hundreds of plants to customers in zone 9 northern and southern California, Nevada, northern Florida, Texas and Arizona with excellent results. Herbaceous peonies do need more days with freezing temperatures to produce good flowers. We do not reccommend them beyond zone 8., though some micro-climates of zone 9 will grow herbaceous peonies. Tree peonies, on the otherhand, will grow well with winter lows in the 30's and 40's F. The secret here is to force the peony into dormancy by trimming off the leaves in November if they do not fall on their own. Do not cut the woody stems, just trim the leaf stems off the woody main stems. This mimics the deciduous leaf drop in colder areas and cycles the plant into producing new flower buds. During this time, it is best to withold water and any feeding. As the days of January get longer, the plant will respond with new spring growth. Blooms occur in Zone 9 in late February to mid- March in warmer areas, and late March to mid- April. USDA Zone 9 and 10 can be further divided into their western Sunset Zones up to zone 24. We suggest that tree peonies be planted in those zones with a pronounced winter chill, that is zones 3 to 22. In the warmer zones, planting in cold air pockets such as at the base of hills can extend the growing range. In most of zone 9, late Spring, Summer and early Autumn irrigation is required. This is best accomplished by hand or drip irrigation at approximately one gallon per plant every other day with good drainage. Mulching aids in decreasing evaporative loss. The plants should be shielded from direct afternoon sun past 1-2 pm. Here is a link that might be useful: Cricket Hill Garden, CT

Jeri, Please don’t consider your input nit picking I welcome it. Only by pointing out corrections to these rose lists will it better serve there primary purpose. While I encourage corrections, e-mail is preferred as listed in header. Will do my best to answer some of your questions. “Irene Watts” is a Hybrid China 1896; it was changed and has to be exhibited as “Pink Gruss an Aachen” a Floribunda as the >>>>> indicates, similar to many other rose changes on the list. It’s also shown in the Floribunda class, as “Pink Gruss an Aachen” helping avoid any confusion. “Glendora” in the Hybrid Perpetual class should have had >>>>> indicating to See: “Joasine Hanet”. “Joasine Hanet” a Portland without the date 1882 but >>>>> indicated an addition to the name was missing. On subject of “Joasine Hanet”, In today’s May 2005 list of supplements to the 2005 “AEN”, I have “Joasine Hanet” listed as missing a DQ rose indication in the latest AEN, the entry should be DELETED. Working off two lists, ended up with “Joasine Hanet” and “Johasine Hanet” data, the latter of which is listed as a DQ in the 2005 an AEN. Another rose to DELETE is Pam’s Pink a “Found” rose that was to be removed from the 2004 list. I could not find “The Portland from Glendora” in the 2005 AEN, but there was a “Portland from Glendora” See; “Joasine Hanet”. Without knowing your involvement in roses, if you just like to grow roses or are also involved in exhibiting them. If you just grow roses, the information on the garden web forum will keep you posted on corrections and some of the new roses introduced. If you exhibit roses, there are rules and regulations everyone must follow. One rule has to do with the using the correct names of a rose. This is where the 2005 Official List of Approved Exhibition Names “AEN’s” comes in. It is one of the official ARS publications, which judges and exhibitors use to verify a roses name. Released in March, is supplemented each month with information from ARS publications until the next years AEN is published. Not every one that exhibits roses belongs to “ARS” and receives ARS latest publications. This is one reason for listing the new names of roses on the GW Forum and keeping these posts up front where others can benefit from them. Once posted to, moves the post down the line. Ron Schwerdt 5-31-05

Very happy to find "Ace Hardware pine bark mulch", which are well-composted this Oct, and have plenty of pine-fines inside. I make my rooting-area in advance for next spring .. by that time the pine-mulch/pine-fines will be more decomposed & less acidic. The rooting powder that Bluegirl mentioned helped TREMENDOUSLY. Things take roots much faster. Do you make a slit at the side of the lower cane like Connie of Hartwood? Or do you slice a piece of outer-layer off like Kitty of California? I'm too lazy, so I do it California way, scrape a vertical piece off from the end, with my paring knife. For indoor & winter: I still don't like covering the plant with a plastic dome, it goes against my logic: cover anything up, and it will surely rot & get moldy !! My kid sprouted some mung-bean in a plastic cup, she covered it, and within a few days white mold grew on it, so gross !! This winter I plan NOT to cover with plastic, and simply squirt the soil lightly with a hand-mister. My neighbor kept a geranium through the entire winter. In freezing March I visited her: she kept the geranium on the window-sill (morning sun), and squirt it twice a day. And it was blooming tons !! I kept house-plants indoor in the winter and was foolish to water it, that was messy: water dripped on carpet, then whiteflies, then rotted stem (too wet). Hand-mist lightly is so much better, since leaves do take up water & nutrients .. same with stem I also put hydrogen peroxide inside my hand-mister to prevent rot. Bluegirl shared how Josh in TX put a paper towel on top of the rooting area to hold in moisture, great idea !! I'm convinced that hard-wood and thick cuttings NEEDS MUCH LESS MOISTURE. Versus the "greener & thinner" stems which dry out faster, thus need more moisture. The "alfalfa sprouts" type of root need constant moisture ... folks do keep alfalfa sprouts in a plastic pouch at grocery store. But the woody & chunky Dr.Huey-rootstock rots easily in poor-drainage clay. As own-root matures from "alfalfa sprouts" to hard and woody roots, they become more sensitive to standing-water and acidity.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. "Rules of Civility" is also very good. Settle in. This is a long, satisfying read with a lot to consider. I recommended it here after reading it while we were on Maui this winter.