It is not unusual for a few blossoms to appear, especially after the unusually warm fall we are having. I don't know if this can ever lead to a premature bloom over the entire tree (maybe someone reading this does) but I've often seen a few blossoms before trees go into normal dormancy and flower the following spring.

Bass, I feel your pain, although it hasn't been quite as bad for me in the Northwest as for you in PA. Apricots and apricot hybrids have been very disappointing. We've done OK with sweet cherries, and starting a sour cherry now a year old. Maybe try a grape arbor? It doesn't take a lot of vines to have more than you can eat. Some great NY State varieties should do well in PA, I would think, like Interlaken. Price is good (seeded), and so is Venus (seedless) but there are many more. Maybe a mulberry tree? This year I'm going to try the "Illinois Everbearing" variety, and keep it small so I can keep a net over it (birds love mulberries). Have you tried a pear or Asian Pear? DIfferent class of plums (Asian instead of European) just to see what happens? Probably the same insect problems, however. Good luck. Maybe it's time to put in a field of rhubarb and asparagus.

BETTY CORNING is my favorite climatis. It may not be as spectacular as some of the larger flowered cultivars but is very easy to grow. The nodding bell-like flowers have a fairy quality and are sweetly fragrant (something that only a few clematis cultivars can boast). The lavender-blue clematis also has historic appeal. Here is what glassmouse-z5-Cent IL has to say about it (from the New Betty Corning thread): "I have Betty Corning growing on my chain-link fence, where it gets mostly afternoon sun. (On the north side of our house, I think.) This is by far my favorite clematis--if I could only have one clematis, Betty Corning would be it. In fact, if I could only have one plant, Betty would probably win that contest, too. I've started her on the fence of the other side of the yard, as well. Seriously, I think that you will love this clematis--smells great, grows well, and the flowers are adorable. Plus, it's not one of the typical Nelly Moser types that most people are familiar with from the box stores, so I get a lot of comments from people who love the way Betty looks and can't believe it's a clematis." Here is a link that might be useful: International Clematis Society - clematis of the month (Betty Corning)

My list of recommendations from my zone 4 experience for ease of growing, hardiness and no fuss: Alba Maxima Alba Semi-plena Alika Applejack (the only truly *cane hardy* Buck rose IME) Belle de Crecy Belle Poitevine Champagne Arches, AKA Nancy Parker Fantin Latour Felix Leclerc Fru Dagmar Hastrup Great Maiden's Blush Hebe's Lip Henri Martin Henry Kelsey John Cabot John Davis Leda Marie Victorin Mme. Hardy Mme Legras de St.Germain Morden Blush Rosa glauca Rosa villosa pomifera Rose de Rescht Stanwell Perpetual Sydonie Therese Bugnet William Baffin various Spinnossimas, "Scot's Rose", gallicas, albas, rugosas (careful on the hybrid rugosas - some can be very tender.) There are many, many other roses that I do succeed in growing here, but if your newbie growers are looking for less disease problems, less pruning work, and less winter protection routine then I would pare my list down to these. BTW, on your list of possibles, I also grow Morden Sunrise, Alexander Mackenzie, Marie Bugnet and Martin Frobisher and an awful lot of the Buck roses. They don't make the hardiness cut although they're all lovely. I have a lot of die back on each and every one of them each year. I guess as I get older, I'm getting tired of hard pruning and waiting for the "bounce back" - or not. Right now I'm looking at a lot of beds with very little rose left above ground in them, cut back as recently as they were and just starting to re-grow. Not much of a garden at the moment! The season is so short here that a rose which can start out full size is a definite advantage I'm beginning to think. I'm currently eying my collection more critically with a goal of less fuss, more reward in future. (Sorry if I sound pessimistic, but given my current state of mind, your post struck a chord.) Hope some of this somehow helps, Anne