On mounting birdhouses - you can "tie" it to a tree by running wire around the tree or around where a branch branches off the trunk (sort of suspending the birdhouse from the branch). This may require two wires - one higher up on the birdhouse and one lower. The wire(s) used should be able to be lengthened as the tree grows. Using wire (if lengthened as the tree grows) is the least invasive for the tree. If using screws or nails growth needs to be considered as well. Screws are the better choice as they can be backed out more easily than nails. 3 or 4 years of tree growth can pull screws/nails right through a birdhouse. Yet another method is to hang a birdhouse to a tree similarly to hanging a picture in your home. Have some sort of hanger on the tree that attaches to the birdhouse. This can be as simple as a screw or nail in the tree that inserts into a hole drilled into the back of a birdhouse. I've thought of, and not yet tried, to drill a hole in a tree for a wooden dowel to hang a birdhouse from. I'm not savvy enough about tree health to know if this method would be OK for the tree. And, one more method, would be to attach a couple of hooks/eyes to the top of the birdhouse (one towards the front and one towards the back) then suspend the birdhouse from a branch of the tree with wire or narrow rope (wire being better if squirrels are in the picture). Two suspension lines to keep the birdhouse from twisting; shorter lines = less sway in winds. Steve

Spring is ideal but early fall is fine too. The trick is to ensure its well watered prior to the first freeze. Abies DEMANDS well drained soil. They can really struggle in wet soils when the snow melts if its not draining well. This is the very reason you will "rarely" see this plant growing in clay soils successfully. I learned the hard way that as a species there are seed variants (hopefully that is the right terminalogy) and therefore there are various shades of blue, silver and green. My neighbor has one that is turqouise and mine are green. I bought them in March and asked why the plant looked so green and he said it will be blue when it flushes...not what a lieing jag off. Obviously you'd have more control with selected cutlivars. Avoid 'Candicans'. It has awesome cones and needle color but they are very thin, gangly looking plants. Its been consistent in the ones I've seen in person. My neighbors plant. Congrats on your first potential conifer. Be sure to venture over to that forum.

I can relate to not wanting to visit. Although I don't have to get into the circular one-note conversations like those you have with your aunt; my mother carries on a conversation, I just have no idea what it is about and her responses will have nothing to do with anything I've said! Plus she usually doesn't quite know who I am either; most often might say that I am her sister, sometimes her mother, often not sure at all. I don't know if she gets anything out of my visits, or remembers them in any way. she's been like this for over a year now and I find it harder and harder to go to the nursing home to see her. It is like a chore to cross off my to-do list, like anything else I have to get done on my days off. I wonder if we had had a more loving relationship would I be more or less eager to visit? As it is, I am the only one of 5 children who sees her regularly since I am the only one in town. One brother never visits or even inquires about her; the others have come about twice each in the past year. She had a personality disorder and was not the best mother (to put it mildly). Other than keeping an eye on her care and filling societal expectations, my visits don't seem to have much purpose for either of us. I was lucky in that her mental and physical status deteriorated so quickly from a series of strokes that caregiving at home was never an option that I had to seriously consider. She went from living independently to rehab to extended care to nursing home in short order. The worst time was in that first nine months when I had to repeatedly contact the nursing supervisors to address the fact that they weren't noticing as her care needs increased. Well after all that, I guess I don't have any suggestions, but at least you know that you are not alone in your feelings either. It is a funny thing about those fingernails. My mom has lately become combative about being bathed, and has slapped and pinched me when I try to trim her nails. Even just *gently* using a washcloth on her hands produces cries of "you're hurting me". Strange that seems to be a common phenomenon--others have mentioned it too.

How lovely to do this for your aunt! You're wise to be strategic about how much work the rose would be and how much bloom there is for the effort. Tomatoes produce a very tangible and profuse benefit for the efforts involved, but sometimes there is a slow return on a rose. Of the three you mention being locally available, by far JFK is the hardiest for me. Neither Honor nor Full Sail has even pretended to overwinter for me in zone 5, thought Seil has had luck with them in zone 6. Sometimes roses that are at their limit of hardiness for your zones may be the ones that fade after a few years. I also don't find that PJPII is a strongly growing rose in any form (grafted or own root). Bolero and Paloma Blanca and Polar Express are all much more reliable bloomers as well as hardy roses for me, and I like the idea of Polar Express. Another rose that you might be able to find at a local store is Snowdrift, which is an Easy Elegance rose. This one is hardy in my zone 4 pocket of the yard and has now in its second year BURST into incredible bloom. I've seen very nice rebloom in other years so I think it would make a steady source of flowers for her, but it's not the best of cutting roses. However, the blooms are fully double and they start out looking cupped as the Austins do. It's also rock solid clean as far as blackspot goes, which is a huge issue for you in NJ. Mine is about 4' tall and wide, which may not fit in her space. Polar Express takes up less real estate and would be as resistant to disease I think for you. Roses Unlimited sells most if not all of these and their gallon-sized roses often come with blooms already on them, but they do take some settling in as opposed to big nursery pots of roses. Do let us know what you decide! Cynthia