Thanks to all of you for your helpful suggestions. michaelg: your response seems closest to what has happened: the standard shows signs of girdling and consequent dessication, while the sucker continues to thrive. karl: I have contacted Bailey's (thank you for the contact info); the nursery that sold it to me will replace it, which I will do in spring. according to others, it will need a full season to prepare for our winter. My neighbor's PJ has been in place three years now. elks: I suspect I could let the sucker grow into a new standard (these are OR, not grafts, of course) or let it become a shrub. My initial attraction to the plant was as a standard and I'll try to find a good one when the time comes. BC and berndooldle (Cass?): we've had an unusual summer here in St. PaulÂvery droughty, but a July without a single 90 or + temp. I've been scrupulous about watering, which I do deeply with buckets from a rain barrel; a check of the soil revealed no dryness in the first foot of soil. I don't believe it's a cultural problem; the rose has been more than adequately mulched as well. This is a disappointment, but we gardeners are used to failures. I will begin again next spring. Meanwhile: (1) I have the sucker to play with; and (2) if any of you, or others, have further suggestions, please know they are welcome. Best regards, Gary

I'm pretty sure it's GW, not google. It's another in the long list of glitches that GW/iVillage is apparently aware of and supposedly is working on. But there has been zero improvement since this started two weeks or so back. It does render the site pretty useless from an archive standpoint... all that valuable information lost. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. All I can figure is that the current 67 pages are available, but everything else is gone unless they get it fixed. I had bookmarked a number of pages for reference and can't access half or more of them. At least we all still have each other to answer questions, but it means starting over again every time a question is asked.

I was shocked to see the way the Packers played as well. No worry next year they will be better, their future is bright. No taking anything away from the Giants..They are a force to be reckoned with., for sure. I'll be rooting for the 9ners too, always loved that team. I hope it doesn't come to a Pats vs Giants superbowl again, my heart couldn't take it LOL I am a New Englander and of course love the Pats. That would be too much for me.I Haven't recovered from their last match up...

Large shrub is Rhododendron. Warm weather and perhaps lack of water could accelerate normal bloom fade. Weather may have prompted all flower buds to open in unison, making bloom fade seem unusual. Your foliage and new growth look fine.