The reason the nursery is having a sale on shrubs is that this is the wrong time of year to plant shrubs. They are best planted in fall or early spring. That said, even though it's the wrong time of year, you can still plant now -- but you must take extra good care of your shrubs if you want them to survive and do well! Dig a large hole, add appropriate amendments (depending on your soil), and water regularly through the fall. [I will confess that I planted my small dwarf mugo pines this time of year two years ago -- and it was blistering HOT and we were still in our multiple-year drought. They survived and have done well ... and I am now in the process of moving seven of them (couldn't begin until last week, and if I wait till fall they'll be larger than I can handle). I will baby them ... and I'll be embarrassed if any of them die....] Here's the Shrubs forum's FAQ, which includes info on how to plant a shrub: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/shrubs/ Make sure to plant your shrubs well away from the house. You want to leave at least a foot or two between the house and the shrubs, for window-washing, painting and house maintenance, as well as maintenance of the shrubs. Note that whatever you plant will be growing, so you want to plant it far enough from the house that after several years there will still be that foot or two of clearance between the house and the shrub. For instance, if the shrub's mature size is 5' in diameter, place its center 3 1/2' from the house (2 1/2' for half the mature width + 1' for clearance). It might be advisable to move the rhodie and azalea. Do you know what cultivars they are and what their mature size will be? Azaleas vary considerably in size. Many (most? all?) rhodies just keep growing and growing and growing. About that asymmetrical roof: I'm not a professional designer, but here's what I'd do: center a small tree (or large shrub) between the windows (not directly under the peak, but midway between the windows). The idea is that its crown will conceal the location of the peak. You might want something evergreen; I'm not sure how effective bare branches would be in the winter. The tree should be located several feet from the house. You want something with a relatively narrow crown, because you don't want to block the windows (or shade the front yard any more than it already is). You want something which will reach the height of the roof relatively quickly -- yet you don't want something so huge it will endanger the house. The shape should be rounded: you definitely don't want one of the narrow columnar evergreens or anything triangular (pointy Christmas-tree type). Unfortunately I am not knowledgeable enough to suggest what tree (or shrub) would be appropriate for your zone. But unless the nursery is also having a sale on trees, you have plenty of time to do research. Good luck!

cweathersby, why didn't you go for an even 20??? Just kidding! My goodness, you hit the jackpot. What a beautiful selection. My roses are still young, and I'm in a zone with a longer season so nothing much that I say will be relevant, I guess. I have: Mrs. BR Cant - she's 3 yrs old and on Fortuniana so I won't bother to say anything but I'm really liking her since I pruned her (first time) last month. She's got buds! Her pruned size is about 5x5+. I'm very excited about her this year. Monsieur Tillier - Between planting in March, 2008 and the end of the year he shot up to 5'. He hasn't gotten much taller but he's gotten wider. Right now he has a few big basal breaks that you can almost watch grow - and flower buds. Climbing SDLM (can it be free standing??) - I just put my 1-gallon plant in the ground last Sept. It's got a new basal break so I guess it's happy. I planned to grow it on a pillar - very horizontally. It never occurred to me to grow it as a bush. I have the bush planted very nearby plus I planted clematis Henryii on the other side of the post to fill in with flowers during SdlM's flowerless times. Mrs. Dudley Cross - This rose starts out slowly growth-wise and bloom-wise plus I found her flowers to look nothing like the photos (she's a year old now). Linda at Rose Petals Nursery said hers did the same thing. I think she'll be 5' tall or less. Maman Cochet - Mine is about 1-1/2 yrs old and not real big yet, but she looks like she's filling out. Be patient with your teas. Many of them will look gangly - and ugly - for a good while. Your garden is going to be lovely for sure. Take before and after photos, OK? Sherry

Many ares of the New Orleans metro area are reclaimed swamp land- dig two feet and you hit "water", that along with lots of afternoon showers especially in spring seems to cause many plants to grow to mutant sizes. So drainage can be a problem so much water in the saturated ground. I am often surpised to see plants here in Texas that at first I don't recognize- they just don't get as big. But Black Spot is a very bad problem there. Another odd thing, during Katrina parts of Metairei and Kenner were flooded by salt Water from Lake Ponchatrain backing up thru the pumps ( no back flow preventers )-around my former house thewater reached two or three feet and subside within a few days. When I went back to see my house( which was destroyed)-my roses were growing like mad and my Blood Orange Tree ahd nemerous large oranges on it. I imagine the salt water cleansed away some of the things that harm plants?

In Italy field-grown roses are lifted when they go into dormancy (or at least get close) beginning in November and continuing through March. Fall planting is ideal as summers are hot and dry in much of the country and the plants have more time to settle in beforehand, and weather conditions in late fall are usually good for planting. How, lifting the roses depends on the weather: it can be delayed by heavy rain, snow, or a hard freeze; and there's a break at the end of the year when everyone in Italy goes on holiday. The Italian nurseries I've dealt with have been specialist growers who lift roses as needed to fill their orders; I don't whether Barni, possibly the largest Italian rose nursery, also prepares roses to sell by retail vendors. My impression is that most of the body bag bareroots come from German or Dutch wholesale growers. I hope this helps. Melissa