Hi Drew So much depends on the genetics of the rose and the growing conditions that it is really difficult to predict eventual outcomes. Even within the Austin stable, there are huge variations in growth size. What I would suggest is to pay some careful attention to locally grown roses (and probably be more querying than a mere physical evaluation because water, soil types, nutrient factors all have a bearing on the eventual size and shape of a mature rose....which will, incidentally, take a few more years before yours have reached their full potential. Austins typically take around 4 years to really get going....and even then, the girth of the canes will alter, changing the overall shape, from a loose framework at the beginning, to a much sturdier rose after a few years. If you find you are unhappy with the placing, it is a simple task to move them around during their winter rest phase....so just enjoy the growing period and maybe fill in extra space with some direct sown annuals until your roses are nicely filled out. But do be aware, the smaller Austins (Mary Magdalene, Anne Boleyn) hover around 2.5 feet while monsters such as Graham Thomas, Constance Spry, The Generous Gardener etc. can all top 3metres, even in a cool zone 6.

faithann I agree with everyone above. I have been either buying seeds directly from Europe or having them brought back for me by friends for some time now. There are some really wonderful small seed producers with things you'll never find here. I haven't had any problems. If you're only buying tomato seeds, they're so light you can easily just mail them back to yourself. A friend who went skiing in Switzerland a few years ago brought back tomato seeds that I have really enjoyed growing from a company called Mauser. You can now get seeds directly from some companies in Europe over the internet. I wonder if it's getting easier for them. Two of my favorites are Le Biau Germe and Kokopelli (terredesemces.com), both on France. I buy beans, lettuce, etc. and the packages are marked with the names of the seeds and something like "garden seeds". Tomatsidan.se is a small company in Sweden that has some really interesting tomato varieties, particularly short-season types and lots from Eastern Europe and Russia. Some of these have become my favorites. Michael Anderson who runs it has charged me two dollars for each variety and just sends them in an envelope as you would a letter. As far as Italy, you can buy a huge variety of seeds directly from growitalian.com and italianseedandtool.com. I'll be curious to hear about what interesting varieties you find in your travels. Best wishes. Lou

1.) How long did they say it would be before they contacted you? If they gave you no time frame, I might cut them some slack as they're probably trying to get some pools finished up so those customers can catch a swim or two before closing the pools. No, the sales rep/consultant isn't building those pools, but he or she may need to check on some things with the PB before getting back to you. You'll need to contact more than that one PB anyway, so you may at well make some of those other appointments while you're waiting...just be sure to get them to commit when they'll be getting back to you. 2.) Depends - some do, some don't. 3.) Depends. As you receive more bids, you'll have a better idea of what's customary in your market. 4.) The all-important question!!! Leepoffaith has some good points. It may be possible for you to go to your local permit office and ask for a list of the most recent permits a company has pulled. You could then contact the homeowners for a reference and get a good idea of how things are going right now. I can say from personal experience that a good BBB report and good recommendations don't mean much if the PB has just experienced a change of fortune; that's why a list from the permit office would help.

DH laid it in the back floor of the car and then forgot about it. He moved the seat back and squished it (the screen was against the seat and the actual computer part was "possibly" protected since the screen was between it and the seat. I may just have to invest in a hard side case instead of a soft side one. So far I have gotten everything off- still need to dig out the internet bookmarks. I am actually using it right now to send this. The right side of the screen scrolls very quickly by itself (think old B/W TVs where you had to adjust the connected rabbit ears) then there is a giant white section and then the left 1/3 of the screen works but has black sports the size of a silver dollar. I just ran my statistical software and the analysis is coming out like it did this morning. This is a snapshot of the laptop screen (I added the red square to show that is supposed to be my desktop. When I do an "Alt+PrtSc" and save it as a picture, I get the whole desktop (hope I do not offend anyone with my pic, it is from LOL-Cat and so cute!) I just used my level and it appears to NOT be warped... tried it on the desk and the floor because the house and desk are both over 100 years old and not that level, themselves... but the button in the level appears to be in the same spot where it is sitting directly on the desk or on the laptop sitting on the desk. Since the alt-print screen show everything and the software appears to be working, am I fairly safe that the computer is okay? What else should I do to check the hard drive? THANK YOU!!!!