I'm in zone 6, and while I don't grow Canadice or Himrod, they should be fine in zone 6. I am pretty sure they are hardy to about -15F. I am curious about where you live - is it hot in the summer? Desert Dance is likely correct. If you planted bare root vines (or even potted vines for that matter) in late May, it could be that they just don't have the root mass to keep up with the heat. It gets over 100F here in July / August and my vines don't grow much when it is that hot, especially new vines. I put some new vines (rooted cuttings which were actively growing) into the ground in mid-May this year. Some have done great some have struggled. One of them has a pencil-thick trunk 7ft high and one is less than 2 feet tall and very skinny. I keep the trunks that are pencil-thick and cut back the ones that are smaller (back to 3 buds). The ones I cut back always come out strong the next year. I try to encourage as much growth as possible (water and fertilize often) until my vines have established solid trunks and cordons (fruiting canes if you cane prune). I also remove the fruit until they are established as it tends to stunt their growth. As Desert Dance said, cutting back the water and fertilizer on established vines seems to cause them to produce higher quality fruit.

I am in zone 7 in the East. I just removed three arbors of grapes. They were more trouble than they were worth. I tried several varieties, but store bought were better grapes to eat. We don't make jelly or jam, but I did make raisins a couple years, but still have several quarts left from last year. This climate just will not produce decent eating grapes. We like the thick skin grapes that you can take a bite out of. These are some of the varieties that I have grown for 10 years or so. Villard Blanc, Jupiter, Neptune, Canadice, Himrod, Reliance, Vanessa, Concord (seedless and seeded) and two varieties of Muscadines. Insects killed the Muscadines (or a combination of drought and cold)Himrod made the best raisins! But, Himrod developed a very poor crop most years. I even tried Flame but they only produced very small grapes. The closest grape to what we like were Canadice. Raisin making was a chore using dehydrators. First, you have to pick over the grapes which takes forever.The grapes would dry at different times so they had to be checked and picked over many times over a 24-36 hour time period. I used different dehydrators so I know the inconsistent drying problem was the moisture content of the grape as well as hot spots in the dehydrators. The one thing I will miss is walking by one of the arbors and grabbing a handful of grapes. But, still there is a lot of spraying to prevent fungal diseases as well as insects, japanese beetles and bees, animals such as foxes and birds. Foxes get the low ones and birds and bees the rest. Also, the climate is too hot and too humid. Oh, did I mention they all seem to get ripe at the same time!

Sherry and Floridarose exchange is quite amusing, thanks. Hi Bart: peatmoss is bad for clay since they are both fine particles that bind together. If the clay is alkaline like mine, pH of 7.7, it acts like a base to binds with acidic peat moss, pH of 4. If you mix acid and base together, it forms tight-bonds which result in cement. Hi Kate: I don't get Dr. Huey for Austins since they become monsters here. I like my roses small and compact. Plus my zone is 5a, own-roots die without leaving behind the Dr. Huey eye-sores seen in houses for sale. Dr. Huey is only hardy to zone 6b, can't even bloom in zone 5a. Own-roots are much hardier than Dr. Huey, like Kim Rupert's Lauren is hardy to zone 2a. Hi Kittymoonbeam: Per your question of "I just got bands of Excellenz Von Schubert and just found out that they don't like alkaline soil/water. What to do with them?" Excellenz Von Schubert has multiflora Crimson Rambler in its parentage, and would do BEST with acidic rain water at pH 5.6 like my Blue Mist. My Blue Mist has dark-green leaves in our wet seasons only. Even when I fix my tap water with used lemons, my water still has lime, which binds with phosphorus, and make Blue Mist bloom less. Since your Excellenz Von Schubert also has a hybrid perpetual, Merveille de Lyon, in its parentage .... it's best to use a SOLUBLE high phosphorus, but very low nitrogen. Hybrid perpetual has as bad habit of lanky growth, lots of foliage, and stingy blooms. Sherry posted a link to buy SOLUBLE Monopotassium Phosphate at 52% phosphorus and 34% potassium, with low-salt index of 8.4. Excellenz von Schubert has many petals, translates to more demand for phosphorus, essential for blooms and root growth. My Sonia Rykiel has lots of petals. Within 1 month of purchase as own-root, I counted 15 buds/blooms in a pot watered with SOLUBLE MiracleGro NPK of 10-24-16. Then I put Sonia R. into the ground, and used Lilly Miller acid fertilizer at NPK 10-5-4, it became stingy. This fertilizer worked for Ingrid since her soil is abundant in phosphorus, versus mine tested deficient. What I would do with Excellenz von Schubert? Use fluffy, acidic potting soil like MiracleGro green bag with pH of 6.5 - The used lemon water with vitamin C helps with rooting, then I would use SOLUBLE fertilizer high in phosphorus for maximum bloom. In the Blueberry forum, those with fluffy soil, amended with organic matter like pine and leaves, grow a good crop of blueberries despite their alkaline soil/water. Fluffy soil encourages maximum root-growth, and cluster-root becomes more eficient in acid phosphatase, or secreting acid to unlock phosphorus from soil.

Jim Kohut describes Morden 9703 (S16) - A recently introduced (and as of yet unnamed) hybrid from Eastern Europe, this is undoubtedly the hardiest green table grape you'll find. Produces absolutely enormous clusters of large green grapes that are incredible for fresh eating, especially if left to ripen on the vine into fall - these will rival any table grapes you'll find in the store! Hard to find in the trade. Marginally hardy in zone 3 - may need some winter protection." Make it Green garden center lists it, whether it is what they say it is is another matter. The front here would be Prairie Star but I was busy and the vines co mingled together...I did trim a few times but the wet summer created a lot of vigor. The clusters look good but I will have to follow the cordons back as they should not be colouring. If they are they would most likely would be the Frontenac if the clusters continue to change colour. There was no die back anywhere but this was an unusually mild winter. Probably could be described as a zone 4 rating. Frontenac on the left.