Whether you're a devoted rose enthusiast with a dozen plants or a big rose breeder with thousands of acres under cultivation, the quest for the perfect hybrid is probably the most compelling part of growing roses.

Mostonline shopping sites will ask you to register on their site. When you register, you will be asked to provide some personal information.If you're concerned about online privacy (or just don't want unwanted junk e-mail), here are some tips to follow:

Cisco Systems, best known for its networking equipment for businesses and service providers, is ready to take on the home market. The company announced today that it is teaming with a Southern California land developer and a small service provider to wire 13,000 new homes in Los Angeles with networking technology. As reported earlier, today's deal is part of Cisco's strategy for the emerging market for home networking, where dozens of companies, including 3Com, Intel, Motorola and start-ups such as 2Wire, are fighting for a piece of the action. At stake is a market that is expected to grow from revenues of $600 million in 2000 to more than $5.7 billion by 2004, according to research firm Cahners In-Stat Group.

Instead of simply peddling tools for Sears Roebuck & Co., home improvement expert Bob Vila soon will offer construction tips via a new Web site he's launching with the nation's No. 2 retailer. Sears and Vila, the well-known host of the "Home Again" television program and Craftsman tool pitchman, jointly announced the new Web site Friday. Called BobVila.com, they expect to launch it sometime in the third quarter. "With this joint venture Sears and Bob Vila are both bringing to the table assets that will contribute to the ultimate home improvement site out there,"

There's one on every block: The high-maintenance homeowner who spends her weekends pulling weeds. The 30-something business owner who lives to mulch. The lawn that looks like photo shoot fodder for Martha Stewart. They may do wonders for neighborhood curb appeal, but let's face it, they make the rest of us look bad. "In many communities, landscaping becomes part of the 'keeping up with the Jones' mentality," said Joel Albizo, a spokesman for the American Nursery & Landscape Association.