i've looked at several online but couldn't find an active one. any suggestions? thanks in advance.

The Garden Web forums are reasonably active. They have separate forums for Northern gardening, roses, etc. Here's a start for them:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/

Moving to South central Missouri after being in the Pacific NW S sure need the help of others...a garden forum would help lots! Thanks for asking.

www.davesgarden.com...best there is.

Moving from one side of my yard to another, I sure need help from others!! The weeds are winning. Thanks for the websites, all.

thanks for the info on websites. I'm going to check them out now.

Here's a good forum...they're very friendly and you'll get good advice!

http://www.gardenstew.com/

Karen UK