On a good day, Miracle gro seems to kill everything it touches. You mention using miracle grow once a week? And watering it once a week? Figure on keeping the soil moist and instead of using sand, go take some actual soil out in your yard and mix it with some potting soil until it is a loamy consistency. Do a soil test to determine if any adjustment is needed there if you want to really be anal about it. Keep the miracle grow far away from it.

Haha......yea it's the norm in Ohio. We had a few lines of brisk storms come on through Columbus with torrential downpours and the usual flash flood advisories.......the roses certainly don't need watered. I'm a bit concerned about the Rose Festival next weekend here in Columbus though as I'm a bit worried the rain might spoil it. I typically don't see balling issues with many roses in Ohio, but I've noticed quite a few including my own Red Eden, White Eden, and Belinda's Dream were hit with balling blooms. Typically the west side of the state gets the most severe weather as it's flat as Kansas over there, but since we had the torrential downpours this morning........it's been beautiful outside. Right now it's about 75 and Mostly Sunny with a breeze. The biggest thing is it's drier out. The humidity the past week has been above 80% constantly which is too much for me to tolerate.

Kaylee: I will concur with the response so far and again emphasize that (1) it will be very helpful to note what zone you're gardening in; (2) I will second the suggestion to obtain and/or read the Michigan Gardener's Guide; (3) contact the folks at MSU or your local county extension service; and (4) visit some of the public gardens within the state, such as the Dow Gardens in Midland, the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids; and a few others. In addition to the books noted in one response, I would also highly recommend the reading and/or purchase of both "The Fragrant Year"by Helen van Pelt Wilson & Leonie Bell and "Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden" by Eleanor Perenyi. The former is a little dated, but still one of the best books on fragrant plants in the garden and it is the only book that I've found to date that sensibly discusses the making of both the dry and moist form of pot-pourri. The later book is a gardening treasure and should be in every gardener's library. The chapter on "Failure" in a real gem and is a must read. The former book, "The Fragrant Year" is, unfortunately, out of print, but copies in excellent condition can be found at either abe.com or alibris.com - both excellent sources for books; the later book, "Green Thoughts" is still available in paperback, but hardbound copies can be found at either or the bookseller sites previously noted. In addition to these sources, I would highly recommend that you make use of the "PlantFinder" section of one of the most beautiful gardens in the Midwest - the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO. The Meijer Garden pales in comparison! You can access their home web site at this address: http://www.mobot.org. and then search for their PlantFinder section. However, if you wish to have a direct link, I listed the PlantFinder link below. Once you arrive at this gem of a site, you can search by botanical names; by common names; you can search for plants in a particular zone and then for height, width, bloom time, foliage, suitable for butterflies, hummingbirds, etc. and so on and so forth. So that you and other reading this post will have an idea of what's there and what information can be obtain, I'll provide you with a few example below. One of the more interesting plants that I "discovered" while meandering through a rural, small, but exceptionally wonderful garden place north of Manistee was Geranium sanguineum 'Max Frei' What caught my eye was the color of the fall foliage on this plant. During my late spring through mid summers to this unique garden center, my eye's didn't note much of anything - mostly because, I suspect that the flower wasn't in bloom during my visits and/or had been deadheaded to produce additional bloom. Since this Geranium is hardy throughout all of Michigan, I decided to add it to our garden. Of course, this prompted a search for other varieties that had interesting fall colors and I found another variety and also added it to our garden. So for you and others reading this post, here's the link to Max Frei http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=B466 And here is the link to the other Geranium that I found, which also had a nice fall color, but is only hard to zone 4. Geranium sanguineum 'Album' http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=C880 The unique features of the "PlantFinder" section of the Missouri Botanical Garden came to fore a few weekends ago when Sue and I stayed at one of the most wonderful B & B we've "discovered" not to far from our neck of the woods. It the "Hoods in the Woods" B & B in the general Gaylord, MI area. Here's the link for those so interested. http://www.hoodsinthewoods.com/ In our visit/stay with this most interesting couple, we found out that they were originally from the State of Ohio where they grew a variety of roses and have been rather disappointed in not being able to grow roses in their neck of the woods due to the fact that they are essentially in zone 3/4 - confirm by the "fact" that when we arrived they still have a nice pile of snow that was about 4/5 or more feet tall and the lake/large pond on which they reside was still largely frozen over with only the edges having open water. So I introduced Jan to the PlantFinder section at the Missouri Botanical Garden, bookmarked it for her and briefly showed her how to search for plants suitable for a zone 3 area. She was amazed at what was available. Well, I do hope that this small dissertation is most useful in your gardening endeavors. Best wishes! Bill & Sue Here is a link that might be useful: PlantFinder Search page at the MBO

Too bad you live so far away from Ohio/Michigan Barb. Otherwise I'd suggest visiting the two schools before making a decision. Your son has a choice between a large university with excellent academics, or a smaller one in comparison. I can't really give advice on Ferris State because I don't know enough about it. Perhaps Keith can give his impression of that school. If it were me I'd be questioning Ohio State to see how big the class sizes are so I'd know how much individual attention an instructor would have time for if any. I know even at the University of Toledo some of the classes were so full students had to sit on the steps of the aisles according to a former girlfriend who went there. I can only imagine OSU would have large class sizes like that also. And with Ferris State I'd be interested to know what kind of reputation that college has before I chose them. I like the idea of a smaller college as long as the academics are highly respected by the companies who hire graduates in that particular field. Not sure if that helps any. Just offering my humble opinion. I have to say though, I'm surprised there are only two colleges that offer that degree. You'd think USC, UCLA, Washington or some other PAC-10 schools would have similar programs. Good luck to your son. Jeff