Here is my advice and what I would do in your case. I always start my new bed preparations the Fall prior to the Spring I want to plant. First, get rid of the grass in whatever way you find best and easiest. For me, I simply rented a sod cutter from the home improvement center and it really did the trick, taking off the sod layer only and leaving the good soil beneath very quickly and neatly. The sod cutter is very easy to use and does a very neat job of it with nice crisp lines/borders. The next and probably the most vital step of the whole process is next, and is really a no-brainer in my book. After the sod removal and before any supplementing/amending of the soil in the bed, get it tested by your local Agricultural Extension Agency. That way you know what needs doing for sure to make your beds rose friendly. This is especially important when it comes to your Ph #'s of your garden soil. Be sure your sample is taken from several different spots in the bed and is about 6" down in the soil. If your Ph is bad, no amount of amending will do it any good if the soil is chemically unavailable to your roses because of a bad Ph. rating. If you make sure to tell the agency your target crop are roses, most will even tell you what kind and how much of whatever amendment is needed to make your soil perfect. First get your Ph corrected with whatever the agency tells you that is needed. I am lucky in that my soil Ph is almost perfect naturally so I don't have to do much there except to add just a little sulphur, but you do whatever they suggest to you. Then, I bought the cheapes amendments possible at Lowe's and till them in to the bed several different installments, watering deeply between each tilling to encourage the amendments to "sweeten" the bed. In the last couple of tillings I always work in a good amount of peat moss and a good quality garden soil and again till it several times to really spread it deeply and evenly, finishing off with another good soaking. Now just leave the new bed alone and let it sit through the winter until very late in the Winter season to mellow/sweeten out. Now,just prior to Spring in late winter I take another couple of soil samples to the Agricultural Extension Agency. This way you catch any slight changes especially to your Ph level before you start your planting. Make any necessary adjustments to the Ph if needed. I just cannot stress how important the correct Ph is to grow your roses. You can go to a lot of trouble and spend a lot of money and time spinning your wheels if the Ph is not right. I know this sounds like a lot of trouble, but doing this simple stuff is very important and will pay you so much in return you will find that it was well worth the effort you put in and will save you lots of aggravation not to mention time and money later on. You will get much better roses and be much happier with what you get from them when they grow vogorous bushes with tons of beautiful flowers, supposing you plant the new bushes/bareroots correctly, but that is another posting, LOL..... John

Well, that's because I don't think anyone in the commercial citrus growing industry has actually conducted those experiments, or if they have, they're still in the works (as alluded to in that document). A good sugar/acid ratio is important in the citrus industry, but it's not just brix. There's the dance between sugar and acid. And, it is really different from country to country. We tend to like our citrus a bit more sprightly that Japan, but not as much as some countries in Eurpoe. Yield obviously is critical as is the size of each fruit. And they can adjust to a point, but need a LOT of water, Steve. I water my citrus A LOT compared to my drought tolerant California and Australian natives I have growing on the same slope. They have to be on different drip stations because of that. Folks in Phoenix on sand will water even more than I do. They will die if they get too thirsty. Younger trees are much more sensitive than older trees. Citrus are tough, but require much more water than my stone fruits do. Same with my avos. Check with your Texas Coop Extension folks. They are really super, you have great citrus ag resources in your state. And, I would say, as a Master Gardener, and dealing with home citrus questions, I would actually say the majority of issues with citrus are due to over watering and "too much love", than under watering. Both issues pop up, but mostly folks tend to overdo it, and citrus don't like waterlogged situations (clay soil, poor drainage). Avocados even less so. Patty S.

I've never grown Peggy Martin - or even seen it grown in my area. But Victorian Memory, I did grow in my zone 4 garden. I attempted to train it over the top of arch and you can see photos of it at HMF. It really was a very vigorous tall shrub and it took diligent efforts to keep it in bounds for use as a climber, even a bushy climber. It did re-bloom, quite well actually, so that it was rarely if ever without. The blooms are pendulous and I will say that they do look best dangling overhead, making it worth all the work. :-) Anne

A couple things I’d like to add. I put epoxy grout in both my bathroom remodels. It can leave a ting of shadow in marble because it soaks in the sides of the tile. You don’t want that area to have sealer on it though so the grout can make connection with the tile. You can barely see the bleed, but it’s there. I personally love it because it adds even more depth to the marble. Here is my slate floor in a light medium gray epoxy grout. It looks almost white in contrast to the black. That’s the trick to the eye. This floor is worn hard. Farmer husbands bathroom with bad shoes. I don’t fuss with this floor except may be once or twice a year, lol. And it’s not hard. I do know that there has been some slight staining near the sink where DH stands to wash up. But it’s slight. The last time I mopped this floor was several months ago. I just sweep it. It could use another mopping I see. The right half never gets walked on, the left is the main walking path into the room. I can see a slight darling. This shower shown below, with porcelain tile, has a narrow grout line. It is a very light epoxy where I combined 2 colors to get a slight off white. No mildew or mold accumulates because it gets wiped down after the showers are done for the day by the last user. Usually it’s just me. I have not washed the walls except 2 times early on 5 years ago, because I thought I should. It is a waste of time because of the daily wipe down with a large microfiber towel. I do spend time with the shower door sweeps from time to time because they will get mildewy. The floor is a cast iron shower pan and I do clean that as typical for cast iron, but because I’m usually the only one using it, that’s not often.