I used to go through all kinds of contortions when I planted a rose...or anything else for that matter. All sorts of expensive composts and additives got mixed in the planting hole. Sometimes they did great and sometimes they didn't. Then I read a report put out by the University of Florida that said that plants adjust best when just planted in the native soil. I've been planting new roses and camellias and I quit ammending the planting hole. I work the soil up nicely, water them well, and lovingly plant them. I add the compost, etc. on top of the soil, as nature would. I've noticed over the years that earth worms are more than willing to bring the good stuff down to where the roots are. I'm having great results with a LOT less work. They seem to be adjusting to their new home much quicker. And it's less expensive, too. I've also switched to pine needles as mulch rather than pine bark, and have much less of a weed issue in my beds. Fortunately, bales of pine needles are harvested in my area, so the price is reasonable. Sandy

CI, TZ, SdlM all growing nicely now. I think this will be a good fragrance bed. I put Lion's rose in the back to add beauty and a good leafy background even though it isn't much on scent. I think if the base gets shaded by the others, it won't get disease. There's room to the right of Abe Darby for one more big rose. I think it's going to be Evelyn. Hopefully, it will work some magic for me. This is a good morning sun spot and gets shade in the hottest times of the day. My summer is a little hotter than Hoovb's but maybe it's close enough. I'm going to hope for the best. The only downside to this location is that it will take the full force of the Santa Ana wind from across the street. We are along the Santa Ana river channel and the wind blows strongly through the gap. It seems to be shifting later than Halloween now. I used to call it the Halloween Wind.

Actually, I rather like his idea. The thing is, in our experience, roses always sink down anyhow. Well, no, PROBABLY the soil rises, as old mulch decays and becomes soil, and new mulch is added. Bud unions meticulously planted above ground (now, I would bury them anyhow) end up below ground level, as the soil level rises. In your husband's scenario, they do start out with a "bowl" that will localize water. BUT another way to do that would be to use extra soil, removed from your hole, to build a dike around the rose, creating a ground-level "bowl." Jeri in SoCal

I am a slave to the weather channel. We have it on first thing in the morning, and I always look at the weekly outlook- highs & lows. Once the temps start staying above 40 or so at night, I start the plant-out (this is a personal thing, as I see that recluse uses 30. I don't have enough info to know which ones are hardy enough to take the lower temps, so I just use 40+) If the temps dip after that, I'll toss a cloche over them for the night. I also like to use the 15-day forecast over at accuweather.com, but obviously if the weatherman can't get it right for 2-days out, it's unlikely that they really know the 15-day outlook. But I'm only looking at the temps, so knowing that the earth's orbit is relatively stable (wink), I can rest assured that they may at least have THAT part pretty close. Planting out: It depends how thickly I sowed them. Unlike recluse, I "sprinkle and go" with many many containers. This might mean entirely too many seeds in a container, but I've found that it makes for a good show when planted out HOS. If I got super-good germination and a totally green container because I sowed WAY thick, I'll do WAY small HOSs. Some of my annuals like Marigolds and Zinnias I don't do HOS, but most things I do. They can duke it out after they're in the ground. HOW you plant out is very much relative to how detail-oriented you are. If you're very specific about how you do things, it may throw your whole world into an uproar to try and do a plunk 'n run technique. Of course, depending on how many containers you got out there, you may find yourself plunking, running, and drinking heavily due to the stress of HAVING to do it at some point ;)