Some things to consider: the vast majority of flowering bulbs prefer a lot of sun - areas that are most suitable for growing hostas (shade lovers) will not be the best for flowering bulbs. Also, most summer flowering bulbs derive from semi-tropical or tropical locales and are not winter hardy left in the ground in most areas of the country. Digging them up each season and storing over the winter and replanting each spring is a lot of work :-) Lilies tend to be the exception and would be a nice addition. Spring flowering bulbs are hardier and can be left in place but they also like full sun and will have messy foliage after bloom that must be left in place. For a long season of color, I'd consider some hardy perennials before choosing bulbs. Things like black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), cone flowers, daylilies, sedums, yarrow, salvias and malva are very low maintenance as perennials go and pretty drought tolerant as well, reducing watering needs. Others to consider are oriental poppies, iris and peonies. And ornamental grasses. And Al makes a good point regarding foliage - any flowering perennial (or bulb, for that matter) will have a limited bloom season, so relying on plants that offer great foliage effect will extend the season and provide interest even into winter.

Hi again JAG2! Your wicking idea to draw up ground water sounds ingenious Thank you. The idea was actually from a friend of mine but I thought it was a great idea too :-) One thought I had is that the wick system draws water up. I wonder what effect this will have on Co2 in the rootzone? If I only water the top of the containers (eg. "soil drench") a few times a month will I be promoting Co2 toxicity in the rootzone? ...and I would love it if you would post back later in the year and let me/us know how that works out for you. I will definitely do this for you! Given that you will be joining your container to the earth, my above comments are not as relevant so don't worry about it. In what regard? Do you still suggest I use ProMix? Or are you referring to the auto-watering system? The only thing I am somewhat uncertain of is joining the container to the earth only via a nylon wick. [snip] From playing around with the concept of capillary action my only concern is that the wick may not be able to move water upward fast enough to replace what the container uses. Me too! ;-) So that's why I'm going to add at least two "wick tubes" to each of my containers. Another thing I'm going to do is "rain scape"[1] my containers. If all else fails I can hand water them from above (if I have to do it the old fashioned way ;-) ) I will be feeding with nutrients via. hand watering by soil drench about twice a month. I hope the soil drench once every few weeks will expel enough Co2 from the air pockets. How long does it take for the rootzone to become Co2 toxic (for lack of a better term)? Still, it sounds like you have thought this through pretty well and all that remains is some experimentation. Thank you. And thank you for your assistance, your further thoughts and opinions are very welcome! [1] "Rain scaping" (my own term, I don't know real title) is big in Ethopia where they simply make two "mounds" of soil about 5-20 feet uphill (does not need to be steep) jetting outward at opposite 45 degree angles from the container/plant. All this does is funnel the rain water towards the container/plant. In Ethiopia they make a little moat around the container/plant by encircling it with the dirt mount thus allow the water to gather and slowly be absorbed. Heck, it may be a good idea to put piece of "capillary mat" under my containers with about 2-3" extra on all sides. I can encircle the "moat" around the capillary mat which should help the plant absorb the rain water more effectively with less run off and wasted rain water...Yah, natural passive hydroponic outdoor container gardening! :-)

I know I'm late on this but I'd like to also welcome Al back to the group! Al, your vast knowledge and willingness to share that knowledge with the rest of the GW community is very much appreciated. I've learned much from your posts, and generally anything I need to know about soil building, fertilizer, watering schedules, etc. comes from your posts. Before reading the original "Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention" thread I had no idea about the importance or oxygen in the soil, or what Turface was, or why anyone would use pine or fir bark in their soil. Now, thanks to you, I can tell the difference between a good, long-term planting mix and a poorly drained, poorly oxygenated soil mix. Until reading your threads on here a couple of years ago I was the guy who would use peat-based MG potting soil and thinking I was using the ultimate soil mix! Thanks again Al. Great to have you back on here! Regards, Dave

I agree with the above, for example, if you have a Persian Yellow - throw it out immediately. It has NO RESISTANCE to BS, AND IT NEVER WILL!!! It will also infect your entire rose garden. On the other hand, I find my Fair Bianca to be wonderfully disease resistant. You must use a heavy coat of organic mulch, like shredded Christmas trees or something all around your roses!!! Rain falls on bare soil and splashes up dirt onto the leaves, infecting them with BS spores. However, with mulch, the rain will not splash up. Also, bacteria live in the mulch, and EAT the fungal spores. You do not need to wait 3 years, put down a LOT of mulch now, and you will be rewarded. Also, this means you should NOT apply any strong chemical nitrogen fertilizer - this promotes too lush of a growth, and you will get problems with powdery mildew. If you fertilize with mulch + blood meal, your roses will be extremely disease resistant. In order to combat aphids, you MUST have a good patch of totally overgrown and naturalized weedy area - this is an ecosystem which will give a place for predatory insects to live, hide, and flourish. I regularly find spiders on my roses THAT HAVE MODIFIED THEIR COLOR!!! - on a white rose, I find a white spider, in the bloom, waiting to eat a pest - on a pink rose I find a pink spider - this is actually true, but you need a wild patch where the spider can go back to, if there are not enough bugs on your roses to eat, and also to propagate and make more spiders, etc. I hope this helps. Sativa.