The term ghetto just means an area where a group that is similar resides. It has become a derogatory term over time evoking an image of someplace that looks deteriorated and slum like. In rose talk I think it just represents the area where all the plants you don't know what to do with end up until you can figure it out. I have a beautiful pot garden of roses on my patio in the summer. These are roses that will spend their lives in nice decorative pots. I have no intention of planting them anywhere. But I also have a pot ghetto. This is the spot were I have roses that I'm maturing in nursery cans, either bands or my rooted cuttings, and isn't the neatest place. I also have a large area that is my seedling nursery where I keep all my babies. I do call my winter storage for all the pots a pot ghetto because it's pretty unsightly. Usually a pot ghetto is messy and unorderly, more like the classic impression of a "ghetto", and a garden is cleaner and neater or more decorative. I probably use the term ghetto for my patio pots sometimes too though. People understand it and it just comes out. It's easy. I try not to now because they really are a garden unto themselves. They have their own particular set of needs and challenges like each of my beds do. Besides being the short hand of the times I think another component if using the DH, DW, etc. is for privacy and internet anonymity. Some people don't want to put their names out there or advertise their status.

I never thought of chickens eating japanese beetles! We don't have them here (thankfully), but if they ever do show up, I'll be doubly glad for my chicken clan (I call them my attack chickens) roaming the land. When I lived in Texas and we had the june bugs, I know the chickens went crazy eating them, so JBs must be just another crunchy delight to their way of thinking (I had a chicken east a foot-long snake in Texas, too, once, she ran all over the yard with it while the other chickens chased her trying to get it from her, she swallowed it head first! I always wondered how she could digest that thing.) Chickens that aren't pumped up on hormones (from lay pellets) should be able to lay pretty decently for you for at least 5 years, the first 3 years pretty steady, and it drops off after that. But older hens are great for taking care of baby chicks. Hope your new rose planting goes well! --Ron

Thanks, Tammy! dsd, love your patio pot garden! That's sort of what I was trying to do with mine, decorate the edges of the patio, but yours is much prettier! I think my oldest potted one is Folklore at 7 years. You do have to occasionally root prune them and repot them. For me I can go a round 4 or 5 years before I have to do that but for you, with your much longer growing season, that may be only 2 or 3 years. It's usually pretty easy to tell when they need to be repotted. When you water them the water will immediately start running out the bottom of the pot because there's little soil left to hold it. I pull the root ball out of the pot, cut it back by about half and then repot with fresh soil...or find a bigger pot, lol! I'm always hunting for pots and pick them up when ever I come across a good deal and just stash them until needed. End of season sales at places like Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes or Big Lots are good places to get them cheap. Also check your local hardware stores. I've gotten some good deals at Costco too. I start out the spring with a slow release granular fertilizer scratched in. Then at least once a month with some liquid spray or drench fertilizer and organics, like fish emulsion. Watering depends a lot on the weather but I have a moisture meter and I use it! It help save me a ton of money on my watering bill because before I just watered about every third day because I didn't know if they really needed it or not. A 3 gallon pot is pretty small and a full size rose will out grow it in a season. A mini might last a few of years. A lot depends on the rose itself and how vigorous it is. Most of my pots are at least 15 gallons and I have a collection of 20/25 gallon ones for those permanently potted HTs.. For years I used Lowes Stay Green potting soil because it was the cheapest. I recently switched over to the Miracle Grow Moisture Control because we found it at a great price at Costco. As long as it's a good quality potting soil it doesn't matter which brand but I do try to stay away from the ones with fertilizer in them. I want to have control of when and what they get. I hope I got all your questions, lol! Yes, displaced, one of my beds is along the street and people regularly help them selves to blooms. I don't mind usually but when they do it the day before my rose shows I freak out! I've put signs up telling people to ask and I'd be happy to cut some for them but it did no good so now I pot the show roses. Frenchcuffs, yes and no. Usually it's whatever ones give me a decent bloom to cut show week, lol! I'm still working on my HT collection and haven't done very well with those. But I have won mini queen a couple of times, once with Robin Alonso and once with Snow Ruby so I'd say those were my favorites! My show Is Saturday and SR has a very promising bud coming!

Beth it's a good thing you don't get hurricanes where you live lol. That's one of the reasons I started putting roses in the ground here, so I don't have to move all my pots. Problem is I just get more roses and then some end up in pots. It never ends lol. Lbpetals, I like your nice deep pots. I have Marechal Neil and Devoneisis Cl in tall pots and they love it. Your pup is adorable.