Buford, very interesting. White clay in the middle of all that Georgia red clay. Two things: if you're keeping your beds well watered (well maybe not since you're in a drought) but hypothetically, wouldn't that make the clay penetrable by the roots? I don't know - just asking. And second, maybe your roses won't mind the iron deficient white clay unless they have Multiflora blood. Thono, yes, I'm right in the city. Jeri Jennings has lovely growth, showing no disease (!!!). My first flowers look just like the photo on the Rogue Valley site. I forgot to smell her - duh. I think she's going to be a keeper! And you know, I haven't been mixing the alfalfa pellets generally in the bed until the last 3 or 4 roses. I put it in each hole but not out in the rest of the bed. Someone on the soil forum said horse manure compost is good, but the soil needs vegetative matter, too. So alfalfa fits right in there. Live & learn! Never heard of using dog kibble. What do you use - the cheap stuff? My dogs would REALLY go nuts if I started putting there food in the garden! I use Milorganite. The worms love that, too. I have NN (2nd year), and I saw a full-grown BN recently at a small nursery/rose garden near Ocala (Flemington). It was lovely. A nice, well foliated bush. I hope my NN fills out like that soon. Archduke Charles is really nice, too. AMoM is very pretty, too. Sherry

Oh my. What is a passionate rose lover like you doing in that glacial hell hole? Reading about your endeavors has exhausted me and I haven't even lifted a shovel. I admire your grit and determination, but would love to see you rewarded with thousands of blooms on your rose bushes for all your hard work. I bet they could use engineers in zones 7 to 10!

Very nice. Mine I guess is not planning on blooming this year, plenty of foliage though. Oh well, it's a new addition this year, so maybe next.

Grilled Tomato Sauce From Steven Raichlen Like soup, tomato sauce is one of the dishes you're least likely to think of grilling. But there is a powerful reason to try this sauce. Beyond the mere novelty factor, grilling imparts a gutsy smoke flavor to the sauce and heightens the natural sweetness of the vegetables. Don't take just my word for it. For thousands of years, Mexicans have grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers to make rich-tasting salsas. I have adapted the technique to make an exceptionally flavorful tomato sauce. Serve the sauce over grilled polenta, with any simple grilled fish, or with just about any cooked pasta. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. 5 lucious, ripe red tomatoes 2 - 2 1/4 pounds total, cut in half crosswise, and stem ends removed 1 medium size white onion, peeled and cut into quarters 1 rib celery 4 cloves garlic, peeled and skewered on a wooden toothpick or small bamboo skewer 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes 1 bay leaf 6 fresh basil leaves coarse salt (Kosher or Sea salt) freshly ground black pepper 1/4 to 3/4 cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water Cook the tomatoes, onions, celery and garlic in greased and preheated grill (George Foreman grill) until nicely browned. You may need to cook the vegetables in more than one batch. Transfer the grilled vegetables and let cool. Finely chop the onions, celery and garlic by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, run machine in spurts. Heat olive oil in large non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, oregano, hot pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Coarsely puree tomatoes and juices with the basil in a food processor. Add the tomato mixture to the sauce pan, with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then let sauce simmer gently until thick and richly flavored 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. The sauce should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add a little stock or water. Remove and discard the bay leaf. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered up to 4 days. Or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the sauce come to room temperature then reheat it in a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often.