Hmm.. while last winter almost did not happen - the lowest temperatures we had were probably 15F, once every couple of years we do get a winter with some February nights below 0F. So I wouldn't say Eden is cane hardy where I live, at least not on those cold years I think. I've only read on forums that some people manage to grow it here but for how long - I don't know. So you are saying I will be growing this rose for a while and then one spring it just won't return. You are probably right.. It's not likely to ever get large. Yes, I have been tracking shadow cast by trees, there is also a garage there which casts shade. I'd probably plant it 2-3' from the canopies then and support it with a simple obelisk rather than worry about a pergola there :-) I actually thought duct-taping the canes wouldn't work, I assumed it wouldn't heal since it's hard wood. Unfortunately, I have no experience growing roses at all. I think I'll try it, though, and see what happens. If it's only a matter of time before the rose dies in the winter, it doesn't matter much anyway, plus there won't be much of the heavyweight growth above the crack. Thanks for the reality check :-) Anna

Tomatoes will do fine. I'm guessing the bell peppers may as well. Squash is the one you need to be extra careful not to disturb the root but it should also do fine but may go through a lengthy period of shock where it will not grow.

There seems to be a misconception here that I am closed minded and set in my ways. That couldn't be further from the truth. In fact my garden right now is pretty much an experiment to see what works and what doesn't. Considering that I am unemployed and have a limited budget for gardening supplies I am trying to save as much money as I can so I can invest in good soil. I know 5 gallon buckets might not be ideal for some plants but I have basically an unlimited free supply of them so that is what I am using right now. If I get half as much tomatoes as the plant normally produces it is better than no tomatoes. That being said there are a few reasons I came to the conclusion my end rot problem was due to a watering issue and not over crowding. First of all the roma plants have been healthy and showing new growth everyday for at least a month. Then a heat wave hits at the beginning of this week. That is when the problems started all of a sudden. I did not get around to putting wood chips in the containers for the romas and the soil dried out on top. By putting 2 and 2 together most people would come to the logical conclusion that the end rot is being caused by lack of water. Not to say that there isn't going to be issues in the future due to over crowding there very well could be. Like I said it is sort of an experiment right now. Some experienced gardeners have told me I could get away with 3 plants. Some people have told me it's too many. I guess I will have to just find out for myself. I have about 20 healthy cuttings from the romas I have propagated so I have a backup plan in case things go wrong. As I said earlier I will have access to a decent sized heated greenhouse for the fall and winter so this is basically a trial run for what I'm going to be doing in the greenhouse. I have been adding worm castings to most of my plants every couple weeks. I just got an aerator yesterday and I'm going to make some worm casting tea and try that. Does anyone know how much castings I should use for 5 gallons of water or any websites that might have more info about that? I pulled about 15 rotted tomatoes from the plants last night of various sizes (none full sized). I ended up cooking them under the broiler and cutting the rotted part off then put them in salsa. It turned out pretty good. I am probably going to have about 10-15 more to pull off today. Some of them with very minor rot I am going to leave on and see how they do. I will keep you all updated on what happens here.

Thanks John and Dooer. It's been a few days since these boards have been screwed down now and I have that there are boards with checks and no visible anchorseal staining on the board face (near the cut ends.) My bet would be that these are cut ends that were not anchorsealed. I'm going to go over the entire deck face and use a brush to push the anchorseal into the gap between the two board ends that are checked. I can use a rag to wipe off the excess from the face of the boards. This may stop the checking -- I'd rather use the anchorseal since we have it. I figure it can't hurt the Ipe at this point ...