If you are in Houston, your USDA zone is 9a 4' by 2' isn't going to be enough for either of the roses you mentioned. Queen Elizabeth in my garden didn't like hard pruning and didn't flower again till she reached a certain size minimum 5' tall but closer to 6'. You can cut a rose back after it bloomed but if you keep cutting before it blooms, your rose isn't going to be a happy one nor will you be. I would try to find a smaller rose that would fit into that 4' by 2' spot but it's not going to be easy to pick a rose that is happy if confined to 2' as width goes. But if you want to put either of two roses mentioned above into that small spot, go with Red Masterpiece alone and plant QE somewhere else. I am afraid though that it wouldn't look very good. Testing your drainage can be done such a way that you dig a hole:18" deep but 2' deep is better, if my memory doesn't fail me and fill up the hole with water and check how long it takes for the water to soak in or 'disappear'. If there is a pool of water for a long time the drainage isn't good. I try to dig up an article tomorrow that is a bit more precise than my memory - meaning how deep the hole should be and how soon the water pool should disappear to qualify the spot as having good drainage. If your soil is sandy, drainage will not be a problem for you; if your soil is clay than you might have drainage problem and it is better to deal with it before you plant. If you have no access to composted cow manure, get some bagged manure and good quality compost; mushroom compost usually is good quality. If you can find a place where they sell cotton bur (cotton gin trash) that would be great, roses love it! You can buy a pH meter for $20 at Lowe's, a better nursery or Farmer's market. That would hep to see what's your soil pH is. On the long run to get a soil test is a good idea because that comes with recommendations what you should add what kind of fertilizer s you should get or avoid. However, this time of the year cooperative extensions are flooded with soil test requests so you may have to wait 4-6 weeks till you get the result. However, if you already bought those roses, they must be planted ASAP - you should not fertilize them at planting time anyway, only when they finished the first cycle of blooms and by that time the recommendations accompanying the test results will be handy. So-called soil conditioner (shredded pine bark) is good - if you soil is sandy, it will help to retain moisture while if you soil is clay, the shredded pine bark mixed with native clay will help to ease the drainage problem and it is an organic amendment. Sorry if it was confusing, around 1.30 AM sometimes I get slow and sleepy.

Lily bulbs store best at temperatures just below freezing: about 28 degrees for asiatics (though they can tolerate much colder), about 30 for orientals (they are more sensitive). As was mentioned, pack them in peat to keep moisture off the bulbs themselves, or mold could grow. Home freezers get far too cold for bulbs, plus if it is a frost free type it is far too dry for them as well, and refrigerators are usually too warm. Once the bulbs get above 32 degrees they will start to sprout, unless they are so dried out they can't. Cold garage in the upper 20s is fine, but then as it warms up they will start to sprout. I have 2 temperature and humidity controlled freezers for lily bulb storage, but when those are full the overflow goes into the coldest part of the garage, on the floor, until I can plant them outdoors or in pots. Chris

yes they are mostly ground feeders but in spring and summer they eat mostly bugs and worms and insects but in fall and winter they eat from bushes and trees and will go to feeders. The people that feed mealworms or grubs ect often have a glass bowl on a plarform feeder or hanging from a branch, so they put the berrys or dried fruits or meat scraps in the bowls or platforms which are often baffled to discourage squirrels. also some people put suet or winter foods in small containers like film canisters or other small tubes or bottles and either tape or hang them in bushes or from small limbs that the squirrels can't access easily. myself i have a plastic lid on a piace of wood hanging down from a small limb and put foods or suet or berrys ect on the lid. My worst problem in starlings that will eat anything right away so it's a battle sometimes to scare them away and put out small amounts as needed

I read your other post about mixing metals. I’m totally with you on brass. I can’t do it. I’m not sure what plays nice with polished nickel because I don’t have anything in that finish, but you can definitely mix metals. I’d recommend bringing your faucet (if you have it), your SW paint cards, floor and counter samples, etc to a nice cabinet hardware store and see what mixture appeals to you. Since you have a charcoal floor you might like matte black, or sticking with polished nickel. I don’t think ORB would work with your floor, but you’ll be able to tell if you put all your materials together with a couple different hardware finishes.