In terms of other sensations, some people like chimes which are on sale everywhere now. Chimes tend to drive me crazy but some people love them. Also, I'm not sure how natural you want to be but another idea might be a fountain. They come in all varieties from complex underground piping systems to some simple (but not "natural") plug in varieties. Someone smarter than me probably knows how to build one with no electriciy. I bought a fountain at Lowe's made of fake rocks for around $200.00. It was so easy to lift, even I could do it and easy to set up if you have an outside plug. You need to be a little creative to hide the wire but you can just bury it yourself. It also can stay out all year in New England (don't need to store inside in the winter). I was a little skeptical how the fake rocks would look but was assured I could return it. I put it in the patio area near a wall made of real rocks and it blends in just fine. Everyone who sees and hears it loves it (unlike chimes). I love the sound of running water and for me, it would be something for a meditation garden area. Just my two cents.

I have to admit that when I shopped for roses, the first thing I did was search whichever site I was on for the roses that had the highest fragrance rating. This led me to purchase several I would never have even looked at without this, like Pink Chiffon and Geranium Red. But it is true that wheras some roses have a consistant and wonderful fragrance, for others it is very fleeting or only occasional. When Marie Pavie first bloomed for me, the very first blossom I plucked had one of the most delicious fragrances I have smelled. I carried the rose around with me all morning to smell it. But at noon of the same day when I wished to share the fragrance with others, none of the other blossoms of the rose that had opened had any fragrance. In the two weeks since, I have smelled the wondrous fragrance maybe twice more, and I check the rose every time I walk by it. Try smelling just-opened blossoms in the early morning--that seems to work best. Firefighter, Gernaium Red, and Julia Child all seem to have a very consistant and permanent fragrance, as does the disease-ridden Overnight Scentsation when she's strong enough to bloom. Gruss an Aachen is the one I find most changeable--roses that open at the same time on the same bush will have different fragrances--not just intensisty, but a different quality/type of fragrance as well. Blossoms without scent that I have picked and put in a vase had fragrance in the vase a few hours later. I have noticed that some roses only have fragrance if you put your nose right in the stamens--Paradise and the mini-flora Sleeping Beauty fit into that category. While we are on this subject, the only reason I bought the rose Love's Promise was because of a very poetic description of it and its fragrance posted by someone over on the HMF website. Unfortunately, like Landlady's Marie Pavie, I have yet to detect any fragrance whatsoever from it. Since the blossoms, though not the growth habit, are almost identical to the very fragrant Firefighter, I will probably give it away if I don't find a way to detect its fragrance. So, if anybody out there has this rose and could tell me the best time of day/ temperature/ stage of bloom it has the best odor I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Ladylotus, Tiger Babies and Red Velvet are stunning! I planted both this fall, Tiger Babies from The Lily Garden and Red Velvet from B-D. I can't wait to see them bloom next season. I know Red Velvet is supposed to be scentless, but how is the fragrance on Tiger Babies? The Lily Garden states that it is "lightly fragrant". Invasion and Robina are Dutch OTs that were mentioned by posters on the Lily Forum at DG as being exceptionally fragrant so I just had to try them! :-) I found Invasion at The Lily Pad (they sent beautiful bulbs, too!) and Robina at B-D. B-D also has a pure white OT that looks much like Casa Blanca called Hacienda. It is supposed to be fragrant, too. I am so tempted to order it but I must resist... I have never grown Trumpet lilies before so I am also curious to see how they perform. I live within a mile of Lake Michigan so my temperatures are somewhat moderated compared to even a few miles west. We seldom dip below 0 F and usually not for very long (windchill is another story however), and snow cover has been somewhat reliable for the past several years. The best part of my sandy soil is that it was very easy to plant all of my bulbs deeply, and the bulbs themselves should be able to adjust their own depths in such friable soil. I am worried about the alkaline part, but was reading that most Trumpet hybrids and most hybrids with Lilium henryi and Lilium lankongense blood are somewhat lime tolerant. Have you found this to be true? Thank you again for your beautiful photos!

Got curious about compost tea. This is the second time I checked. Early this summer time I spent 1 hour researching but was disappointed. Here's one link from United Kingdom on compost tea (unbiased, NOT sponsored by compost-tea industry): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/11121288/Compost-tea-does-it-really-work.html " What did they find? In a glasshouse study on lavender and choisya, none of the compost teas had any effect on growth or on susceptibility to botrytis (grey mould) or spider mites. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were taller, sometimes they were shorter, sometimes there was no difference. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were of higher quality, but often they weren’t, and treated choisya plants at one nursery were significantly worse. In short, the effects of compost teas were “extremely inconsistent”. Other links from U.S.A: http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/compost-tea-does-it-work/ From University of New Hampshire: https://extension.unh.edu/articles/Does-compost-tea-really-work From University of Vermont: http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html Excerpt from above link: " It’s not clear whether it’s necessary to aerate during compost tea production. Aeration can speed up the production time, but it may also add to equipment cost and complexity. There are claims that aeration helps kill off the organisms that can cause illness. Very few studies have compared aerated and non-aerated compost teas. Some recent research. A 2-year study by the Rodale Institute and Pennsylvania State University evaluated the use of aerated compost tea for disease suppression and crop stimulation in grapes, potatoes, and pumpkins. During year one, approximately 50% suppression of powdery mildew was observed in the compost tea treated grape plots. A slight reduction of gray mold, along with an INCREASE in the level of downy mildew, was observed in the compost tea treated plot during the first year at one of the vineyards. Compost tea failed to suppress powdery mildew on Howden pumpkins in year one, but reduced the number and size of pathogen colonies in year two. Compost tea did not reduce severity of late blight on Superior potatoes when disease was present in year two. " http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html *** From Straw: FOR ROSES, just spraying with alkaline tap water alone is enough to suppress mildew, as testified by Roseseek (Kim Rupert) in CA and rosarian Dave Boyd in HMF. For mildew, just plain tap-water spray (alkaline pH over 8) is enough to contain mildew, as rosarian Dave Boyd in a dry climate (only 13" of moisture per year) testified in HMF: http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=3.4748