Thanks so much for all the help, and for putting my picture up! I think I will experiment this Winter by putting one rose in a barrel with the bottom removed. I'll leave the rest as full containers. If the bottomless pot rose does as well, or better than the full pot roses, by next Spring, then the next step will be designing a 2' high x 3' wide "raised bed", or brick planter parralel to the sidewalk, leaving a few inches between the planter and fence for peek-a-boo flowers, like feverfew, cosmos, or other annuals. On the lawn side I will continue the brick into a 6"mow strip I can live with the 7 barrels if I know I have a plan.

Taken from Stone Business Online: Friday, 15 August 2008 Maurizio Bertoli, 64, of Keansburg, N.J., died Aug. 14 when his vehicle was hit by flying debris on Interstate 95 south of downtown Philadelphia. His wife, Laura, received minor injuries in the accident, according to local news accounts. A set of dual tires broke off the real axle of a southbound semi-trailer rig, according to Pennsylvania State Police investigators, and flew into oncoming northbound traffic on the freeway. One tire hit a vehicle and caused minor damage, but that same tire then struck the windshield that Honda Odyssey that Bertoli was driving. He died at the scene. Maurizio BertoliBertoli earned a reputation as an internationally recognized stone-care expert, often as the "answer man" for questions posed on Websites such as gardenweb.com and his own mbstone.com. He also formulated and sold his own line of stone-care products for the past 18 years. Bertoli began his career in the stone trade in 1959 as a 16-year-old taking a summer job at a marble fabricator in Parma, Italy. He worked for five years as a floor setter for a Parma marble-flooring company while completing his university education; he bought the company in 1969 and received his degree a year later. Bertoli expanded the company during the next ten years, while also studying geology and chemistry as applied to natural stone. At the end of the 1970s, Bertoli sold his firm and moved to New Jersey, eventually forming his own business for marble-floor care. He began his own line of stone-care products in 1990; he also began speaking and writing on stone care for the industry. Bertoli also expanded his educational efforts in the past 10 years, including the training of in-house maintenance crews at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. He also aided in founding the International Training Centers for the Stone Industry (ITCS) and began teaching classes at a facility in Folcroft, Pa. The next course wouldÂve started on Aug. 25. He also offered his "Ask Maurizio" sessions on the Internet, taking questions from professionals and consumers on stone care. His last answer, on "cloudy Uba Tuba granite," came on Aug. 11. Information on survivors and services are pending.

This is the time to work on your soil. Add compost, manure and good mulch. Keep the roots in good shape. Roses always do better with rain than hose water. You should see what the drought is doing to my roses in CA. The year it rained and rained was my best year ever. But roses want sun and warmth too. If you have been using chemical fertilizers instead of natural ones then you might want to give your soil some TLC while the roses take a break.

Aww I would be really sad too.