I saw the response to your post on the Container Forum but I was wondering if you might try involving him in your gardening? Maybe give him a pot of his own to take care of. He can plant some sunflower seeds or something that sprouts quickly and you might even eventually be able to put him to work "helping". ;-) Start 'em young I say!

Hello Devora, It should work, if you carefully plan, including varieties chosen, and figure on larger pots eventually, depending on the size of the plant you are putting into them now. If it's a sizeable plant now and a fast grower too, it might be better to start out with a larger pot right away. You probably ought to plan on potting up in size a couple of times again as the plant reaches full maturity. If your plants are really just getting started ownroots now, your pots might be large enough for a year or so. Eventually you'll likely need a bigger pot, though, even if the varieties are the smallest-growing kinds. For now, if your plant is really small and doesn't yet absolutely require a larger pot, the smaller pot will make it easier to insert that pot into a much bigger one, and put mulch below and around the pot you're actually growing the rose in. And on the top surface too. According to Liz Druitt in "The Organic Rose Garden", roses can have their roots damaged in hot climates by actually contacting the inside surface of a very hot pot that is baking in the sun. Some materials and darker pots might be the worst for root burning, but I'd guess even the best would not be as good as having an insulation around the pot you've planted the rose in. If you don't have a large enough pot quite yet for functioning as the outer protective coat, perhaps just wrap some bubble wrap on the outside for now? Anyway, both pots need to have water holes in the bottom, and then you'd probably want to sit that into a large pot saucer to protect the surface they're sitting on. If your plant is really small and doesn't yet absolutely require a larger pot, the smaller pot would make your control for proper amounts of water easier; too-large a pot can make it easy for the soil to get too wet (because there are no roots to take up the water on the outside edges). A guess as to some of the varieties you might be thinking about: besides some others, most teas, noisettes, and chinas would probably work; they tend to work in hot dry places like Arizona here. Modern floribundas differ so much in heritage that you'd probably need to get specific information about local success with particular varieties there. According to Liz Druitt, you can likely grow any rose in a pot, if you are willing to put the required effort into it. But some varieties are so large that the pot needs to be huge, and you'd still need to go overboard in trying to keep it sufficiently watered. You're going to need a lot of water when it's hot, more than you might need if the rose were planted in the ground. I've no experience at all with growing roses under your conditions, but theoretically it would seem better to me to water deeply when you water, or at least to use that strategy some of the time in your overall watering scheme. You can have a salts buildup inside the pot that a slow drip might not be sufficient to help get rid of. This could result in a soil that is too alkaline, with needed nutrients insufficiently available to the rose. Also, if it's terribly, terribly hot, the amount of water coming out of the drip might not be sufficient even if you're not worried about a salts buildup. A drip in concert with a deep watering a couple of times each week might be a pretty good strategy, but if you see the soil getting dry, you might need to switch to a deep watering every day, or even twice a day. Roses seem to prefer an Eastern exposure if they can't have a Southern exposure. But some roses can get along better without morning sun than others do. As a guess, it might not hurt to select varieties with some shade tolerance, as well as heat tolerance. The Woodland Rose Garden site has a large list of shade tolerant possibilities: http://www.woodlandrosegarden.com/rose/shade1.htm Also Rogue Valley Roses has a good-sized list of shade tolerant rose possibilities, including some that you might not find elsewhere. I've included a link to the Rogue Valley advanced search page where you can pull down for a list of shade tolerant varieties or very shade tolerant varieties. You'd need to check up on heat tolerance separately from shade tolerance. A guess as to types to avoid: Damasks and Gallicas. Maybe Portlands. You don't see those varieties planted very often in the South here, so perhaps they need cooler weather? Just a guess: that most of the varieties being grown and offered for sale at the Antique Rose Emporium and Countryside Roses would work for you. It can get pretty warm in southern Texas and Mississippi here, though it's not as dry as Israel. Well, that's all I can think of. Best of luck! Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Advanced variety search at Rogue Valley Roses

I'm sorry to say that I'm not a veggie grower, I stick to pretty flowers, so I can't speak from personal experience. But other wintersowers grow all kinds of vegetables, with great success. They grow about any all all tomatoes and some don't plant them until spring. You need not feel rushed to plant on the solstice as some of us "wintersow" all year 'round. Basically it involves using the same recyclable containers, the same method, and planting at times other than winter, too. For me, I have only done flowers. Most of us begin in winter with perennials and hardy annuals, waiting until spring for very tender things like zinnias. It works extremely well and in spring we have literally thousands of seedlings. We have our own seed exchange, linked just above the threads on page 1 of the forum. See Trudi's offer listed there Stick around and some expert will come along to help you. Welcome to the forum, we're happy to have you. Karen Here is a link that might be useful: Trudi's offer

Hello adams403, I am in the same situation as far as feeding goes. My pairs eggs just hatched yesterday. I have the two hole feeder with the clear sides. I have removed one side and put some dried mealworms and bluebird treat in it. I also sat a dish on the ground next to it. It's been a week and I have yet to see them go in the feeder or take from the plate, although the last few days something has been eating from the plate on the ground. I think it takes time and patients. Try removing a plexi glass side until they learn to eat from the feeder, then put it back on and they will figure it out. A few years back when I lived with my parents I had a pair eating out of the two hole feeder on a shepards hook so I know they can do it. I would like to invite you to join the bluebird nut cafe and we will provide you with all you need to know about these birds. It is way more active and you will get fast answers to your questions. Hope to see you there. http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/ -Tyler