I remember that, but did not get to attend. There have been a lot of changes in the people here, but a lot (like you) check in from time to time. I look forward to those times..... Glad to 'see' you!

Barb, I'll try and state my practices briefly, along with the thinking about them and a description of the conditions in which I garden. Use whatever of it you want, and feel free to quote if that's useful. I live in Italy, in the northern foothills of the Apennines. I have a large garden with a current population of probably 500-600 roses, along with many other plants. Mine is not a rose garden but a garden with a lot of roses. The garden is on steeply sloping ground with a southern exposure, most of it open to sun and wind, a part of it in part shade. The soil is a heavy gray clay, probably neutral to somewhat alkaline, and adding organic matter to it one of my major concerns. The climate I would describe as on the cusp between Mediterranean and continental. We have long, usually wet, chilly but not very cold winters, and hot dry summers with low humidity and fresher temperatures at night. Every year we have two to four months with little to no rain. My roses are mostly old or older varieties: once-blooming old roses (Gallicas, Albas, Damasks, Centifolias, Mosses), warm-climate old roses (Teas, Chinas, and Noisettes), and other old classes, plus Hybrid Musks and an assortment of shrub roses, species roses, ramblers and climbers. We have no well and public water supplies can run low in the summer, so from the beginning I knew that I would have to be sparing in my water use. I already had some experience with dry summers from gardening in western Washington state, and I knew that roses can easily live through many weeks without rain or watering, though they stop flowering after a while. So I planned on growing roses without summer water after the first year in the ground. We buy roses bareroot, grafted or own root, or I propagate them from cuttings or am given plants that gardening friends have propagated. I plant almost everything in fall, after the rains have started and the weather has cooled off, usually in October, and try to finish by Christmas. This way the roses have time through winter and spring to grow roots before the summer drought sets in, generally late May to June. I have to admit we are scanty in our site preparation. We add some compost and perhaps some sand, mixing it in with our pottery-quality clay, then mulch afterwards, not touching the stem of the rose, with hay. Lately I've been doing mini-terracing around the rose planting site, leveling the area so as to catch rain that falls in dry seasons, but encouraging drainage during extremely wet periods by adding more hay and compost to the ground and creating a steeper drop below the rose. The terraced ground looks like steps rather than an even slope. About the worst way to plant a rose (or anything else) is to dig a hole in the ground and fill it with a completely different kind of dirt. It's like growing a rose in a pot, with all the difficulties that entails. We water our roses the first year they're in the ground. We use a hose, which is uncomfortable enough that we don't do it unless it's necessary. If the ground seems moist under the surface--I stick a finger in to check--I don't water. If the plant looks reasonably happy, I don't worry about it. We keep a permanent hay mulch on our beds. We use hay, usually old or spoiled, because it's locally available, cheap, and nutritious, though of course it sprouts grass by the millions. I've recently realized that for years I've been making the mistake of applying it too thickly, so that rain and other water can't get through and the ground beneath actually stays dry. The mulch should be permeable. It should be organic, so that it breaks down and enriches the soil. Mulch can be a lot of different materials, depending on what's available locally: grass clippings spread thinly, chipped pruned branches from the garden. There's always something that doesn't come from a thousand miles away. In the last few years I've gotten interested in organic mulches. These are just little plants that grow under the roses and in the beds, often annuals. They can be wild plants. The beds in my garden are full of volunteer annual geranium, spurge, vetches, violas--also annual grasses. I weed out ugly plants and leave attractive ones. Or the gardener can plant herbaceous perennials or annuals of his or her choice. The organic mulch keeps the ground cool and moist; when the plants die their growth gets recycled into the garden. In the case of annuals, the roots die as well as the top part of the plant, and remain as organic amendment in the soil with no digging on the part of the gardener. I haven't noticed a problem with water supplies in my garden: the roses are deep rooted and the annuals aren't, so they aren't grabbing water from each other. On an aesthetic level my preference is greatly for roses mixed with other plants; and I've heard it argued that mixed plantings are healthier than monocultures. There are gardeners who argue that leaving the soil undisturbed after the initial preparation and planting allows a web of soil microlife do develop that's highly beneficial to the garden. I think this idea has merit, and lately I've been avoiding disturbing the soil, just adding mulch and pulling or digging only the worst weeds. I began doing this after I noticed that in a couple of places where I had planted roses and just left them, the roses were doing quite well, better than in some places where I fussed over them. Undisturbed ground is also less welcoming to weeds. I grow my roses lean, with a minimum of watering and with almost no fertilizer beyond the hay and living mulch. The clay is basically fertile. They grow more slowly than roses that get regular abundant nutrients. But I think this way the roots develop in balance with the top growth, and are capable of supporting the rose even in dry periods. With longer intervals between watering and more water when it does come, the roses root deeply. I can grow roses this way because the garden has deep moisture retentive soil and because I grow mostly thrifty varieties of roses. I grow roses mainly for garden effect rather than for cutting, and it doesn't bother me if they don't bloom during the summer if that's what the weather brings. I rarely lose a rose after the first year and I don't believe I've ever had a rose defoliate because of drought. Another thing to think of is protection from excessive sun and drying winds. Most roses don't love windy areas, and some hate it. Okay, this isn't short. It's also not quite complete. Also it may not be what you're looking for, though I hope you can mine some ideas from it. The part I wanted to add but got too tired for is how to move roses from a regimen of frequent light watering to rare deep watering and otherwise prepare roses now in spring for a possible drought in summer. I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have questions about any of what I wrote. Melissa

A dwarf Meyer lemon is a delicious lemon, if that's what you're looking for. I'm not certain it would grow successfully in a terra cotta pot, however; mine is in the ground. When I get back from Cortona, I'll post some pix of the garden at Bramasole. ; ) (But be patient, not going til end of Sept.)

Was it similar to this one from Recipelink although this doesn't put any Heath bars directly on the crust? ENGLISH TOFFEE PIE 1 tablespoon plain, unflavored gelatin 1/4 cup cold water 1 cup milk 1/2 cup brown sugar 3 eggs, separated* 2 tablespoons butter OR margarine 1/2 pound English toffee, coarsely ground 1 cup heavy cream, divided use 1 (9 inch) baked pastry shell or graham cracker shell (I like the graham cracker shell) Soften gelatin in cold water 5 minutes. Scald milk in top part of double boiler; add brown sugar mixed with well-beaten egg yolks; cook over boiling water until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add gelatin, butter, and vanilla, mixing well; set aside to chill. When almost stiff, fold in two stiffly beaten egg whites* and half of the English toffee. Beat 1/2 cup cream until stiff and fold into mixture. Pour filling into pie shell and chill until firm. When ready to serve, beat remaining 1/2 cup cream until stiff; fold in the remaining egg white, beaten stiff* and spread over pie. Sprinkle with the remaining English toffee and serve at once. Source: Sunset Cookbook of Favorite Recipes