To address paulns original propostion, I don't think it's a question that has a definitive answer without clarification.....what is "old-time gardening"? How far back does one go? And there are MANY definitions of organic gardening depending on one's philosophy, so which one are we going to agree to use? A lot of the previous comments are valid in a generalized form. The use of manufactured synthetic or chemically derived fertilizers has a pretty recent history when compared to how long man has been farming or growing crops for food. They are really only a by-product of the Industrial Revolution and the "hundreds of years" can actually be reduced to about 200, with the predominance of these fertilizers being widely accepted and used immediately after WWII, when they became cheaply and widely available, as greenwood85 notes. Same with synthetic, manufacture pesticides. And their introduction to the farming or gardening scene was considered at that time to be an enormous boon - a fast-acting, lightweight, easy to apply and easily accessible material that improved and increased harvests. Naturally - without the greater understanding we have now of soil science and the health implications of chemical residues and these products effects on pollution and ecology - they were widely accepted and utilized. It would be pretty hard to go back 50 or 60 years and not find a gardener or farmer that didn't use some form of manufactured fertilizer or pesticide. But even given these considerations, a good many of those gardeners/farmers from previous generations still incorporated what might be best termed "natural gardening" practices - composting, using animal manures, companion plantings, rotational cropping, home remedies for insect and disease controls - along with the manufactured products that at the time seemed like such a great improvement on what they had been doing. And affluence and location played a role as well - poorer farmers in more remote locations tended to use more what they had on hand - the natural methods and products rather than the newer, costly and more difficult to obtain manufactured ones. So I believe it is difficult to make a direct correlation between "old time gardening" and the organic or natural way unless you are going back more than just a 100 years or so.

It will survive better than most in a hostile environment, but it won't perform to expectations. Angel Face will practically disappear under the same conditions. I'm afraid to admit how I know that. ;-) At any rate, I think it would be worth a try - especially since it sounds like you'd at least be giving it some attention. The fragrance is without peer, IMHO. The bush grows as a giant vigorous floribunda, except with Hybrid Tea-form blooms. These days it gets frowned upon because the stems are short and weak, with the blossoms nodding on a regular basis. Yet, the bush is strong with hedge-like branching, perhaps a one-to-one or slightly higher ratio of height to width - perhaps 5 x 5 for a very big one, more often 4 x 4. It is vigorous with a minimum of treatment and will survive for years with neglect when well-established. Please don't misunderstand, though - it is a BS magnet and will mildew under the right conditions. The difference is that unattended BS can easily kill many bushes, but CG will persevere for a number of years completely ignored. Blossoms are deep, deep red and very velvety - the epitome of a red rose. It set the pattern for the red roses that came after it: Chrysler Imperial, Mister Lincoln, Oklahoma. It's probably closer in texture and color to Mister Lincoln, but with more velvet. Buds do not explode as quickly as ML, but will reach a rather undignified looseness in summer heat. I've always been a supporter of ML and was gratified to see it finally win the Gamble, but CG is better still.

I'm afraid that it's too late to start tomatoes in Houston. Really you want to put the largest transplant possible in the ground by the middle of March (I do 4 inch pot transplants in March 1, then protect if there is a late freeze in the forecast). You could try one now if you found a huge transplant, but the temperatures will likely be too hot for good fruit production by the time the plant is ready. Peppers should be fine, and I would also recommend summer squash and/or zucchini. I have had very good luck with them. I had a pepper plant live for 3 years without me doing a single thing to it (except pick the peppers of course). It died in the ice storm this past January. I put veggies in the soil as soon as I buy them. Also, mulch is very important. Not all insects are bad! Personally, I visually inspect veggies every day and kill stinkbugs and snails. I would also do a search on lasagna gardening if you haven't already.

I absolutely love using the library's online features! With 3 small children, I either have to make an extra trip down to the library after they are put to bed which doesn't give me much time before the library closes or I have to try and keep them quiet in the upstairs adult section which doesn't usually work very well. Imagine VERY loud voices asking questions like "Why do they have so many computers up here?" "Why do we have to be so quiet?" "When is it time to go hoooome? *whine*" Once I realized how easy it is to do things online, I started using it all the time. I can renew our books online so that I don't have huge late fees. I can put things on hold at our library like popular DVDs or new releases. They are always on hold for someone so it's much easier to get my name on the hold list than it is to find it on the shelf. And of course, the interlibrary loan system is great! I've found so many books using that. Besides the ones I was looking for, I've also found some by using the features "nearby items on shelf" and "find more on these topics". They have a pretty nice setup. Our library also has an ongoing used book, magazine, and CD sale near the front desk. I once found a whole stack of gradening magazines like Garden Gate and Organic Gardening for 25 cents each! And you can check out magazines also. In fact, I just quick bumped over there and put the last 4 issues of Garden Gate on hold (from Waterford library). Oh, and Julie, if you do a search using the words "fine gardening" that magazine is available at Burlington library plus a few others so if you need some reading material this winter but don't want to shell out the money for a magazine that you only read part of, it can be transferred to the Racine library for you. There is also a series called "Fine gardening design guides" that seems to have been put out by the magazine along with a few separate books titled "The Best of Fine Gardening: Perennials", "The Best of Fine Gardening: Shrubs and Trees" and a few others. Does Sturtevant have a library or do you use Racine's? If the bookmobile comes out near you, you have the option of choosing where you want to pick up the items and can switch it to Bookmobile. It's funny, most of the libraries only seem to keep the last 2 years of issues but West Bend has copies of Fine Gardening going back to 1997! I wonder why? Perhaps they have more gardeners in that area or just most storage room. There's a new book by Melinda Myers titled "Month-by-month gardening in Wisconsin : what to do each month to have a beautiful garden all year". I'm going to have to put that on hold. I wonder if they have Birds and Bloom magazine. Well, I'm going to quit bouncing back and forth between websites and just send this before it gets any longer. Kimberly P.S. My library's SHARE program covers these areas: Dodge, Jefferson, Racine, Walworth and Washington Counties. But I'm sure there are similar programs for the other parts of...