So we finished our new raised vegetable beds and thought I would update this thread. We ended up having only enough soil from our old beds to fill two of the new raised beds. We also used all of our store of organic matter, which wasn't a lot and compost dug out of a passive compost pile that had been there for over a year which we used to fill the bottom half of those two beds with the soil from the old vegetable beds for the top half. Then we had three beds still to fill! I seriously considered making up a mix using pine bark fines etc., but reading along, what jumped out at me was the percentage of organic matter that is recommended in your native soil. In our old vegetable beds, I added a lot more organic matter, maybe up to 50% and the soil would shrink back and I'd have to keep adding more every year. So, in the end I decided to at least check to see if I could find some 'organic' native soil to purchase. I called around for recommendations and someone did direct me to someone who might have what I needed. And they did. They also added a small percentage of organic compost and had amended the soil with organic amendments, like alfalfa meal and worm castings etc. It sounded like just what I wanted. So we had them deliver it and filled the remaining beds. I will be interested to see how the produce does this year and compare the old soil we had, with the new soil. The new soil is also clay soil, and it doesn't drain as well as my own soil or the soil from the old vegetable beds with all the organic matter, that water just runs through. This new soil, the water puddles on the top for a little bit, but a layer of mulch slows it down enough. I hope to amend the new soil, either with cover crops or mixed lawn clippings and chopped leaves in the fall. So that's the end of that story. Thank you all for all the help and answering so many questions. :-) The last bed filled with new soil.

I thought about adding bearded iris but decided against it -- because I don't have full-sun spaces left which could accommodate them. But I'll share some information I gathered before I made that decision. This relates to gardening along the wet Atlantic coast in the US -- those of you in drier climates can get away with more regarding planting bearded irises with roses. 1) Once-blooming bearded iris would do better in a mixed bed further away from repeat-blooming roses because the iris will go a bit dormant after blooming, and the watering and feeding for neighboring repeat-blooming roses can cause the irises to rot. So either plant them in "peninsulas" that extend from the bed, or in dryer sun-baked spots where repeat-blooming roses would need extra attention do do well -- and, so, aren't planted there. 2) Once-blooming bearded iris can do well near once-blooming roses, since we typically "leave them alone" after blooming. 3) Repeat-blooming bearded iris actually need water and food through the growing season because they don't go dormant, and thus would work better in a bed containing repeat-blooming roses and other perennials that would be kept fed and watered through the Summer. 4) For either type of bearded iris, if you mulch your beds, time the re-application of mulch to coincide with when you'd be lifting and dividing the iris rhizomes. Then re-plant the irises a little higher and actually on top of the mulch a bit, so that the tops of the rhizomes can still get hit by the sun. 5) For either type of bearded iris, plant them according to the height of their leaves rather than the height of their blooms. The irises shouldn't have things taller than their leaves planted next to them, because that would keep their rhizomes shaded and can lead to rot. 6) If you're shopping for repeat-blooming bearded irises, make sure you know that they are known to repeat in your zone. Many varieties will repeat only in warmer zones with longer growing seasons. When I was contemplating them for this garden, I went back to my notes from a previous garden, where I grew a bunch. All were purchased from Nola's Iris Garden because that was the only place I found that included the "rebloom zone" in descriptions. With so many options among the rebloomers, I narrowed my choices to those which were also fragrant. You can make your own list by searching among the rebloomers for your zone with fragrance mentioned in their descriptions, or by searching for fragrant irises noted to rebloom in your zone. :-) ~Christopher

Sympathies on the losses, Beth. I know you love your oddball roses and you're one of the people in the US that has some of these unobtainable roses. It's frustrating to lose track of such things, but as you mentioned you've had a lot else on your mind. I'm glad you are at peace about your mom, but it still has taken a toll in emotions and time along the way. It's good that many of the roses will be replaceable, and I'm sure Burling would reserve some of them for you if needed. Take a deep breath and look at the roses that have SURVIVED and are blooming. For me that's the antidote to the rose carnage we have in cold zones after every winter. I grieve the ones I've lost till I pull the tags and wipe them from my lists, then they aren't staring me in the face to remind me of what isn't there anymore. Sometimes then I can look back at the losses after a year or two and appreciate something I've put in place instead as much or more. I wish I could share cuttings with you to help out, but getting plants in and out of California isn't something one can do on a casual basis I fear. Hang in there and take lots of fabulous pictures of the roses you still have! We'll be watching for them. Cynthia

I love a good revived thread. :-) My good deals are all from eBay this time. My desktop computer is not quite four years old, but since it gets a lot of use and we believe in "lifecycling" electronics I've been casually looking for a good deal on a somewhat high-end refurbished PC to replace it. Before I found anything, my computer quit. Just refused to turn on. I researched possible causes, and called in my expert: my son. The power supply was a common source of the problem, so I bought one on eBay for $20. Nope, that didn't do it, but we kept the replacement in the computer and held onto the old one as a spare. Next we replaced the motherboard ($70 on eBay). Yes! The computer works fine at this point, but we figured since the hard drive has been spinning all these years, why not replace it--or add another, which is what we did--rather than wait for it to fail? So I bought a 1TB SSD drive on Amazon ($100), and now have a "new computer" for under $200. Also, I've been wanting an L.L. Bean tan canvas "barn jacket" for a long time but was unwilling to pay over $100 for it. Even eBay prices on them aren't usually tempting, but this time I found one for under $20 including shipping. I love it! It really is "like new," and I look forward to wearing it when spring starts to make an appearance. All I need now are olive green "wellies" for our muddy season.