Good morning Katrina! Cotton root rot is a fungal infection of the soil for which there is no well-known chemical treatment. It is very persistent in the soil and pretty much wiped out the cotton crop once grown in many southern states. Millions of dollars have been spent studying it, but no real solution has been found. One researcher at Texas A&M has had some success in recent years with a combination of encapsulated (slow-release) nitrogen fertilizer in combination with certain commercial fungicides and the addition of various minerals he has found to be deficient in soil infected with cotton root rot. One reason cotton root rot is such a problem is that it is able to lie dormant in the soil for a long time, perhaps many decades. The best solutions are to try to acidify your soil, since it thrives in soils with a pH of 7.0 to 8.5. I have had some success in controlling it, but not eliminating it, by working large amounts of compost, peatmoss, greensand and other amendments into the soil. Using 1 lb. of ammonium sulfate per 100 square feet of soil twice annually helps, but there is no guarantee. Improving drainage also helps, but does not eliminate the fungas. I don't know if hot compost would help. I tried it one year with fresh cow manure, and all I got was every weed known to mankind. :) One of the main treatments for cotton root rot in areas where field crops are grown is to grow various monocots, like sorghum and corn, and till them into the soil once they are mature. This seems to help slow down, but not completely eliminate, the fungal disease. It is not a practical solution for the average landscape, though. Growing up in Texas where the main crop was once cotton, and my daddy's family were once cotton farmers, I knew all about cotton root rot long before I experienced it firsthand myself. When I lived in Fort Worth, I listened to Neil Sperry's radio gardening show from the time he began it in the late 1970s to the time I moved here. Countless times I heard him diagnose certain types of sudden plant death as cotton root rot, and most of the time the gardeners involved simply didn't want to accept his diagnosis--I assume because none of us wants to have a disease in our gardens for which there is no simple cure! When I began planting here and had cotton root rot problems, I was just sick about it. Over the years I have worked hard to improve the soil in the area where I have had the problems, but the cotton root rot still rears its ugly head every now and then. With regards to composted cotton burs, I have never heard of any problems with them being a carrier of cotton root rot. As far as I understand it, the cotton root rot attacks and destroys the roots of affected plants but does not travel up into the plant system. Infected plants die because they can no longer receive nutrition via their now-decimated roots. I think it unlikely that you could ever find any trace of cotton root rot in composted cotton burrs. Cotton is still successfully grown in the High Plains of Texas, and one of the by-products of that plant would be the composted cotton burs. I believe no one in Texas would process and sell those burs if there was any chance whatsoever that cotton root rot could be in them. One of the leading researchers in the area of Cotton Root Rot is Texas A&M University. In reading their data, I have never seen any concern expressed about cotton root rot being transferred via the burs. Cotton root rot seems to be more of a problem in parts of Texas than in Oklahoma, but that doesn't help you if you are in the part of Oklahoma where is has reared its ugly head. Hope this info helps. Dawn

Well, the saga continues. To make a very long story short the Affinity washer and dryer was too deep for my space. I did get a guarantee that I could return it without penalty if it did not fit. The "expert installation service" we were told about really was an in-house delivery service - nothing more. The guys put the washer in the spot and said "look see - it just fits - isn't that great". We were focused on the dryer which looked pretty hopeless so we didn't even take delivery on it. After the guys left DH took a yardstick and put it from the "pony wall" across the front of the washer where the bubble door was and only then could you tell that the bubble door actually stuck out beyond the wall. It was an optical illusion that it fit because the part of the washer adjacent to the wall fit but the middle part of the washer stuck out beyond that. Anyway, they came and picked it up on Saturday and promised us a full refund. Not sure that the paperwork has been processed - yet but I am hopeful. As you know we are looking for the largest capacity we can get with the smallest depth. Now we have been recommended the following:- and I would love feedback: Washer: Bosch Axxis WAS24460UC 3.4 CU capacity only .1 smaller than the Affinity. Dryer: Axxis WTV76100US - 3.9 CU - This dryer is quite a bit smaller than the Affinity - I am concerned that this dryer can work as well on drying the same capacity coming out of a 3.4 CU washer?? I wash alot of blankets and quilts (queen size) and it is important to me to be able to wash and dry these. I am going to see these models in the store and will bring my puffiest queen size quilt to see how it fits. Would love any feedback.... Back to square one - but I'm hoping this one will do the trick....

Oh, my favorite topic and I love the projects pictured here -- nice work all of you! Legacybuilder, for me it's either I have something and want to re-purpose it, or I want something and can't afford it so I fake it. Sistersunnie, I would hardly recognize that 'throne' -- you did a great transformation. Alison, all of your projects are just yummy and you have such wonderful taste. I remember when you did that door. I love what you did with that computer desk - totally unrecognizable. Justgotabeme, I clicked on each of your pics and I marvel at your creativity. I never would have looked at a door and seen a corner cabinet - very clever. Franksmom, great lamp find. That little table came out so nice, the finish looks perfect. Amity, from microwave cart to vanity, who'd a thunk it? Good going, and it looks great. I hope you'll post more pics when it's finished. Inspiredisabel, nice job on the little dresser. Free is my favorite price too. lol Les, that sounds great. I was just thinking about you last night. You've helped so many of us and I was wishing to see pictures of your house and the things you've done. Could we talk you into starting a thread on that with pix? Zipdee, what to say? I love all of your projects. I have saved so many pictures of your work you wouldn't believe it. You are so clever. That turquoise dresser/pillows and the polka dots are SO cute. Did you sew the duvets at the foot of the beds? Did you paint the lampshades, or find the right fabric to cover them? Just wow. Nicole, wow on that lamp, it looks great. Your slip cover fits like a glove and is so pretty. Good sewing. I tend not to take before pictures (I'll try to be better in the future). This little bookshelf was a thrift store find many years ago. It was painted white and green and in my kid's room. I needed something for this spot and found this in the lawnmower shed. Sanded, primed, painted black, and bought the black baskets for it. The lion head handles were salvaged from the guest bath in my old house. They were rusted, so I wire brushed, primed and painted them. Sorry this pic isn't great: This was an old thrift store find, pretty dinged up and scratched, and the base was rusty. I fixed it up: The lampshade I made from a wire frame and a pile of fabric: I made this part of the beaded ringe myself (there are 3 of these on the lamp): When I found these two pieces in the deep dark basement of an antique store among things they had not fixed up yet, they were covered in the ugliest fabric imaginable and were FILTHY. They must have come out of someone's barn. I stripped them down and reupholstered them in this (which you see worn out in these pics): The sofa cushiones were covered w a flannel sheet and old crocheted afghan because the dogs had chewed off the piping. Here they are redone. I found the mohair velvet cheap on eBay (it normally goes in the hundreds per yard). This time I had them professionally redone because both pieces had serious structural breaks/problems that needed things like 7' clamps I didn't have. I got this piece through the Little Nickel years ago. It was covered in something that fought with the tones in the wood. I redid it in this: Last year it also needed structural help so went in for a pro reupholstery job because it clashed with my "new" sofa, and I picked this: There is more around here, but that's enough for now.

sorry i'm so late responding......i only have roses from arbor gate and from antique rose emporium at independence i can't say either have done better than the other i've had only one to die and it was the most recent purchase and looked peaked from the start but it was the only sdlm i've seen in two years so i bought it anyway.... my previous garden was just south of Arbor Gate in Cypress, which is how i got acquainted with AG, about 17 years ago at any rate the soil in that garden was extremely sandy and i mean sand 4 ft down so i used lots and lots of the leaf mulch compost and some worm castings and the arbor gate blend "fertilizer" it was great gardening there except for the massive amounts of 4 o'clocks and trumpet vine and wisteria that already existed when we bought the place i only had roses from arbor gate and antique rose emporium there, i had many more roses and can't say where they came from made a difference there either regarding the two year old leaf mulch, i treat it almost as if it were mulch or any other compost and i've never come across any pieces of wood but i've always bought the finely screened leaf mulch and spreading any amount around the plants would be good i plant only in raised beds, so the entire plant root is in rose soil i do occasionally use medina hasta grow on my plants and i think it causes organic materials in the soil to hold more water as time goes on