I used to have bearded Iris that were over 50 years old if not older. They came with this house when my parents bought it and we moved in before I was 10 years old. Since I am 62 thats many years ago. I moved back into this house I grew up in after my mom passed away at the ripe old age of 93. Anyway, those Iris, which never got any care whatever, are gone because of my garden renovations. Before I got the daylily crazies I did buy more newer bearded Iris but they all died out within two years. Now I realize its because I mulch heavily and they must have rotted because the iris tuber was burried under mulch instead of sticking up the way they need to do. I am still thinking on the small long narrow garden section way in the front yard. I can go with the original staggered plan, or just go with a row of entirely bearded iris along the front. I have learned that mass plantings have the best effect. For instance, I had bulb lilies here for years but last spring put in way over 300 new ones. Almost all are in two mass plantings of a trench of 165 and another of 185 lilies planted close together. The effect was dazzelling in bloom. Originally I thought I had to stagger them because when the iris were not in bloom there would be no color and its the garden right off the sidewalk by the street so it needs to look good. But with the planter directly behind it all planted in daylilies, there should be plenty of summer color and the roses bloom on and off plenty too. So I do not think lack of blooms would not be a problem. I can always plant spring bulbs and get plenty of daffs and tulips along with the iris so earlier spring should bring plenty of color to bring it into bearded iris time. Plus I have groused about not having the perfect place for bearded iris because of the heavily mulched beds. A more perfect spot could not be found. So its up in the air, I am thinking about which way to go.

My dinner was a huge success! I'm a beginner with lots to learn and you have all been wonderful. We sliced the bones off the roast, salted liberally, and tied the ribs back on 2 days before cooking (another Serious Eats, Food Lab article - scroll down to SALT). I read that the salt will draw the moisture out at first, but then it will reabsorb the moisture along with the salt, carrying the seasoning deep within the meat. This was the only thing I did differently from a few weeks ago when I ran my trial run, and this roast was far superior. It was the same cut of meat (choice), from the same store (CostCo), and cooked the same way. So it must have been the 2 day seasoning. I let the roast sit on the counter for 2 hours, then used the Serious Eats Food Lab recipe to cook low and slow - it took 4 1/2 hours for the 11lb roast to reach 122. I did make a mistake here - instead of removing the roast from the roasting pan to sit for an hour (like I did 2 weeks ago), I simply tented the roast in the pan. I think the pan caused the roast to continue to cook. I used the same probe and oven as 2 weeks ago, so unless it went bad in that time, this has to be the reason it was overcooked. However, the flavor was fabulous, so I really have no complaints. Following the Serious Eats recipe - it did go back into the oven for 10 minutes at 500 to develop a beautiful sizzling crust. I made 2 pans of Yorkshire puddings. When everything came out of the oven and my guests were serving themselves, I popped the second pan in and proudly served a second helping to all at the table 30 minutes later. What I learned from this is the pan makes a HUGE difference! I bought a new muffin pan since I didn't have 2 and the new pan the YP's rose so high and popped right out unlike my old pan where they still looked OK, but I had to use a knife to work them out. I made my Au Jus ahead of time by making a rich stock from browning bones, oxtails, veggies for a couple of hours and them simmering them for 24 hours. I did this 2 weeks ago and froze it. Yesterday I let it simmer for another couple of hours and added any Jus from the meat before serving. I'm so glad I did this! Not only was it easier on me, but I never would have had enough Jus otherwise. Everyone took a little Au Jus cup on their plate and I put the rest into gravy boats for the table - most of which was used. I'm very proud of my dinner and I couldn't have done it without the help from all of you on this forum. :-) Thank-you! Jeri

@l pinkmountain, I feel you! Your rock mulch and plastic! My property is similar, 1/3 acre of mature trees and the bare ground covered with layers of rock and plastic since 1962. The prior owner (the only other owner besides me) dealt with weeds growing in the rocks by dumping MORE rocks. As I'm removing it, slowly, I'm discovering original flagstone stepping stones covered up by 6 inches of rock, and the flagstone itself is in the original rock, which was just gravel and would have been so much better to deal with than the heavier river stones. The prior owner loved roses, and grew them by digging many very deep holes for big plastic buckets that stuck out of the ground a bit. I am trying to remove them, it is not the look I want, but they just break off in bits so I think I'm going to have to dig up the whole area to get them out. The property was an estate sale so it came "as is" and most of the roses had been dead for awhile but the buckets remain. It's all so much work! At the moment, where I want to put a rose, I scrape away the rocks and make a raised bed, the bottom, in contact with the native soil, lined with wood chips. Right now I'm using what I have. I just today made a raised bed for a miniature rose (Bees Knees) with logs from a tree I removed. Eventually I will replace the logs with nice larger desert rocks. I am planting many native perennials and cactus and yuccas, these do go into the native soil, and I buy small plants so I don't have to injure the extensive tree roots with a big hole. My goal is a desert cottage garden, where there is little need for mulch because native plants cover and shade the ground. And I'm finding I can use some of the rocks as paths. I also just remove the rock and plastic little by little, and any place I do, I mulch heavily with wood chips that I keep damp. This starts to improve the dead soil almost immediately! I do have a lot of pots, although this year I transitioned some of them to a raised bed (new retaining wall). My "secret sauce" to pots is to use the root pouch bags. Sometimes just alone but most of the time, I put the bag inside a pot as a liner. Sometimes if the pot is deep I cut out the bottom of the root pouch bag. I buy them from Greenhousemegastore. The roses don't ever get root bound and their roots stay an even temperature. I had a Julie Child rose in a pot for 4 years, which I just transplanted to the retaining wall, and the root system was amazing, and transplanted incredible easy without breaking a single root, because of how the plant grows in the bag. What I love about the bags is that it also can give you a temporary raised bed! Even just sitting on your rock mulch. But If you scrape away a bag-size area of the rock and plastic, put some organic matter on the soil, and then a bag, with the bottom cut out or intact, depending on your goals, you will already be nurturing soil life with the watering and nutrients that you provide the rose. You can disguise the bag with stacked rocks if you have them, or if you're like me and want something temporary and cheap, just cut bamboo fencing to the right height and cover it. I'm sure there's lots of ways to disguise it. But it will let you easily, temporarily, or somewhat permanently, enjoy a rose even while your property floor is so imperfect per your aesthetic and dreams.. If not roses now, then when?! :D

Thank you so much Moses! Makes total sense!! It looked like some type of issue with a graft but I'm not much familiar with that kind of thing . . . also explains why it did great for a while but is now struggling. I kept thinking, "If I could just get some fresh growth to spring up from the roots . . . " I landscape mostly with natives, not much of a fan of grafts although I know they give us some of the beautiful wonders of the modern horticultural world. Also thanks for the encouragement on the rooting. I had a feeling I was out of my league but I gave it a try anyway, I had the cuttings from doing a hard prune last year. N. Michigan has soil like Maine. S. Michigan has usually great soil, although my area is a moraine and has areas of glacial debris that can lead to some pretty funky microhabitats. The lot I inherited from my folks theoretically should have good soil as it was along a creek and covered by a hardwood forest. But it has had a lot of disturbance and poor planning and management over the years. Slowly trying to reclaim it but its a large lot with many issues. For example, rock/gravel as "mulch." Don't get me started on that!!