We have the Ticor S805, and we love it. It's 13" x 16-1/2" (interior dimensions), which we find to be a perfect size for all our prep needs. It's big enough to hold a lot of veggies or my biggest colander, but it doesn't take up a lot of my island. It comes with the stainless grid, and it has a rear drain, which is nice because the disposal is not in the way in the cabinet under the sink. Here is a link that might be useful: Ticor S805 at Galaxy

What Sylvia said. TX summers can be rough on roses, especially babies. This Aug. is a HOT one. The crisping leaves concerns me that the granular fertilizer may still be having a bad effect. They are all salts & just like table salt, they're very drying. You can burn plants with organics, too, but granulars are a lot more potent & tricky to use. Also, that your soil around them is "bone dry" 5-6" deep--that's too dry. Yes, roses can be overwatered, but that doesn't sound like the problem now. I'd suggest starting with a good, DEEP watering. Water them well with a hose, make several passes around the yard hitting each plant repeatedly until the dirt is SATURATED. Stick a screwdriver down around them to make sure. It's harder to get it deeply, completely, wet using sprinklers--try to use a hose. For example, fill a 5 gallon bucket from your hose, counting how many seconds it takes--takes me about 30 seconds or so. So when I'm watering, I know it will take at least 30-60 seconds watering from a hose to get 5-10 gallons of water onto a plant--a deep saturating watering for a small shrub or young tree. After you've got your roses watered very well, mulch the heck out of them to retard evaporation--leaves, bark chips, old hay--whatever will cover the bare soil to help hold moisture in. Then keep them well watered throughout this hardest part of the year. Usually, by mid Sept, just 5 weeks off, temps moderate & there starts to be a big improvement in how roses look. Also, don't feel bad that some of the odd colored roses, e.g. Sterling Silver, Cale Ole, look & perform middlin. SS is a famous wimp! I love it & grow it, but it will never be "KnockOut" robust--it just doesn't have the genetics. Such specialty roses will always be your problem children & need a bit more babying through the worst weather of the year. That's okay--I think they're worth it, but they might need a location of more moderate temps, like partial shade, if you have them in pots where they can be moved. And that's another thing to consider with these young plants that are crisping--if you can't move them to part shade, cover them a bit with burlap, shade cloth, even a lawn chair to help them recover from scalding for the next few weeks. Hang on, give them some supportive treatment & wait for fall--often our very best rose season!

What about an awning or roll-up screen while you wait for the tree(s) to grow? My neighbor recently bought roll-up screens for $50 from CostCo that work great to reduce heat from the sun. SunSetter Shades

Does anyone have the pronto folding table from Crate and Barrel and could give me a hint on how to unfold it? i`m sure it should be super easy (as I`m sure I put it together myself and didn`t need anything special) but for some reason i`m not being able to unfold it now that i want to store... thanks a lot!