On landscape shows, I've seen a special tool that is used to remove large trees to be replanted, it creates a root ball. But most roses aren't that large. I would water the rose every night for a few days so the soil is wet. Also take a shovel and mark out the circumference of the root ball, going deeper every day. Then lift the root ball from the bottom into a tarp or large pot. If the rose has been in the ground for awhile, you will probably have to cut large anchor roots that can span up to 10 feet away from the root ball. I moved 5-6 roses this way earlier this spring. Only one showed stress and defoliated but is now better. But if you do it when the plant is completely dormant, you really don't need a root ball. It is then a 'bare root' which is how most of us started our roses in the first place.

Mary, native plants in a particular area are those that were growing naturally in the area before humans introduced plants from distant places outside the country. Many exotics (plants from some other country) have established themselves and are mistaken for natives. Examples are the orange daylily called 'ditch lilies' by some, and Japanese honeysuckle. There are many lists online of plants that have escaped cultivation and now considered invasives in some areas. I'm embarrassed to admit I've forgotten which zone 7 state you live in, so I'm attaching a link that has links to Native Plant societies in all states. Funny, the part of Georgia in which I live is so different to the part nearer Atlanta that the GA Native Plant Society has given us to North Florida. Nell Here is a link that might be useful: Native Plant Societies

I wash and rinse my jars and then place them into a 200F oven just as 'afeisty1' from St. Louis does. Using an oven at 200F gives me sterilized jars in 10 minutes and keeps the jars dry and hot as long as I need them to be. I just leave them in the oven, at the 200F until I am done canning for the day. I quite often make a few batches of salsa in the morning and so, will load up the oven with jars at the beginning. I can also place as many or as few jars in the oven as I wish to. Around here, I need to conserve water, so have never used the dishwasher to 'sterilize' or heat the jars. Using the oven gives me a consistant temperature for the jar (I was just reading above about all the complaints about the dishwasher cooling off the jars before you are ready to pack them). My dishwasher also may have little particles left in it from the last wash cycle that I would prefer to not get onto or left in my jars. Using the oven is 100% guaranteed to work all the time. I place my lids into a small pot (back right element) and bring to a boil, then turn it to minimum or off depending upon how soon the salsa or jam or whatever is going to be ready to pack. I do so just to get the rubber soft on the lids, since the BWB will sterilize them as it processes my salsa. If I have forgotten about the lids, I occasionally also have just washed them and used them that way immediately because I know the BWB will soften and sterilize the lids as the product processes in the waterbath. The canner/large pot with water is on one large element (back left) slowly coming to a boil, while the salsa or whatever I am canning is being heated in another pot on the other large element (front right). I have a large old fashioned enamel serving plate that I use to pack on. I place that on my stove, over the front left area and pack all the jars on it, so as not to get the stovetop messy with spills as I pack the jars. I take a jar out of the oven, place it on the enamel plate, fill the jar, wipe the jar rim and place the lid and ring on the jar, tighten gently, place the jar into the boiling water in the canner for the time allotted for the type of canning I am doing. The level of the boiling water in the BWB is 1" below the lid of the jar. As the water boils, steam is produced. The steam coming out of the water is hotter than the boiling water (simple science)and this steam is what will sterilize the lid and the top of the jar that is not in the water. Keeping the water 1" below also keeps extra water from coming into the jar as it is being processed since the lid does not seal down tight until after removal from the hot water bath. Brenda

When I bought the place there was already an irrigation system. Since then I've modified, rearranged and replaced things. Added new parts and extended it. It's easy enough to get the parts to set something up. Then you can use your own design/plans to suit your situation. You basically need a controller which you set with the time and frequency when different sections of the system come on. Then you need to connect it to your water supply. If you're on town water that's pretty simple. The way you run the irrigation lines around to your plants depends on what you want, how you want it to look. Some people don't like the sight of irrigation lines running around all over the ground. You can bury them (but not easily if it's on a concrete slab). There are different sizes of irrigation line, here it's black "polypipe". Probably the same thing where you are. There are joiners and branches. Worth putting clamps on joins to prevent them accidentally coming adrift while you're away. You can get drippers, sprinklers, or spray jets to mist water. Check out the gardening sections of your big stores. Most of the staff should be able to give you advice on it and what's available. My system comes on at 5:00AM and runs to 7:00AM. That gives the water a chance to seep in while evaporation rate is at its lowest and before the sun comes up. The advantage of the automated system is that it frees up your time but also allows watering at less convenient times (like when you'd prefer to be sleeping).