If you are going Organic, you really can not over do your applications. Lawn Restore is a good product, but you can also use Corn Meal or Cracked Corn, Soy Bean Meal and Milorganite (5-2-0 with 4% iron) to give you some diversity. Used Coffee Grounds can be used, if you can find a good source. In the fall, you can mulch mow leaves others throw away curb side and add lots of organic matter for free to your yard. It usually take 3-4 passes to make them disappear. Your neighbors will think you are crazy, but you can not deny the results. I applied 350lbs of organics / 1000 ft2 last year. Hoping to hit 500+ this year. Now for the clay, you can use a soil conditioner and wetting agent to loosen it up. This with the organics will open up the soil over a few years. Humic Acid, Dried Kelp and Black Strap Molasses can help energize the microbes in the soil and get things moving quickly in the spring. NC Agronomic agency soil tests are free and get you in the ball park. Although, once you dial the soil in, you may want to use a lab that gives you more details so you can tweak the other elements in your soil (Boron, Copper, Manganese, Zinc and Iron) Using lime (whether Calcitic or Dolomitic) is important and which one you use will help you with your pH and Calcium to Magnesium ratio (7:1 is what you are shooting for). Calcitic is usually 5x the price, but has 5x the Calcium. S http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg0311011017714.html Lastly, NCState as a NTEP testing site for grasses. If you want the best results, using the best grass for this area is key. Typically the big box stores are not the best place. Online you can order exactly what you want. http://www.ntep.org/tf.htm Just read the results for the NC testing center and you can get an idea of which varieties you will want. In the end, you are probably not too far off. Since you enjoy it, adding a few more pieces to your schedule should improve your results.

Hi Beth - I'm new to this forum, but not new to coastal Southern Cal rose growing, so I'll chime in too. I'm in San Juan Capistrano on the South end of Orange County and about 2.5 miles from the beach in a coastal canyon. So I know all about roses in the marine layer fog. Mildew, not black spot, is the bane of our existence here. The only blackspot I've ever seen in my garden was on florist roses. But I do spray. And the three most fragrant ones on your list -- Double Delight, McCartney Rose and Fragrant Cloud -- will mildew even with religious spraying. But, the fragrance is worth it and I grow all three. No one has told you about the rose societies here yet. There are several. I go all the way south to the California Coastal Rose Society in Carlsbad. That's probably too far for you. There are two other OC rose societies -- the Orange County Rose Society which meets very near to Huntington Beach in Westminster -- they focus on exhibitions and hold their show the last weekend of October every year at Rogers Gardens. There's also another one that focuses mostly on gardening, garden tours and garden parties -- no exhibiting -- which is the Saddleback Rose Society -- that one's a bit inland for both of us. Wholly different climate those folks have. You can get to either one by googling the names, or I've put a link in here for the OCRS. On the rest of your list, I've grown most of them, and they do just fine. But as a general rule, in coastal cool areas like ours, fewer petals is better. Many roses just won't open like they do in hot climes, and sometimes you just die waiting for a leeeetle bit of heat to get them open, which never comes. So, plan to have some that open without heat. As for colors, try these -- Pink -- Our Lady Of Guadalupe is by far the best pink floribunda. But also check out The Imposter and Lovestruck, both of which do well for me. For Hybrid Teas, I like Memorial Day. Purple -- Intrigue is okay, but try Purple Tiger -- it's better and it's striped. It does really well on the coast. For a Hybrid Tea, I like Neptune and one that Armstrongs carries called Della Reese that is a darker purple hybrid tea with occasional exhibition form. Orange -- About Face Red -- I'm still looking for a good one. Yellow -- Julia Child or Midas Touch. Or even Peace, which gets enormous blooms on the coast. Multi -- get some stripes -- City of Carlsbad if you can find it or Cabana if you can't. Have fun. I seem to move every few years just BECAUSE I get to replenish my garden. Enjoy it. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Orange County Rose Society

You may want to start marketing your potted plants as fresh herbs for the holiday season. Make it clear that there is no guarantee but with care they should last at least until Thanksgiving. Ask that the purchasers tell you in the spring what they did with the herbs and how they lasted for them. You did not state what herbs you have but instill the idea of stretching the season rather than planting herbs in the ground to live forever. Even if you decide during the winter season that you will not do the next year asking for information gives the purchaser a feeling of trust that you are here to stay. Even if you have no sales the plants that you have grown could be used as cutting material for next years plants. During the off season study some of the marketing techiques that can sell your produce. One of the things that I see wrong with your posting is that you are using organic methods. Although I agree that you should use those methods unless you are certified you can not list your plants that way. Study how you can legally market that way or just use grown with organic methods rather than organically grown. It will save you many headaches.

A couple possible problems, these agro-liners can silt up and not drain so well. I really don't think that will be a water problem with hosta except it might make a little pond over winter leading to more problems with freeze/thaw. Mulch the area over winter to help with this question and a pile of leaves will do and help the plants. I would have made large holes in the bucket and lots of them to ensure drainage; again I think it will work period. I also don't think it is necessary to have a special spout to water since the water will drain down to the reservoir with overflow moving out through the bag. One advantage to using H.'Abba Showtime' is I know someone who has more of them in fact he has a bunch, loves experiments, the investigators, and supports investigative work with time and materials. This is extreme but not hard. Drill a little hole in your bathroom window, now we going to fit a two-sided pipe on either side. Attach a hose (aquarium size) to each side put a small pump in the tub and start the water trough this hose until it has started then allow gravity to move the water. In the winter just cap this the little transfer station. I do this with my bath water all the time or do the same with a washer, sink, toilet used for only certain purposes, any water you have in the house can be moved outside. Our kitchen sink drains to the bog out front; our washer also drains into the front bog. Well the truth is I don't do the toilet but I could and may do it just because I've raised the specter of doing such a thing. Nothing that is in your tub, sink, washer, or toilet (used for certain purposes) will be a problem for your plants. This will be great fun to see the results. "Progress through Science". We look forward to your doctoral thesis on water management.