We have been experimenting with soil less medias for lilies but find them to be a waste of money, as they will eventually silt up with sediment and lose their porosity. Our medium of choice for bog/marginal plants is 1/2to 3/4" river rock in an aquatic net pot. This allows water circulation and for a while, and stops anaerobic conditions. Lilies, unfortunately, tend to do poorly in this gravel potting system without massive Koi/fish stocking levels fertilizing the plant. Our lilies are potted in squat aquatic pots with no holes mixture of 1/2 sand 1/2 topsoil--we stopped using composted cow manure, as well as aquatic tablets, once we found the NEW once a year fertilizer, with a poly coating that is activated by soil and not water. If your pond lacks planting shelves a food alternative to holding Bog and Lily pots are Clay Chimney Flue liners. They come in various sizes so you can fit all types of pots. [URL="http://www.blcrushers.com/"] jaw crushers[/URL] Here is a link that might be useful: blcrusher

Melissa,your leafy fall cuttings were semi-hardwood cuttings, defined as mature stems from the current season's growth collected before the plant goes dormant. It sounds like you've worked out a good method for rooting them - at least for those roses that want to root at that stage of maturity. In my climate such cuttings started in October or early November need to be covered (as you do) or misted (as I do) and would have a good chance of rooting before winter sets in. I dismantle the misting system once the temperatures drop and leave the cuttings uncovered through our relatively mild and wet winter. In your climate it may be better to leave them covered, or maybe not. That's something you'll have to work out for yourself. Yes, you can take hardwood cuttings now. Or you could probably wait until you do your spring pruning and start some hardwood cuttings then. That works well in my climate. I stick leafless dormant cuttings a node or two deeper and don't cover them, but again, the level of protection required under your local conditions is something you'll have to work out for yourself.

I used a 3 in 1 my dad told me to use when I planted them. But got a bag of Rose-Tone this week. They were planted in very early March. I got out there with tape measure yesterday and yeah... so not enough room for that GG. The GC has enough room side to side but is too close to the front of the bed. I'm going to get out there today and move the GC to a bigger spot in that bed and take the GG to the backyard and give it a nice huge spot by the fence. I know I've read somewhere that red clay has lots of good stuff in it but during those hot dry summer periods man does it get hard as a rock. The guy who mows our lawn dumped a bunch of chopped leaves back under our backyard trees in the fall so they've broken down nicely and I'll add them and some cow manure to the back yard bed. I plan on mulching it with pine straw because it will be considerably cheaper than the black mulch I used in the front bed and I think will hold up better there because that spot is inclined towards the fence and I don't want it washing into the neighbors yard. Shouldn't be any problem with that right? Buford, that late frost killed my basil plants. I got over eager and started planting too soon. The roses were fine but I got some brown leaves on my gardenias and irises. Thanks for all of your responses and patience with my ramblings. :)

ROOTING ROSES with soft-wood cuttings IN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS. I'm in zone 5a, Chicagoland. Roses die to the crown through winter, and don't sprout new canes until May. Below rootings are from softwood & new growth. Soft-wood needs FAST DRAINAGE, so I use 1/3 perlite, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 sand or peaty potting soil. I drilled extra holes on the side of pots for fast drainage. First I top with my high magnesium clay, later on I top with high-nitrogen black peat compost. Watering is done once a day with acidic rain-water plus soaked red-lava for potassium. Soft-wood cuttings need more sun (at least 4 hrs.) to prevent fungal rot. Also pots are under a Norway spruce trees to shelter them from heavy rain that rot roots. These pots receive 10 to 20% of rain. I also put them ON TOP OF BRICKS to prevent roots of tree from crawling upward into pots. Below pic. is Evelyn from a rooting taken from a cutting 2 months ago. Since it's in partial shade, leaf-cutter bees ate the leaves. Rooting softwood is different from hardwood. Softwood requires more sun and I CANNOT COVER with plastic (they rot). But hardwood can be PARTIALLY covered with plastic to create more humidity, see below picture from below link (by Pamela), using coffee-cup (with plastic lid), but there's a hole to allow air to get it. https://www.flowerpatchfarmhouse.com/rooting-roses-from.../ Differences between soft-wood and hard-wood rooting: Soft-wood cuttings needs to be soaked for 1 day with alkaline tap water, rooting hormone is NOT necessary if the end is wounded. Soft-wood's leaves wilt easily with acidic rain. Soft-wood needs a FAST-DRAINING & fluffy medium such as perlite & potting soil, plus vermiculite to retain nutrients. Soft-wood also needs alkaline pH (more lime added). Soft-wood rots easily if the medium is acidic. Soft-wood also rots if covered with a plastic bag, best rooted in open air. Soft-wood also needs more sun to grow leaves. Below are my soft-wood rootings receiving only 10 to 20% of rain since heavy rain rots the rootings easily. HARD-WOOD rooting: needs longer-soak in acidic rain-water, plus rooting hormone to develop roots. Needs a wetter medium (such as 3/4 sand & 1/4 to 1/3 peatmoss), needs more shade, best with high humidity such as a plastic cover. To soak, see below link: "A long soak of the cuttings in one inch of below solution for 12-25 hours. Rates if you use Rhizopon AA Water Soluble Tablets: 1-2 tablets per liter of water." http://www.rooting-hormones.com/rose.htm Fat bud on a rooting done in less than 2 months. The secret is red-lava rock watering for potassium. Learn that tip from HMF Jay-Jay in the Netherlands ... he grows roses from seeds, using red-lava-sand. Below are my rootings done a few years ago under a spruce tree to block out heavy rain: