Be careful also how much water you give them. Typically 1" per week of rain is enough once established, first year a bit more. If the soil at the base (under the mulch!) is not dry, you probably don't need to water. Overwatering (and over-fertilizing) kills most new rhododendrons, especially if you have poor-draining soil. Don't water if the plant isn't showing signs of being dry if you've gotten rain recently, even for newly-planted plants. New growth on rhododendrons will wilt during the day if it's very hot; this is ok if the growth is firm and upright again by morning. New rhododendrons do need to be watered weekly if there's no rain or if temps are very hot, but be careful. Also, don't cut the rootball when planting in general; if it's pot-bound tease the edges with a finger to get some of the root ends loose. If the soil drains poorly, be even more careful of overwatering. If it's hard clay, plant on top of the surface and surround it with a mix of loam, sand, and good humus, compost and/or peat. Newly bought rhododendrons and azaleas (and pieris) shouldn't need any fertilization for a year and none in the soil when planted, and after that, a single or perhaps two applications in the spring of Hollytone or Osmocote in recommended coverage. Do not fertilize after June or you'll encourage it to put in new growth that won't be hardened for winter. You can find a good primer on planting/etc at rhododendron.org: Here is a link that might be useful: Rhodendron.org Plant Care

I got 8 roses from S&W Greenhouse. I was pleased w/ their large bareroot roses early spring. They shipped at the end of Feb. I was fortunate as the weather was mild and I only had to wait a week before planting them in the ground. There was a night when the temp went to 13 a week later and I was nervous. The plants were completely covered w/ loose dirt and leaves and I put extra bags of leaves on top. They all did well.

The roots go a lot further down than an inch, and it doesn't look like that pop bottle has any drainage holes. I still suspect they are too wet most of the time, and probably are not getting enough sun as another poster noted. Lavender is originally from the Mediterranean region, along the coast. Yes, they manage to grow a lot of lavender in England - it is still a Mediterranean plant, however, that grows best in dry, chalky, poor soils. I think the Brits just tend to be better gardeners on average than the average 'merican, LOL! Plus they have lots of chalky coastline ... think the White Cliffs of Dover ... Lavender does NOT do well in soil that is moist all the time. If they are doing "better" since you started daily watering, I shudder to think how they were doing before, because those plants are not doing anything like "well", especially given that you started those plants way back in the spring. Here's a picture of a potted lavender that is doing well: Potted lavender advice Lavender needs 8 hours of sun a day, at least. Full sun in the garden is what they are talking about there. I don't think your plants are getting near that on your balcony. It will only be worse sitting near the window there in your kitchen (or where ever you plan to put them over winter). I understand that you are in an apartment and have VERY limited access to light and space for growing plants. Lavender is a very challenging plant (so is rosemary) for growing indoors. I've never had any luck growing either plant indoors myself. I'm not saying it can't be done; but it is a challenge. Your setup is not adequate to the task at this time. You're not getting nearly enough light; the soil mix in your pop bottles looks too heavy (lavender does better in a soil-less mix, in fact I think potted lavender may be a prime candidate for some version of Al's gritty mix). There are no drainage holes that I can see in that pop bottle and you are overwatering if the soil is never allowed to dry out. Lavender also like an alkaline soil. Adding some lime could help. ESPECIALLY if there is any peat moss at all in your soil mix, or if you are using pine fines as mulch or a soil amendment. So - alkaline soil, allow the soil to dry between waterings - not totally since these are first year plants but it shouldn't be wet or even damp all the time; and it loves the heat but dislikes humidity (hence it does pretty durn well in our dry near-desert conditions in N. Nevada). However at this point in time I hold out little hope for the survival of your plants over the winter, given their stunted condition now. I'm not trying to be discouraging; go ahead and try, you've come this far with them. But you need to repot them in a soil-less mix more suited to the plant and be prepared to supply extra heat and light, else they will not survive. Here is a discussion and fairly clear description of how to make Al's gritty mix. Personally I have found ALL the ingredients difficult to impossible to find. Turface, in particular, I have never been able to lay hands on - and though it is the virtually same stuff as certain types of cat litter or adsorbent, it isn't ALWAYS the same stuff. For instance, Napa Floor Dry has been touted as a replacement - but there are TWO KINDS and only one of them is suitable for this purpose. And I'm too tired to go dig up the links that tell you which is which. Also, having to screen and discard large portions of your ingredient isn't exactly lending itself to being affordable - let alone easy. That said - for this particular instance, I think gritty mix is your best bet - if you can only find the ingredients and get them properly screened and mixed.

Did Phyllis Diller die? I don't think so. I've never read Nora Roberts, but now I'm curious. Other than what's his name that wrote "The Firm" (drawing a blank) I've never read crime dramas. I usually go for funny and day-in-the-life type stories. I think Mariska Hargitay would look like she could eat Colin Farrell up, he's kind of a twerp. Jennifer Garner kicked butt in Alias, she's really good at the tough (pretty) girl thing. Jennifer Esposito would be really good as a pretty - tough girl but I want her to play Stephanie Plum so you can't have her.