Donas - I think that because nearly all of the experienced gardeners shy from most commercial soils based on fine particulates is a good indication that they recognize them as inherently flawed. Some growers feel they are salvable, and others don't feel they're amendable in the sense that you can effectively add a little of this and a little of that and come up with a soil that performs as well as one would if you recombined the ingredients on hand in a different ratio. For example, many growers amend soils like Miracle-Gro with pine bark and perlite to help them drain better and hold more air, two characteristics usually less than ideal in most prepared soils. If you envision a jar of fine particles, like sand, that represents a soil like Miracle-Gro, in your minds eye you can see that adding ;large particles like perlite or pine bark in small fractions isn't going to improve aeration OR drainage. The small particles simply surround the large particles and continue to work against what you're trying to accomplish ....... until, the larger particles become a very large fraction of the whole. Dori uses a bark-based soil because when you START with large particles, the drainage/aeration so conducive to good root health is already there. Many others see the same advantage and use soils based on large particulates instead of fine particulates like peat, compost, coir, sand, topsoil .... The soils with reduced water retention, better drainage, and more aeration allow you to water properly, so you can flush the accumulating salts from the soil at will without worrying about root rot, and they offer the grower, especially the growers that aren't as experienced, a much wider margin for error - they're simply easier to grow in and make it easier to consistently bring along healthy plants. I'll leave a link to a discussion about soils for containers that's been active since '05. There is a lot of information in it. Feel free to join the discussion if you wish. You'll get a good perspective of how a large group of growers approaches the container soil issue. In the end, you could still use up your MG soil in combination with some other ingredients (pine bark/perlite/garden lime). You'll end up with something much easier to grow in, more conducive to root health, and much less expensive than purchasing a commercially prepared soil. You can even watch a video (compliments of Josh) that shows how easy it is to make. Also - see link below. There's a LOT more info there. Understanding the water:air relationship in container soils is probably the largest step forward an aspiring container gardener can make at any one time. Best luck! Al Here is a link that might be useful: More info

I think I will do that - its been 75 during the daytime, its 43 at night now, no freezes due for a week or more - I can get them in the ground and mulch with pulverized leaves for protection before the weather gets too bad. Thanks for the positive reinforcement! Judith

Yes, the polar vortex did a lot of roses in this year. So don't feel bad about losing yours. Sometimes things just happen. As for bringing them inside the house I do NOT recommend it. They will not be happy and you stand just as great a chance of losing them inside as you do outside in the garage. They won't get enough light and the humidity will not be right for them. They just fail to thrive inside. Put them in a protected spot in the garage, where they won't get blasted every time you open the door, up off the floor on blocks and water them some every month through the winter. It's still the best chance they have of making it. We can't predict the weather but hopefully it won't be as bad as last years.

What I've learned is even with organic - liquid- granular ( etc...)fertilizer, they can burn easily with too much. Make sure u water super duper well before n after fertilizing. So in ground would be 1 cup ( if bush been in ground over 6 mo) and half that (1/2cup) if it's been in ground under 6 months. in pots. it would be half of that ( 1/2cup ) for a bush been in pot for over 6 months and (1/4 cup) for bush been in pot under 6 months monthly. These are recommendations I was told by Mr. Hardin who owns Hardins nursery here in Tampa Florida and he has 3-4 thousand roses in 5 gallon pots always huge, beautiful and flawless! ....BUT!.....we have super hot weather here! so if I where u, I would use even half of these recommendations and also make sure u figure in how big your pots are and how often u do water your roses bc if left to dry out after feeding they will burn fairly quickly with chemical fertilizers. I also learned to go lighter on the feed when weather is super hot bc of burning. So They say- the more u water your roses, the more often your able to feed them. So if you don't water often be gentle on the feed. I've burned many roses since I've started so from experience, it's always easier to add more later! It's far from easy to fix a burnt rose! If I where u , I would also read the labels and maybe dilute what the recommendations are and I do know that organic takes longer to break down n start working and doesn't burn as easily as the chemical fertilizer however, chemical fertilizers give u faster results. Good luck!