Aaron: What are the qualities in Moonlight Romantica that you don't like? Thanks for any info. I thought about buying it for the vigor, too many rabbits here that devour short roses. Agree with you on weird long cane shooting out out a round bush, saw that with Cream Veranda in a pot for $5 at HomeDepot .. sniffed that and it was odd fruity for me. No regrets not buying, I am spoiled by Marie Pavie's perfect round bush. Carol: Thank you. My roses are healthy thanks to alkaline clay. In my last house with acidic black clay and FULL SUN, roses were blackspot-fest & wimpy. In my present house of alkaline black clay & very shady garden, leaves and blooms are pale but healthy. I find that at alkaline pH, roses bloom well if given alfalfa meal & sulfate of potash & SOLUBLE fertilizer. I put too much garden lime in the planting hole of band-size-Marie-Pavie, and leaves turn pale, but it pumped out 5 buds (fertilized with alfalfa meal & soluble fertilizer). In contrast, another bigger-gallon-Marie-Pavie planted MG-potting soil, fertilized with MG-soluble for roses refused to bloom for months even with dark-green leaves. The pot was too acidic with accumulated rain-water. Click on below chart to see all the major nutrients are less available at pH below 5, and rain-water here pH is 4.5 (same with the East Coast): Below is a map of USA showing the pH of rain:

Erin - some of the pups are a pretty good size. I waited a bit longer than I needed to, I think, but it should be okay. The pups were literally lifting the mom out of the pot... Pen - soil mix is pretty much as you describe. Pumice, turface, perlite...usually either coir or some potting mix in smaller amounts. I cannot find pumice anywhere near where i live either - but eBay has worked well for me. Usually $18-20 bucks (that includes shipping) for 2-3 gallon box. Josh - Thanks. The plants tend to do all the work for me ;-). T

Unless your containers are 1/2 barrel size, TB's will not be happy. SDB's will be more successful in containers. I have decent results with lilies in large pots. My soil tends toward alkaline and TB's do great with HT's and Austin's. Most years no spraying.

blueheron, Did you use course salt (kosher or sea salt)? The dough should be wet but not so wet you can't do anything with it. I mix the ingredients in my KitchenAid just until blended then dump it into a big stoneware bowl I've got. I leave it on the counter, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 2 or 3 hours. Then I deflate it with a plastic spatula (really, the thing from my rice cooker) and dump it on the well-floured counter (since I'm usually baking one loaf that day). I keep a spice jar (that once held sesame seeds) about half full of flour and shake enough flour onto the dough that I can touch it without sticking. I cut off a lump - sometimes 1/4 sometimes 1/3- with a bench knife/scraper then scoop the rest of the dough into a container with a loose fitting lid for it's fridge time. I use a piece of cornmeal sprinkled parchment paper on a flat cookie sheet and let it sit for about an hour. I preheat the baking stone, sprinkle the slash area with the flour (from the spice jar) and cut with a sharp paring knife -somtimes freshly run through the sharpener gadget. I cut about 1/4-1/2" deep then slide the paper onto the stone (and of course add the water to the other preheated pan). I think a lot of it is not adding too much flour to the interior of the dough. Disclaimers: I use KA bread flour - haven't tried any others yet. I also live at 7000' elevation in a very dry climate with a generally cool house. I haven't made the bread anywhere else, so YMMV.