There is a way you might be able to get away with planting roses and lavender together and keeping both happy. First, plant the roses where you want them to be, deeply in the native soil. Then raise the bed a few inches, using a thick layer of well-draining soil amendments. Plant the lavender shallowly in the top layer. This is something I've noticed happening in my new bed. I planted the roses in the ground last year, then added about six inches of mulch. I later worked in some composted manure, and lots of organic fertilizer, to prepare the bed for planting perennials this year. My plan was for the mulch to form the bulk of a new soil layer, and smaller-particle amendments added on top would filter down with every rain. Now I realize this will take longer than I anticipated. I notice that the top three inches don't retain much moisture, but everything below that will stay moist. This was actually a problem for me, since it meant that very few of the seeds I sowed in there survived. Next year, I'll have to add something along the lines of "Mel's Mix" across the top to retain moisture and (hopefully) allow seeds to germinate and grow when I try again next Spring. It also meant many of the perennials I planted this year had a hard time keeping moist without supplemental water. Gradually, their roots went deeper and they're fine now. So perhaps for you, maintaining a thick dry layer on top of the bed will keep your roses moist, and at the same time leave a "high and dry" area for planting your lavender. :-) ~Christopher

Oh yeah, DonB, it gets even more complicated. We have few trees in our garden, but I manage to place rings of containers around most of the spots where shade can be found. Or maybe I ring a bird bath, or a pedestal. I ringed a huge camellia sasanqua with old hanging baskets of fern left over from summer, and don'tchakno they rooted and came back to life, and are spreading far and wide, with pots of hosta placed strategically in between them. The pots sort of disappear, swallowed up by the ferns. I really like to do this, surrounding the trees with the hosta. It doesn't harm the tree, and gives shade to my containers. Shade is precious in this climate. I have more pictures of pots around the in-ground trees too, but don't have time to check for them now. My DH is coming home tomorrow morning.

Hi everyone, Just an update. I ran the Clean Washer function with bleach and it seemed to look better but it was still there. I then did the usual wash with Persil (my hubby loves the clean bright look that came out) Ring still there. So I got pissed and put a dab of Grapefruit blast (has citric acid in it) on a soft cloth and wiped the inside of the drum. It started to shine again. After finishing I ran the washer through another Clean Washer without anything (this was to make sure that the Grapefruit blast was washed away) I have my beautiful SS shine back. It looks like it did when I bought it. I hope this method did not hurt the washer. Opinions please Shirl

I've been doing more soaking lately and just soaking makes a big difference on certain things.