Daphne, looks like most of your questions were answered about differences in soil vs. pot, but for one. The height of a blossom should be from the bottom end of the fall, where it branches off from the stalk, to the top of the standards.
Yesterday I did get some compost dug into an area in front edge of a long bed. Even staying 9"/22cm away from the plants some roots were seen! So decent growth in 1 year of new bed in builder's "soil" with few amendments.
