The purple giant turned bright white on the tips, magenta on the middle, and deep purple in the center. It looks fantastic and is doing wonderfully. Two of them have perked up. Ive noticed a difference in the structure of the... um.. bush? and foliage. The ones that look wilted tend to be less full and bushy. Much more lengthy, Also I felt the leaves, and they are perfectly healthy, firm. Not wilted at all. But their leaves look as though they are in a state of constant wilt. Because of out heat I try and keep them in shade. Dahlias do much better here when shaded for most of the day. They definitely aren't full sun plants down here. I try to plant them where there is full morning light and dappled shaded light during the afternoon. Some of them get hit by the after noon sun for an hour or so unfortunately. During the day it averages around 87. I say this because one day its 80 and the next its 90. We rarely reach 3 digits. and normally dont go above 95. I live nearish to the coast so it helps keep things cooler. At night I would have to say we reach from 60 - 70.

Trailrunner, I get my roses from heirloom, Vintage, Antique Roses Unlimited, and I have some Austins on order from Chamblees. You can't beat Vintage for the quality of their bands. ARE has 2 gallon plants, so they are off and running. Heirloom's bands have to be planted and allowed to grow some before you put them in the garden, but the roses in the first and last photos were all tiny bands from Heirloom (three years ago). The blooms are 5 to 6 inches on them...I've never had blooms like that til now. Most roses in the second and third photos are from Vintage except one is from ARE...they have been planted much less than one year. Chamblees are supposed to be one gallon. I like own-root roses. The iris are from Schreiners. I spray with fungicides, but not insecticides...I use alfalfa, Rosetone, and composted manure...and lots of water. On the Antique rose forum, I have read that water is the best fertilizer for roses, and I believe. it. Lavender-lass Don't give up, Spring is coming. Thanks Rita, me too, but it's a forlorn hope. Plantmaven...your rain sounds like ours for a couple of years...none. I hope that turns around quickly for you. But, I would think a long time before I planted iris and daylilies next to each other. That may indeed work in California, the land where everything seems to grow, but the water needs for those two plants are different here. My iris would rot if they got as much water as the daylilies need. Thank you all for such sweet comments...I am obsessed with my garden. kay

Jen, I have planted a fast growing tree and that's why not all of the hydrangeas need to be moved. The bed is mulched heavily and I have soaker hoses permanently placed in the bed that I water at least every other day for a minimum of one hour. They are burnt to a crisp and have no blooms... :( I've treid everything I can think of and have just finally decided maybe they're just in the wrong spot... And yellow girl, first I have to say how much I appreciate all of your help that you have offered me in the past. I'm unsure of the pot idea because I have no place that I can put the pots where they wouldn't be in too much sun. I also don't have any basement garage space to spare. Would they do ok under a covered porch against the foundation in my zone? And what size pot would you put those in? Holly, thanks for the report of your potted hydrangeas. One of the things I'd like to try to avoid is high maintenance and so right now I limit the amount of pots I have. So your insight was helpful in reminding me not to become too overzealous about potting up the hydrangeas without thinking about their maintenance. Frankly, I think I just imagined a garden that I can't have. And I'm going to need to rethink it. Somewhat discouraging, but I'm thrilled that I've get to keep at least some of my hydrangeas.

The tops have been mostly off, although I have put them back on when we expected a lot of rain because I didn't want them to wash out. This morning, it is 29 and I flopped the tops back over them Tuesday night, but I'm sure some of them have flopped back over. I brought my peppers into the house because we are having a cold snap with freeze warnings. I'll put them back out tomorrow or Saturday depending on the day-time temps.