Thanks so much, Kippy. I look forward to checking these out this weekend. But I'm not so much looking for pink, as apricot, preferably with somewhat flexible stems. Diane and ingrid, Austin touts Evelyn as a 6' climber, and my memory is that several Californians on this forum have claimed 20' long Evelyns. Ingrid, I always check out the photos on HMF, but I never trust that as much as a person-to-person opinion here. Is there an apricotish version of SdlM, or Duchesse de Brabant, or the Tantau rose you just linked on the Austin thread? Also, seeds of the somniferous poppies can be purchased at One Stop Poppy Shoppe and several other smaller seed companies. Burpee has a double peony type called Venus. These poppies are supposed to be out of their element in our climate, but I planted last autumn to take advantage of the cold, and so far all but the darkest color are holding their own and stopping visitors in their tracks. -jannike

Yikes! Be careful with *fresh* chicken/bird manure. Dunno about emus but chicken manure is HOT and should be composted first. This is because of the concentrated ammonia compared to other manure. Ingrid, re: drip... I think drip is a solution of circumstance in each location: water thriftiness, time, location in the yard vs closeness to a water bib, etc. For us, since we are not full time at the mountain weekend/retirement place it started as a necessity, so unlike my old pre-marriage house I couldn't procrastinate until I had planned it ever just so. Also, it sounds like we may have less property, just 1/4 acre in all. *As far as unsightliness*, almost all of the 1/2" line is run either along the fence line, or under the rocks defining pathways or garden plots and doesn't show. The 1/4" line on the roses on the fence don't show at all because of the bushes, the rest where it shows now, the bushes are either growing to cover soon or I guess I can't care cause it's not much. *As far as clogged drippers*, I'm with you on that one, but that's an easy one to fix at least for me and a time trade-off with watering, but I think I come out ahead. Have you tried 'FLAG DRIPPERS'? As I've mentioned umpteen times here on the forum our WW water you can 'bout stand a spoon in it is so hard. Flag drippers are great because the end (flag) can be either twisted or removed. Twisting usually releases the mineral buildup, if not or if there is debris in the line, you can take the end off to clear the line. The latter mostly happens on drippers to the end of the line. In the summer I do this when the drip is running ;-) The ones that I get aren't anything special, I get them at Lowe's. For roses, with the hard water, I usually use two 2gal drippers per plant (none are more than 6x10'). Since, ad nauseum, we are so hard, I check to see if they are running well every couple of weeks, but still, this is less time than watering. This last year, after oh, 3 years I guess, I got another set of drippers to change out so I could soak the existing ones in hot vinegar to clean them. I'll swap them out as I prune/fertilize again in a year or two now that I've had this idea (saves time on the knees/back to do it all at once). *Re our environments* Well, I think I can top you on dryness, it was 9% 'humidity' when we came up on Friday morning, BUT only 70deg. In the heat of our summer we only get a month hovering around 90+. When the daytime gets warm enough, I switch the drip over from morning to evenings so the plants have more access to the water. This is a foreign idea for me growing up by the coast as evening watering of anything only promotes fungus; however, someone up here suggested it and since we are so dry it made a lot of sense and I could see the improvement. *Re since you asked for opinions* Ok, since you asked (and just my opinion, you know how I love to share ;-) so not a judgment) but based on a small slice of similar weather, humidity, and as I recall you also have decomposing granite soil as a base, a couple of thoughts... You said your roses get enough water, but it would seem not the case if they wilt so quickly, right? - OR, so to speak maybe the *AVAILABLE* water could be improved (???), which is where I *subjectively* anyway think that the drip gives me an advantage, at least on my weather/dirt - more water gets to the *deep* roots, less to evaporate, and better still, less weeds. Otoh, I do still need to hose water to work in fertilizer, alfalfa, etc. All that said as I contemplate, I DO have an advantage of our pines that filter here and there a little bit during the day. Otoh, I do have more UV radiation at my elevation. TOO MANY VARIABLES!!! ;-) I may have inferred that you had drip at a former house? If that is the case, it would be a really interesting experiment in your current location if you ran a short drip line off from your hose bib (you could put in a Y so you could still use your hose) and see if the dripped roses do better than before. That would be really interesting!!! As for mulch, I keep adding over time and as everyone says, it just keeps improving, I've now actually found earthworms so I guess it's working ;-) My very best to you, I hope you get this figured out so it best suits you and your garden! Kerin

I have Bees Knees, too. The blooms are very good, I'd say excellent for a yellow rose. Heat doesn't phase it either. Mine's not fully mature yet, though, so I haven't really gotten a lot of blooms yet. Y2K is a great little rose that stands up to heat well. Has a pronounced red edge, but if you're not committed to only pure yellow, it's a good candidate. Very compact, only growing perhaps 16-18 inches tall. Unfortunately, mine was a victim to Hurricane Katrina, when I was forced to evacuate New Orleans for 6 weeks and couldn't water the roses. Y2K was in a pot on concrete, in a very exposed position and it just dried out too much. :( I just got the mini-flora Butter Cream a couple of months ago, and it is a STUNNER! Exquisitely shaped blooms that hold their exhibition stage for a long time. The baby bush has taken off quickly and has already rebloomed twice in the short time I've had it. It's pale, creamy yellow, but definitely more yellow than ivory. Got mine from Almost Heaven. My only disclaimer is that I have yet to see how it handles our summers, but I've read favorable reviews. Rise 'n' Shine was blackspot prone for me, but otherwise a very good garden rose. If blackspot's not a problem where you are, I'd say it's a good choice for a prolific rose. I think the bloom form is only OK, but then I'm biased toward florist rose shape. My favorate older yellow is a larger mini called Good Day Sunshine, from Pete and Kay Taylor of Fairhope, AL. Great garden rose with wonderful hybrid tea form blooms of about 1 and a half to just under 2 inches diameter. Solid, unfading canary yellow, on a 30 inch bush (may get as large as 36in.) Early to bloom in spring and one of the last to stop in the late fall (winter, here). It blooms nearly continuously, rather than in distinct flushes. It takes the heat well, although it appreciates some respite from blazing sun. Mine was crisping in the mid-day sun last june after several months of hot drought. But I moved it to my back patio, where the sunlight is dappled, and it did great, blooming much better than many other roses would in partial shade. The biggest problem with this rose is that I don't think its available anywhere anymore. :( But Peter Rabbit, tell us why you're not impressed with Double Gold. I've been eying it from Nor'East or John's Miniature Roses, because I'm looking for more minis with fragrance. It's supposed to be prolific, compact, with big fragrent deep gold blooms. Are the catalog's over-advertising again? ;) What's the problem? ...blooms blow too quick, or can't take rain, or really isn't fragrant? I wanna know. Thanks. Mike

Very happy to find "Ace Hardware pine bark mulch", which are well-composted this Oct, and have plenty of pine-fines inside. I make my rooting-area in advance for next spring .. by that time the pine-mulch/pine-fines will be more decomposed & less acidic. The rooting powder that Bluegirl mentioned helped TREMENDOUSLY. Things take roots much faster. Do you make a slit at the side of the lower cane like Connie of Hartwood? Or do you slice a piece of outer-layer off like Kitty of California? I'm too lazy, so I do it California way, scrape a vertical piece off from the end, with my paring knife. For indoor & winter: I still don't like covering the plant with a plastic dome, it goes against my logic: cover anything up, and it will surely rot & get moldy !! My kid sprouted some mung-bean in a plastic cup, she covered it, and within a few days white mold grew on it, so gross !! This winter I plan NOT to cover with plastic, and simply squirt the soil lightly with a hand-mister. My neighbor kept a geranium through the entire winter. In freezing March I visited her: she kept the geranium on the window-sill (morning sun), and squirt it twice a day. And it was blooming tons !! I kept house-plants indoor in the winter and was foolish to water it, that was messy: water dripped on carpet, then whiteflies, then rotted stem (too wet). Hand-mist lightly is so much better, since leaves do take up water & nutrients .. same with stem I also put hydrogen peroxide inside my hand-mister to prevent rot. Bluegirl shared how Josh in TX put a paper towel on top of the rooting area to hold in moisture, great idea !! I'm convinced that hard-wood and thick cuttings NEEDS MUCH LESS MOISTURE. Versus the "greener & thinner" stems which dry out faster, thus need more moisture. The "alfalfa sprouts" type of root need constant moisture ... folks do keep alfalfa sprouts in a plastic pouch at grocery store. But the woody & chunky Dr.Huey-rootstock rots easily in poor-drainage clay. As own-root matures from "alfalfa sprouts" to hard and woody roots, they become more sensitive to standing-water and acidity.