Just a follow up on Nick's comments: $7.50 TABLES, not table--quite a few, actually. We're talking dozens of different kinds of plants. And not just common things--many that I at least have never heard of. That's what makes it so great--you can rapidly and cheaply expand your collection beyond the "ordinary" stuff. These are mostly species. They'll even sell you by mail ten or fifty plants (their choice, but tailored towards your growing conditions--I assume there are no repeats. I just checked and it even says they will try to honor your preferences. http://www.sborchid.com/plantdisplay.php?ooddate=2008-07-14 If you're lucky (and it helps if you're there early), you may be able to get something with a couple flowers or that will bloom soon. I bought a $7.50 pseudobulb of Cuitlauzina pendula that immediately put out a spike, before I had a chance to pot it up. Unfortunately, I soon managed to break of the spike! It has since flowered in N. California. Their code for plants that grow outside in much of Southern California is "temperature toleerant", and I *think* they label their $7.50's as such. Certainly they tell you something, or if all else fails you can just ask. Of course there's no guarantee the plant was grown outside--just ask. Last I heard Paul Gripp will tell you that he doesn't work there anymore. He's just a "volunteer", he says. His kids now own the place, I understand. The Trader Joe's plants are dirt cheap, but most of them were grown in greenhouses. However, if you know what you are doing (and many of them are labeled), you can keep them inside until they finish blooming, then put them outside and cross your fingers. At a minimum, you've had the initial blooms, which is what most people pay for. The Cymbidiums, for example, should rebloom. If you're interested in getting started on plants adapted to your climate, I notice that Nick mentions Ansellia. I have an Ansellia that is putting off keikis. I've read that they don't normally do this--undoubtedly it's because the plant needed to be repotted long ago, and possibly also because it just went through a move and its first winter in N. California. The keikis look perfectly healthy, as far as I can tell. Anyway, there are a variety of sizes, and while I'm using a few of the larger ones for trades, I could certainly spare one of the small ones--a freebie. I could simply put it into a padded envelope (with more padding, and pick a fairly flat one while I'm at it...) and hope for the best. This would be a TINY keiki, but with very healthy roots (as big as the plant). I don't think Ansellias are that easy to find. This is Ansellia africana 'Garden Party' HCC/AOS, originally from Cal Orchid. Again, it's tiny, but at least you would know what it is. These eventually make fairly large plants. Let me know if you are interested.

There are plenty of things to add to grits to make them tasty, just like there are many different ways to use a tortilla. Tip on cooking grits: DO NOT FOLLOW PACKAGE INSTRUCTIONS!!! Instead, combine the quick grits with cold water and stir to combine. You can add butter, celery (this adds crunch and helps the texture), chopped bell pepper, chilies, garlic, Cajun seasoning, and your favorite salt and stir altogether before heating. Or you can just make them plain, but do NOT boil the water first! If you put the grits into cold water, you will not have any lumps, but if you add grits to boiling water, you have to whisk vigorously to prevent lumps, and this is completely unnecessary. I do not understand why anyone boils the water first, except that that is what the package instructions tell them to do. Those instructions are wrong! If you are cooking stone ground grits, you will need to soak them first in plain water - do not add salt or other ingredients until the grits have absorbed all the water. I start with two cups of water and 7/8 cup of stone ground grits. For a quick soak, bring the grits and water to a boil, constantly stirring, simmer for one minute, and then remove from heat and cover. They should absorb all of this water in one to two hours. Add additional water for cooking, if necessary. I generally use less water than package instructions because I add vegetables that have a lot of water in them, like celery and red bell pepper. I also bake the cooked grits with sausage, cheese, and egg, which I add after the grits have simmered, covered, for five minutes. I mix water with the eggs (because I held back on water in the first cooking) and add them after I add the cold sausage and cheese - therefore I do not need to temper the eggs. I made grits for breakfast this morning, and I did not have bell pepper or dried bell pepper, and so I used some dried chilies (from India) that I had not used before, for heat instead of my chili sauce. I also used some Ancho chili paste instead of salt, for a more intense chili flavor, but generally I had some Knorr chicken bouillon in place of salt. I've decided that I like this dried bouillon, despite what others may think. It's also very convenient to store. If I add dried vegetables to the grits, I also add a bit more water. The dried vegetables are very handy to have, but frozen vegetables are good too. Normally, I add frozen corn before I add the egg mixture, and this also cools down the grits.

Thank you so much for starting this post ! :) I'm always keyword searching the rose forums for roses that grow best in hot and dry socal, Arizona, Nevada... :) I'm in the west San Fernando Valley, zone 19, my front garden is all day sun with patches of shade but my back yard is something beyond "full sun". It laughs at full sun. It's slightly elevated, open around a pool, full southern sun all day beating down morning til night with red brick patio/walkways that heat up like an oven, and white stucco walls, it's blindingly bright and hot as hades most of the year. It's 94 out back right now. We've slowly covered the walls in creeping fig and jasmine which has helped cut down the heat a bit. For me, my most blooming roses are Belinda's Dream, Iceberg, Vavoom, Julio Iglesias, Pope John Paul II and Julia Child. In terms of sheer beauty, Belinda's Dream, Pope John Paul, Mutabilis and Grand Dame. The best in both categories: Belinda's Dream, Pope John Paul II and Mutabilis. They seem to love baking in the heat. Belinda's Dream is an amazing rose. It grows and blooms like crazy with little care and handles heat, sun and reduced water, like Iceberg. But it's blooms are more special. The blooms start like a hybrid tea, and end looking like an antique rose (resembling Souvenir de Malmaison). It's a light pink that blends well with both modern and antique roses. It's lovely in every phase. I have 3 bushes, and one tree rose of her. Alas, little to no fragrance. My Pope John Paul II blooms in quick flushes, perfect white blooms, very fragrant. And Mutabilis, blooms like a champ without any supplemental water beyond getting over spray from a sprinkler sometimes and her single petals are everchanging, silky, colorful and beautiful. I even love the stems, thin flexible and reddish burgundy, they really set the blooms off. Regarding your Austins, do you have them in full sun or part sun? I have an big open spot in one of my front garden bed, full sun, that I would love to put a fragrant full bush type in but I'm not sure if an Austin's color would hold up well or fade. Any thoughts? Also if it might need more shade and possibly more water to grow well. Cardin Mill is really lovely and I like the varying color. Have you tried Boscobel or Bishop's Castle? Curious about those too. I've been wanting Jude the Obscure for a long time, but I'm assuming it would look better with a little shade. I really do need an Austin soon. :D

If you are looking for a purple red rose that doesn't fry in the heat, and would like an Austin, try Munstead Wood. Mine is next to a white wall which faces west and reflects the hot sun all afternoon. We get over 105 to 115 during summer on a regular basis for several weeks at a time. While not blooming as prolific as in the spring, he still blooms nonetheless. I don't bloom as well during that kind of heat either. I cannot recommend a yellow as I don't grow any. They fade in two seconds in the heat to white (at least the ones I have tried). Folks state that Julia Child does well for them during the summer, so perhaps someone else can chime in on that one. Those roses that I have that are lavender that do well, are minis, so again, I can't recommend something. May want to check out a non-mini rose from Ralph Moore. His nursery in Visalia where he bred his roses gets hotter than 90's in the summer (90's are a rare, cool day here from May through October). His roses are great. He bred for health and then beauty. His striped rose (a large mini), Peppermint Parfait, did nothing but bloom all summer long and it was a first year own root. That rose is such a keeper! A little beauty!