I cannot help you much when it comes to taking cuttings, but others have suggested that. We also have the heat, but not rationing, and this is a rough summer. I am so sorry that your water is now limited.

I would be hesitant to cut, but have you considered shading your roses? I have tried it with my tomatoes, and it has not been real successful, but for roses it might work when you just want them to stay alive.

Good luck. You might want to read some other posts where we have been discussing this horrible weather.

Sammy

I would call places like ARE and Chamblee's and get their advice. They are coping with the same problem and are your local experts.

Flowerchild, I feel your pain. The drought and heat damage is really showing up now, coinciding with the tightening up on water restrictions.

It is like trying to put out a forest fire using thimble bucket brigade.

Cuttings might strike, but not so viable when stressed. I have little luck using anything other than mist propagation, not doable during rationing.

I have been pruning back about 1/3-1/2. But I find this stimulates new growth, which will burn up. The dog chasing his tail...

I am waiting for the 60% shade cloth to arrive so I can commence construction of shade houses for the big beds.

Hope you are getting the rain and a little relief from the heat.

If you do end up losing Duchesse de Brabant, I can hook you up with a year-old rooted cutting, just let me know.

I feel your pain, and want to help. I feel guilty that we have so much rain here in Illinois. The last time we had a drought was 7 years ago. The folks who fertilized and watered their lawn were the ones who had to replace their grass the following spring.

In my cold 5a zone, we don't prune anything until the plants shut down, that is, after the ground freezes.

Since the plants shut down with the heat in Texas, it's safe to cut down, so the roots can cope.

When we had that drought, the only flowers that bloom were the petunias next to the cement slab. Bricks are cooling, and retain water well. I would put a couple of flat bricks around the root, after cutting the plants shorter.

Mulch, mulch, mulch, and shade and as much water as you can give them. (they would not mind grey water from your bath/shower). They are trying to go dormant. When they are dormant they drop leaves, and do not grow or bloom, but this does not mean they are dying. Do not prune them, as this will encourage new growth, which is not good right now.

Jackie

Flowerchild, I agree with Greybird that any new growth may burn up. I've been trying to decide whether to cut anything back in this extreme heat - less greenery for the roots to support, but I'm going to wait for a break in the weather unless it's just a light trim. Soon it will be time for our second growing season. We in the DFW Metroplex usually do some shaping and cutting back in early August for the expected growth spurt in late August and September, but we're opting to wait a while this year. Of course you're south of me in 8b so your situation could be different.
I'm sorry your oaks are so stressed. A lot of trees around here are brown and dropping leaves. Looks like someone swirled summer and fall together in the landscape. Good luck with yours. I hope you got some of that wonderful rain that we got last night. Lou

Thanks for all your kind advice, and the cutting offer, greybird. I do have a Duchess baby rooted in a pot I took off her this spring. Guess I won't prune. ARE says they are waiting, although they've had a few more inches of rain this year and their irrigation is not restricted so far. We'll have to start a thread this fall of the roses that survived this summer. So far,Cherokee, Fortuniana and Lady Banks white up in the trees look unfazed. They are without supplemental water and in heavy competition with tree roots. Guess I will be back to the tough beauties and happy for that. I've already lost most magnolias, hydrangeas and azaleas but cannot picture trying to make them live thru any more of these dry summers anyway. Amazing how quickly things just up and die ... best of luck to all and thanks again.

Greybird��..

Isn�t it interesting how each of use sees and interprets something different while caring for our roses ?

The best advice is to check with a good rose nursery near where you garden. However, for me, that is impossible as I live in a small old gold mining town in the mountains of northern California and the nearest nursery is a three hour drive, or more, away from where I garden and always in a different climate.

In this garden, I generally have no rain from the end of April to near the end of September with high temps for most of the rose season which dictates a lot of my rose care practices.

While you may see the new growth coming back on canes that you have cut back as a negative because the plant is using energy to create that growth, I think of it as a positive as it shows me the rose is moving moisture and nutrients up through the cane to produce that growth and that the cane is being rehydrated from the inside in that process. I continue to cut off the new growth because I want to keep the moisture moving from the root zone through the plant. I have found that I have lost fewer canes as long as I keep the plant working. When I experimented with not cutting the plants back, I ended up with more dead wood because the plant was keeping all of the moisture in the root zone.

However, there very well may be other factors at play and my theory about what�s happening with the rose may be totally wrong. I�ve just found that cutting the plants back and encouraging more new growth in my climate tends to help the roses in my garden continue to push the moisture up through the canes.

Good luck with your roses.

Smiles,
Lyn

To Roseblush1 (Lyn): I agree with your kind comments. You shed insight to what I could had done differently when we had a drought in Illinois 7 years ago.

The instruction that came with my baby roses said to cut off all buds for the first year. That way the plant spends time and energy developing roots, rather than upper growth.

I googled "How to handle drought", and the experts recommend pruning as needed to stop the spread of diseases (mildew), and to prevent the infestation of insects such as beetles.

Here we prune peach trees hard after harvest so they branch better and develop more fruits next year.

Before the drought hit, I bought many varieties of Rose of Sharons, Summer Phlox and Mums. We had NO water restriction, so I spoiled them - water everyday whenever these new plants sulked. They all died through the winter due to shallow roots.

I came across an on-line article about "Tough Love: Not to water your roses during a drought". If I have to do all over again, I should had put my new plants into dormancy, or early "winterization" in June: chop down really short, mound peat moss & dirt over the bud union.

I would put large buckets (bottom cut-off) 4" deep around the plants, leaving 8" above the ground to shade the plant. I would cover the buckets with grocery brown bags. Then I would water the plants deeply only once a week during the summer, and twice a month during the winter.

Sacrificing the top growth for the bottom growth (deeper roots development) is the key to survival during a drought. The folks who pampered the top growth (fertilizing and watering their lawn) were the ones who had to replace their grass the following spring.

After that drought, we practiced "drought prevention". We installed landscape plastic edging on all our flower beds, dug down to 4", lay thick newspapers on the ground, then put bricks on top. It's a triple defense against the grass, and it holds moisture well.

We also collect leaves and grass clippings from the neighbors, spread them in the fall, so next spring and summer we don't have to water the garden. I find that organic matter retain moisture better than dry tree bark, plus supplying nutrients. Tree bark robs the soil of nitrogen as it breaks down.

Pruning renews vigor and health to the plant, which is essential during a drought. During a crisis, such as a drought, trimming down of excess branches means a reduction of water demand, and less work for the plant.

I guess as we talk about drought, it would help to consider zones, soil, heat and humidity. The management will not be the same when your summers are humid 90's vs prolonged windy, arid 105-110. Also, the depth of the root system will be more of a factor in areas of cold winters. And the water holding capacity of the soil makes a difference.

*******Greybird.......

You are right that different climates, different soils impact how we work with our plants to bring them through drought.

I have what I consider cold winters... average night temps are down to 20F or to low teen, but the ground never truly freezes because days temps move up into the 30s and 40s, but it is cold enough to impact top growth and at my elevation and I do have some snow. My summer temps are usually in the high 90s and low 100s, but often we have weeks of temps around 110F and because there is no rain during the summer months, I think of my climate as arid but it does have more humidity than a desert because I believe the trees in the forest surrounding the town make a difference in the humidity.

I laughly say that I don't have soil. I have glacier slurry. It's tightly compacted rocks with clay between the rocks. It can rain buckets for days and I will never see a puddle of water as it drains faster than I expected.

California has a regular cycle of drought years and wet years. In a drought year, we get, on average 20" of rain. In a wet year, it is twice that. Last year, we got 47" of rain ... all in a few months rather than spread out over the whole year.

It's learning the botany of the plants that has helped me learn how to garden here, but even then, I am still in a learning mode. I have discovered that rose holes that drained slower when a rose was first planted, now drain much faster. I think that is because the water has found a way to seep through the glacer slurry under the rose hole. I won't know for certain until I dig up a few roses to move them.

Mulch helps keep the soil temps more even and keeps the rocky glacier slurry cooler, so there is less heat impact on the plant's in the root zone.

There is no shade in my gardening area, so studying the impact of heat on the plants and finding a way to help them survive has been an ongoing learning experience.

********Strawberryhill: Even with years of mulching with organic material, I am not going to improve the "soil" in glacier slurry. I have to remove the tightly compressed rocks first. This year, I am putting down a very heavy layer of wood chip mulch on top of my organic mulch which consists of white oak and black oak leaves collected from a friend's oak grove. (I dig down to get the decayed stuff.) To counter the nitrogen loss, I use calcium nitrate in the spring spread around the root zone and the plants seem to like that.

btw... I don't plant any companion plants in the rose beds and weed diligently because I want no competitors for moisture. I have other areas for those kinds of plants and NO lawn. It takes more water to maintain a lawn than it does a large bed of roses.

I love sharing this kind of information because my climate is one of extremes that most people never experience.

Smiles,
Lyn

Greybird, you are right about the differences in temp., humidity, and types of soil resulting in different ways to handle drought.

Lyn, thank you for sharing with me your interesting climate condition - I can't complain much about my clay soil.

Looking back at my drought experience, it's ironic that I lost the plants that I watered the most. The plants and bushes that I could not stand the mildewed look - which I chopped all down to 2", all survived until this day (maybe the fallen branches & leaves protected the roots !)

I chopped them since I thought: 1) plants lose lots of water through the leaves 2) they lose all top growth during the winter anyway.

That 2004 drought was hard on us - we spent over $300 per month in watering just to keep our 26 trees alive (deep watering once a week). The trees were worth it, but not the new plants and bushes which died through the winter.

The thing about this year is the lack of rainfall (4") compounded by catastrophic heat, continous winds, low humidity. With the lack of moisture in the atmosphere, there is nothing to stop the sun from heating the earth. The baking action of the ground emits more heat into the atmosphere. With no moisture in the atmosphere, no cloud formation and no chance of pop-up showers. Storm clouds from elsewhere unable to break through the pervasive high Texas is under. All working together for desert conditions that no amount of watering will help.
We are praying this is an anomaly and not the shape of things to come. The roses are now dropping like flies months of punishment. Even cactus and succulents are stressed.

My sister saw a deer walk up to a metal stock tank yesterday, take a few sips and lay down and die. She raises goats for a living and is watching their value plummet daily as more animals are sold off at dispersals. Cactus is indeed dying and will not be a source of liquid for cattle as it has been in past droughts. I shouldn't really be stressing out over plants dying when so many persons livelihoods are at stake, and the toll on wildlife is tragic. A fox is living under our deck to have access to our little pond which is all but dried up. Our lake is over 4 feet low and Houston has recently served notice they will start drawing a half inch per day.(they own 2/3 water rights). Despite fundamental fears as a 4th generation Texan born during a severe North Texas drought I'll try to look on the bright side. My water bill has been over $800 two months in a row - 4 times our electric bill. Prior to June our highest bill ever was $400 last July. At least with restrictions that has to decrease (unless they change the rate per gallon tiers and add more surcharges again)! Duchess is such an easy rose to rose I don't know what I'm whining about anyway. I'll continue soaking several oaks that deserve more consideration and of course pray for rain. Might experiment and cut at least half the roses back. What do I have to lose?

Flowerchild, thinking about that deer made me cry a little. We get to feeling sorry for ourselves, but the wildlife have it really bad, nothing to eat or drink with no reprise from the heat. I was reading about the noctural animals now come out to feed in the daytime, even the bats. Heartbreaking. I have many birdbaths, some ground level and keep them filled at all times.
I am so sorry to hear that Houston will be tapping into your lake. 1/2" a day, that is terrible.
$800!!!! Hope they don't up the charges on you. OMG, I dread seeing my next water bill. Just this last month, I have started using municiple water, my well is too dry to use for much anything.
I have begun to cut down on the watering. Like you, I see little to lose. If this drought really does continue into 2012, it won't matter too much.
My grandparent immigrated from the Old Country at the turn of the century and we have several farms, all dry land, no supplemental irrigation. My dad farmed all his life, and in all of his 88 years has never seen it this dry.
I am used to conservation and drought management. I just wonder how long this drought is going to last?

Greybird.......

I too, feel your pain. I've lived through droughts with water rationing, but had a small garden at the time and didn't suffer as much as my friends with larger gardens in another part of California.

I have to admit, living in the mountains of northern California, I it's unlikely I'll ever experience anything close to what you are seeing and experiencing.

My water bills are very low, for now. I am certain there will be water wars in the future because the demand for water in southern California is ever increasing... but that's another issue.

Good luck getting throught these hard times.

Smiles,
Lyn

Those in fragile environments feel changes first.

I dread the water wars. Negative as it sounds, I think the pervasive sadness I feel is more of an apprehension of what is coming as opposed to mourning of current loss.

flowerchild and greybird, your posts are truly heartbreaking. What you're describing is a disaster for people and wild animals alike, and sounds like a living hell to endure day after day. It's a helpless feeling not to be able to aid you in some way. I just hope and pray that some miracle occurs and you'll have rain soon. Take care.

Ingrid

I will keep you all in my prayers - that's all I can do. My heart goes out to all of you in Texas and other drought areas. I've got the other guys here at the abbey praying too.

Ingrid and Jerome, your thoughts and prayers mean more than you know. Thank you.

Leigh