Hi again JAG2! Your wicking idea to draw up ground water sounds ingenious Thank you. The idea was actually from a friend of mine but I thought it was a great idea too :-) One thought I had is that the wick system draws water up. I wonder what effect this will have on Co2 in the rootzone? If I only water the top of the containers (eg. "soil drench") a few times a month will I be promoting Co2 toxicity in the rootzone? ...and I would love it if you would post back later in the year and let me/us know how that works out for you. I will definitely do this for you! Given that you will be joining your container to the earth, my above comments are not as relevant so don't worry about it. In what regard? Do you still suggest I use ProMix? Or are you referring to the auto-watering system? The only thing I am somewhat uncertain of is joining the container to the earth only via a nylon wick. [snip] From playing around with the concept of capillary action my only concern is that the wick may not be able to move water upward fast enough to replace what the container uses. Me too! ;-) So that's why I'm going to add at least two "wick tubes" to each of my containers. Another thing I'm going to do is "rain scape"[1] my containers. If all else fails I can hand water them from above (if I have to do it the old fashioned way ;-) ) I will be feeding with nutrients via. hand watering by soil drench about twice a month. I hope the soil drench once every few weeks will expel enough Co2 from the air pockets. How long does it take for the rootzone to become Co2 toxic (for lack of a better term)? Still, it sounds like you have thought this through pretty well and all that remains is some experimentation. Thank you. And thank you for your assistance, your further thoughts and opinions are very welcome! [1] "Rain scaping" (my own term, I don't know real title) is big in Ethopia where they simply make two "mounds" of soil about 5-20 feet uphill (does not need to be steep) jetting outward at opposite 45 degree angles from the container/plant. All this does is funnel the rain water towards the container/plant. In Ethiopia they make a little moat around the container/plant by encircling it with the dirt mount thus allow the water to gather and slowly be absorbed. Heck, it may be a good idea to put piece of "capillary mat" under my containers with about 2-3" extra on all sides. I can encircle the "moat" around the capillary mat which should help the plant absorb the rain water more effectively with less run off and wasted rain water...Yah, natural passive hydroponic outdoor container gardening! :-)

Found the past article about aspirin & roses---it was in the "Heritage Roses" Aug 2004 newsletter. Told about a Corrine Clifton article in the Southwestern Oregon RS newsletter using a dilute aspirin spray that temporarily stopped downy mildew. Treatment was at 10 day intervals while the temp was around 60-65F. Used 3-325 mg aspirin tablets per 4 gal water plus a TBSP of soap as fixitive. She noted that the aspirin sprayed roses had larger new leaves, bigger canes & more blooms. So some anecdotal stuff on roses & aspirin but it would be interesting to have a scientific study with controls to see if it is worth the effort & time to apply aspirin.

Ooooh! NatvTxn! I love those Friktari Asters! Do they grow from seed? Where can I get some of those beauties? I would suggest to ShariDiane that you plant a lot of plants native to arid climates, like Yuccas, Agaves, Cacti, Succulents, Moss Rose, Sages/Salvias, and etc. You might be surprised to know that these were /are grown in traditional English Cottage Gardens, too. In England they are considered "Exotics" and lusted after as much as we desire to have their lush garden plants and bowers filled with roses. Ornamental grasses add colour and texture. Make sure that you get the kind that are not moisture loving varieties. Mulleins grow very well in hot, dry climates and look spectacular with their tall spires of buttery yellow flows that sway in the wind (and birds love the seed in summer and fall). Verbascums too love hot dry places and come in many varieties and color combos. Tall spikes covered in delicate looking flowers in vivid color combos. I have Verbascum nigrum. Yellow flowers with purple throats. The flower buds are purple. Beautiful grown with Mallows. Beautiful planted in with Purple Coneflowers and spikey purple Liatris (two ohers that do well in drought conditions and high temps). ry California poppies and Baby Blue Eyes for Spring colour (and sometimes they bloom again in Fall). They reseed like crazy and you will love it! A great Cottage Garden flower is the Garden Phlox. They do really well once establish. Mulch around them to keep their feet cool and help hold moisture. They are great drought indicators too. If those babies wilt, you will know the rest of the garden is in serious of need of a good watering. Mine just bloom right through the hottest times every summer and we get temps comparable to yours. (And we are having a severe drought here in Oklahoma). Phlox make a good background plant, adding colour and heavenly fragrance to any garden and they come if a variety of colours and sizes. When I lived in the Mojave Desert we planted cannas. They loved the heat. I just ran a soaker hose around them early in the nmorning once a week. Talk about a colour and beauty! They add a tropical look to the Cottage Garden and they come in dozens of sizes and colours too. Dianthus are very sturdy little perennial plants in hot, dry climates and well as annuals like zinnias & marigolds. 'Clove Pink' is a Cottage Garden must in any climate and they love full sun in dry places. And their fragrance - Mmmmm. I have mine growing amongst rocks in the hottest area of my entire property. Sunflowers, Strawflowers, Heleniums, Amaranthas do very well for me too. Sweet Allysums, both annual and perennial love the heat and talk about perfuming the garden air! Planted around rocks or along the garden path edges or stepping stones they thrive and bloom all summer and reseed themselves too. Snow-in-Summer loves dry, hot rocky places. Queen Anne's lace does well, both Cottage Garden classics. Nigella does well in many dry, hot places too. Winter Sow directly in your garden in late summer for best results. I agree that Irises are a good choice, and don't forget Daylilies. They are tough little plants and come in a 'kazillion' colour combinations with endless entries of fun names to choose from. Both of these are Cottage Garden favourites, too. There are many more. Hope these help. ~ Annie 5th Generation Californian now living in Central Oklahoma

I know that extreme is still pretty bad, but at least it is am improvement over exceptional drought. I hope y'all continue to see improving conditions and that enough rain falls to significantly replenish the lakes. That 17% just isn't nearly enough. I hate seeing people burn leaves because they make such a fine mulch or, if chopped or shredded, a great soil amendment. I'm glad y'all have a nice win-win situation going on there. Enjoy the ground moisture while it lasts! I am a transplanted city woman too, but am surrounded by ranchers with both cows and horses and lots of pasture land. There are several different ways to deal with thatch, and I don't know which one is best in your situation since you have a thatch buildup. You might need a tractor-pulled dethatcher if the layer of thatch is heavily compacted. If the thatch is loose enough that you could easily rake it by hand, then a standard hayrake used to comb hay into windrows for baling might be able to rake up the thatch into windrows, but then you'll still have to gather the windrows up somehow and pile them up to burn, or let them dry out enough to burn and then burn the whole field. One of my neighbors has a thing he calls a dragger that he drags behind the tractor, but it actually uproots plants too and lightly regrades the surface of the soil. He uses the dragger to create a seed bed when overseeding winter rye so that his rye grass seed will make good contact with the soil. The dragger is probably more invasive than what you want if you only want the thatch fluffed up or raked up but don't want to disturb the soil surface. Some rotary cutters (commonly referred to as brushhogs) that are pulled behind tractors have these bars on them called conditioners that crush the hay stems on purpose and then line up the freshly cut pasture grasses/legumes into windrows for baling. If your pasture had been cut by that kind of rotary cutter, it would have left you nice little windrows you could pick up or burn once they were dry. There are brushhogs that don't have the conditioners to make the windrows though. If one of those brushhogs is used to cut a field that is to be hayed, then the person doing the cutting/baling has to come back with a hayrake pulled behind the tractor to rake the hay into windrows. I know hayrakes work great with loose, freshly cut grasses that were just cut, but don't know if they would work on a heavy thatch layer that is compacted or compressed and sort of solid, or at least not as loose as freshly cut grass. So, when calling around, explain the thatch layer and tell them you think you need a dethatcher but that you're open to the idea of a hayrake being used if the hayrake operator believes it will rake up the thatch layer. If there's a better thing to use than a dethatcher, I'm sure they'll tell you. I'll be seeing a professional John Deere tractor mechanic (he is a tractor repair genius!) at a VFD meeting this afternoon. I'll ask him what he'd recommend for removing a serious layer of thatch, and I'll let you know what he says.