Here in the clay, trees are holding their own. No real rain since around the 5th of June. South of us got rain, but you've seen some of the posts of the wind that accompanied the rain. No thank you. Although July has been over 90F every day but one, and 5 reached over 100F here, this is a year that I am glad for the heavy soils. The Oxydendrum arboreum is in bloom, such that they are. Pawpaws are filling out nicely even though the stream nearby is dry. The ground under them is actually still moist, so the fruit is doing well. Ditto the nuts on the White Walnut (J. cinerea. Hanging on and filling out. European alder is recovering from the pruning the deer gave it. Another wetland species that is still in good shape is Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), blooming for the first time this year. Once the ground down there gets wet, it takes all summer to get really dry. The down side is that years with a lot of rain, the ground stays wet on top, and the grass is squishy all summer. I don't know how anything grows down there. Once you break through the sod level (about 2 inches), it is solid clay that could be cut into bricks and used for building materials. Amending a hole here is a joke, all you do is make a waterhole. Small trees are simply planted into the slot you make with a shovel. Step on the sides to close the slot, and voila!, a tree is planted. You will find out how old you are if you try to dig a hole. The Swamp red oak from Oikos has finally grown past the browsing level of the deer and is still putting on new leaves. This tree colors up as well as any Maple. Nyssa sylvatica provides lots of browse for the deer, but they too have grown past deer mouth height. Once you get one tree started, it will make a small grove, and you can prune it to keep a bigger tree in the middle of a shorter, much browsed clump. Qurecus nigra, a Southern Oak, and Carya ovata, Shagbark Hickory both are struggling to get above deer level. Last fall, we saw where two bucks must have fought. Two sets of footprints, with the smaller pair sliding backwards. Before or after the fight, one of them attacked the Q. nigra and it went from a nice 5ft specimen to an 18" stub. Did I mention I hate deer?

hi, Prairielaura! Karl once wrote a response in a post on what to do about Japanese beetle attacks...for exhibitors they wrap their blooms with tulle to protect them from being devoured... Luckily I believe grasshoppers have a far shorter season than those mad-breeding JBs... But then I am very ignorant about both pests... but it did give me an aha! moment that perhaps you can wrap your roses with tulle until the grasshopper plague diminishes...that way they can't chew or get to your roses... You may also add wax hot pepper spray as "double protection" should you wish...hopefully the grasshoppers will leave so that your bees can return to their normal feeding grounds... That is the only drawback about the tulle...poor bees won't get to frolic because of those stupid grasshoppers, but at least they won't be killed by insecticides...

Bamboo seed tends to be available on a limited basis. What most people do is use divisions to plant land with bamboo. When planting bamboo seed most people start it indoors and the process is longer to start the grove than with divisions. Being in zone 7, you have many different types of bamboo to try. If you are new to this plant, this site explains more in depth about bamboo. Here is a link that might be useful: bamboo - tree-like grass

Hmmm. Sounds like you made a major investment in your landscape. I'm not an expert, however, I do have a mix of drought-tolerant plants, natives, and traditional plants, but I only hand water once a week, and the natives only once every 2 weeks. Usually, I try not to water unless it's a new plant, or I see something wilting. Plants, in general, seem to be a lot more drought tolerant than we think. But it might also be the frequent shallow waterings. I might try longer, deeper soaks less often. It could be your soil. I recently went to Las Pilitas and they have some very strict recommendations about planting natives. They tell you to do a deep soak when you first plant them (which is very important) and then once a week or so (depending on the plant) for the first few months (sometimes up to a year) and then back off. I recently planted 3 drought-tolerant plants in the same general area, did my deep soak...and a three weeks later, 2 are going gangbusters, and one is shriveled up and brown. The only thing I can figure is there's something in the soil that killed it.