Jeri, I'm beginning to think that you live in one of the mildew capitals of the U.S. I haven't had any mildew to speak of and so suspect that your humidity is much higher than mine, which is not surprising since you're much closer to the ocean, and I gather I'm also higher in elevation than you. Still, these are not roses I'd consider unless I hear from someone who is closer to my area. I'm not planning on ordering anything this year but am trying to put together a list of five absolutely outstanding roses for my climate with hopes of ordering them for 2009. By that time I suspect I'll have found room for them. Thanks so much for the info. The way you put it made me smile. Ingrid

How about cork oak? (if you're able to find it) As far as desert trees, I think you're thinking of Palo Verde. I think it would meet all your needs. If you were willing to have fruit, a fig tree could be another option, but they can get messy if you don't harvest all the fruit before it falls to the ground (unless you got a male fig tree). Pakistan mulberry might be another option, this variety is more tolerant to heat, and mulberry trees have beautiful shade leaf foliage, but again, if you don't pick all those mulberries it can be messy. Last one to mention is a "California pepper tree" (actually originates from Peru). It's a medium-fast grower and is fairly drought tolerant. But a word of caution, if you do supply it with a lot of water for many years and it does grow big, but then it goes years without any water at all, it will suffer drought stress and become susceptible to disease. Only the bush-level trees that haven't grown to a huge size are truly fully drought tolerant. They can drop a lot of leaves and little red berries, so can be a bit messy. Pepper trees also put out a lot of surface roots, so it's unlikely you're going to plant anything below it. Before you plant one, I'd rub the leaves across the top of your hand because there are a small number of people who have a contact allergy to the leaves. They can be a beautiful medium small tree.

WELCOME!!! You've come to the right place to save yourself a whole lot of heartache in the rose dept. I used to think that roses didn't do well for me in L.A. Airport adjacent because I didn't spray for fungus regularly enough. After all, what I bought locally should all do well for me, right??? So, so wrong. I learned here, that I just needed to buy roses that are resistant to fungus (we have a VERY heavy mildew burden here). ***I didn't need to spray*** Who knew??? While I honestly don't like to spray for environmental reasons, if I'm going to be honest, I'm not structured enough to do it on the strict schedule required. Something to think about - once the leaves get mildew, you can't 'fix' them. But guess what? There are lots of choices anyway! And, I'm afraid, it's just another area of one's life where one should be a careful consumer at the local store. Of the modern roses, I think you may learn to appreciate florabundas. Very pretty landscape plants, often in your size range. I'd like to suggest Walking On Sunshine. I got it in spring of last year on Jeri's advice and it has been just amazing. About 3' round in our garden and always in bloom. Lovely saturated yellow, but fading to a still lovely creamy yellow that doesn't look faded. Also a nice scent. Wouldn't be without it now. Armstrong's should have it when they get roses in next year. If you have the room (depending on soil), I'd heartily recommend Golden Celebration as well. I call the blooms 'happy blooms' and I really like the smell as well. Your mileage may vary. Depending on your soil, size may vary. When I was LAX adjacent, it never got more than 4' in sandy loam and half day sun. Three miles inland in amended clay, it wants to be 6' tall (or better when the DH fertilizes the adjacent lawn ;-) It's not great in all parts of the country, but here it really shines, imho (and if Jeri agrees, enough said ;-) Lemme see... Our Julia Child was an experiment and I'd get it again. It is tall as the other poster said. It also fades well, not a common trait among yellows. Reminds me of Julia cutting into her favorite food, butter, new ones are like the outside of a stick of butter and older ones are like the inside. There are lots of others we can explore here. The only other advice I'd say is that roses aren't hard if they're the right roses in the right place. In fact, roses are a great hobby/passion and have wonderful history. Just don't get the ones labeled 'red' or 'white' or 'yellow' ;-) Oh, one other thing to think about. I would bet, if you got America late season, that it didn't have mildew because it was sprayed at the producer. Just a thought.

Ginny, I use Gro Power for both my citrus/avocados and my stone fruit trees. I really like it because I'm on mostly DG. I do compost as well, and apply compost and mulch, but my soil is pretty thin, and using Gro Power has really helped, due to all the humic acid in it. I use Flower & Bloom for my stone fruits (lower in N), and Citrus & Avocado Food for my citrus and avocado trees. Great product. Patty S.