Oh, that sound like a perfect spot for one. They do need cool roots in hot zones. I just mulch mine to shade them and plant stuff in front of them while they climb the trellis. Bri I hope things get better for you. I wish I could find someting cool like ground orchids around here. I went to Lowes yesterday to get screws for the greenhouse and didn't even go to garden center. They have absolutely nothing there right now but Christmas trees, poinsettas and pansies, lol.

i dont 'do' facebook .... i am not.. and never have been .... a lemming.. doing what the media tells me to do .. good luck on your quest ken

Such happy news, Fran! Congratulations! You sound so happy in your post. Good to hear you're getting back into quilting... it's hard to find time when so many changes are taking place. That special man might just need a special quilt just for him! Hope to have you more involved here, again! You were definitely missed!

Hi, BalTra. Years ago I spent a lot of time over at the Landscaping Forum and do recommend it. Back then, though, answers could be a little harsh and sometimes even deliberately unhelpful, but I think a good part of that arises from the fact that a garden simply can't be designed from a distance, just too many dynamic factors, or in any brief period of time. It's like kitchen design x100, maybe 1000, in complexity, each genuinely helpful answer requiring much more time and research to craft, then still frustrating because of all that must but can't be known to do a good job. All the more so because people asking for help often would first need extensive education to benefit properly. So my suggestion is to read a couple of good, CLIMATE-SPECIFIC (factors 1, 2, and 3 in successful gardening) books on creating a beautiful home landscape before posting much at the forum. You'll then be in a position to ask some of the more specific questions that arise, a much more manageable task to respond valuably to. As it happens, I'm also a big-time gardener developing a new large one, which then went to pot and is slowing being pulled back together--in a different form. In my case, an autoimmune disorder makes getting overheated (I've become extremely heat intolerant) and exposed to UV serious health threats. Gardening was so important to me and the garden now so impossible to manage, that I also mostly abandoned it in discouragement and unhappiness for a couple of years. Christine, are you finding a new appreciation for the matured plants that didn't die? Or for some of the simplicity that has resulted (even if you have to imagine a lot of it behind the weeds)? Digging and transplanting in our hardpan and clay is mostly too much for me these days, so my slow bringing back and continued development of our 2 acres is mostly taking place by my walking around in early overcast mornings with a pair of loppers "sculpting" a garden from the rampant growth that needs no help from me at all. It's a delight to "discover" those plants that have been growing mostly happy and healthy toward maturity. Fussy areas can't be moved, so where friends haven't come and cleaned out the mower and bush hog continue the sculpting process. Fortunately for me, my favorite has always been a luscious green garden set off by seasonal flowers as special accents. Hollysprings, your roses are so lovely. I definitely agree with choosing among the many rose varieties that do well on their own. Among my surviving and flourishing abandoned plants, even in an region that's been plagued with drought more years than not lately, are a number of roses, both antique and new varieties, that are covered with flowers right now. I can't get anywhere near it because of the hornets that have homesteaded close by, but Veilchenblau apparently decided it preferred climbing into a cherry tree to hanging over my retaining wall, and now it's putting on a show from a living room window that looks like something in a magazine, at least as long as you ignore the baby jungle at its base. :)