I learned something this season that I knew was coming down the pike but didn't know when, now I know when. For the first time in my gardening history I'll have to stop expanding the garden and start to shrink it next year. I've reached my upper limit on what I can successfully maintain and due to slowing down myself so goes the garden. Missing from next year's planting list will be Onions, Cantaloupes, and perhaps Butter beans. I'll still grow watermelons but on a smaller plot with smaller melon varieties, I just can't pick up those Big ones trying to tippy toe through vines without twisting my ankle or getting a hernia, ha. Will hold onto planting the main staples of the veggie world....as long as possible :)

Ann's idea to contact your county agricultural extension agent sounds like just the ticket to me. We contacted our county extension agent once a long, long time ago, in trying to find out why we were having a problem with growing azaleas and rhododendrons in one particular area of the yard but not in others. With all the budget cutbacks they might not still do that, but it's a wonderful service. Someone actually came out to see the problem here onsite and didn't charge us anything to do it. The fellow who came out was extremely knowledgeable and pleasant to deal with. He almost instantly guessed what the problem was, semi-confirmed it by shifting a few plants within the ground from pushing gently on their stems, and sent some soil samples off to the state lab for confirmation: a moderately heavy infestation of nematodes (the bad kind of nematodes) that were eating away at the roots of the plants. I know this isn't your problem, but your roses might have something that a local county agricultural agent can diagnose just as quickly there. Our service was free, and I assume yours would be too, or at least not too expensive. Even if your agent isn't quite so sharp as ours was, you still probably wouldn't lose anything by spending a few minutes with him/her. We've had two (very mild) cases of downy mildew here. I double-checked those photos and the roses didn't have any ridges on the canes. But perhaps ridges might have appeared if the disease had gotten worse, so telling you this might not be especially helpful--unless you can look or have pictures of the plants in different stages of coming down with the disease. If the ridges are there from the very start of noticeable symptoms, then it likely isn't downy mildew. Your county extension agent is just the right contact for checking out Ann's other ideas regarding the potential for verticillium wilt and sudden oak death. Since they affect plants other than roses too, he might have had a better chance of hearing first about the presence in your area of those diseases before someone mainly concerned with growing roses would have. (I hope it's neither of those diseases. Fingers crossed for you.) One other obvious thing to think about that I didn't think to mention earlier... Try analyzing in every respect the locations of each of the plants that have come down with the disease, and be sure to tell your extension agent about the locations of the goners and whatever connections you might be able to come up with from an analysis of those locations. Example: You have your 180 plants spread among 6 different beds, but all the plants but one that died recently were located in the front beds as opposed to from the back of the house (maybe more likely something like a gradual spreading of chili thrips?). Or, you have losses in all your beds, but they all are located near the new stone edging you've given your beds (maybe too much reflected heat added now?). Or, your losses are in front and in the back, but started out only in those beds that you added some extra bags of ___ to last winter to improve the soil (maybe the bags' contents weren't insect/disease free). Or, your losses are all in places less protected from an especially cold winter that might have set up the roses for succumbing to the first disease to come along. Or, the losses are all close to the swimming pool (spilled some chemicals intended for a pool there?). One other suggestion that might help would be adding mycorrhiza, though it's some trouble when you already have the rose planted, and if it's something like verticillium wilt it might not help enough anyway. I once added mycorrhiza to two ailing established plants and I don't think I'd ever bother with that again, though I do still think mycorrhiza is overall a good idea and we use it when planting a new rose, when it's relatively easy to use. Those two roses I was hoping to help were virused and no amount of adding anything would have changed that. With this kind of (extensive and serious) problem that your roses are having, it might amount to a situation such as ours was. Or maybe not; it's hard to know, especially since the problem is still unidentified. In favor of adding mycorrhiza... would be the firm conviction of someone very knowledgeable in organic gardening circles that plants with this added boost actually can more easily repel disease, and that it's not simply a matter of additional pathways for more water and nutrients (that's a good hedge during droughts and also especiaally severe winters). You can't know whether or not a plant thus reinforced can repel something as serious as verticillium wilt, but if you are willing to go to the trouble, it's unlikely to cause harm. At least what I did in adding it to our already-planted roses caused no harm at all that I could see. For adding to established plants, use something like an especially large and long pencil for punching holes in the ground. (I had an extra knife sharpening steel that was about the diameter of two and a half pencils and it worked perfectly.) You want to punch 4-6 holes in the ground all around the rose, starting from maybe 6 inches out from the center of the plant and directed at the center of the plant maybe a foot down. Pour a small amount of mycorrhiza into each hole, and then spread the dirt back into and over the holes. You're counting on at least one root making contact with some mycorriza, either directly from the hole placement or soon as it grows some more to that spot. If you do decide to try mycorrhiza, be sure to never use any fertilizer that is higher than 1 or 2% in phosphate, as this will harm the mycorrhiza and might end up killing the plant that will have become somewhat dependent on the mycorrhiza working for much of its water and nutrients. One last thought: I still think it's a good idea to water very deeply every now and then if you can, because of the potential for a soil PH that is too high in a low-rainfall climate. This would be true even if your roses have enough water available for takeup; what you want is a flushing of the soil downward to get rid of any salt buildup, if one might exist (though it sounds as if you're giving a good bit of water). In a desert climate, there ought to be plenty of dry soil underneath the plant to take up the excess coming from a heavy watering, and a system flush is unlikely to make matters worse. If this summer was a bit hotter there than in the previous years where you've not had these problems, a higher-than-ideal PH might combine with the main problem, whatever it is, and make it worse by creating extra stress overall. If you are able to fill some watering cans for spreading water around while doing some deep watering, it wouldn't hurt to add a tiny bit of cider vinegar to the watering can, just on a guess that your soil's PH is very unlikely to be too low already and that adding a tiny bit of extra acidity probably won't do any harm. Big beautiful roots likely means no severe root-eating nematode problem. That's all I can think of. In spite of lots of people thinking about your problem from afar, I doubt that you are going to figure this out via internet suggestions. But if possible, do post pictures. The county extension agent idea is probably by far the most important suggestion to try. Best wishes, Mary

Laura: You'd have to talk to bada about terrs for pleuros. Mine is not set up for them, because it gets too warm for them from the heat the lights put out (which is really only slightly above room temp), and I have no cooling system. I believe the trick is to have lots of fans to cool the air, but still somehow keep the humidity high by using a cool mist. There was a long discussion of this at least a year ago. Try searching for it. I think you should find it if you type in 'cooling systems' or something like that. I think that any orchid that likes to stay moist could be planted in the splash zone if they are in the appropriate medium. I have no experience at all with diatomite, so I really can't say a thing about it, but I would actually use a medium that was not very water-retentive. For instance, i wouldn't use sphagnum for sure. I'd probably use bark chips or CHC, and larger ones than one would normally use for such plants. Of course it really will depend on how your waterfall turns out. It will be affected by factors like how strong the pump is (how strong the flow is), and what the waterfall is made of, and if you want more of a gentle trickle, or more of a rush like I have. Of course a trickle won't splash nearly as much. With my waterfall, it is constantly splashing and spraying, so water-loving orchids would either have to be mounted in order to get enough air to their roots, or, if they were terrestrials, it would have to be an extremely open mix. Everything in the splash zone is basically being constantly watered. So yeah, you do basically have to just set up your tank and see what the conditions are like. Jim: I don't know about hydrofoggers. Hopefully Homer will answer that one, but I believe that the ones he uses are the ones you can buy at Michael's and other craft stores. They are sold for use in fountains, to give that 'dry ice' mist effect. And if you use the weekly 40% off coupon at Michael's, they're not expensive at all. As for how to actually hook it up and hang it from the top of a terrarium, I have no idea! Try doing a search for 'Homer' or 'hydrofoggers' or just 'foggers'.

1. Zucchini and yellow crookneck squash need their own area. They may work well in your sfg, but they completely overtook mine. 2. My pet rabbit does not need 12 squares of mesclun. 3. Do not plant my bush beans deeper than one square. They may be planted the entire width of the bed, and in every bed, but any deeper than one square makes the beans too hard to find and pick. 4. Find a good outlet for plants, do not buy them at Wal*Mart. They are picked over and not many varieties to chose from after I get back to my WA home around April 1. Pay double if I have to, but get good varieties. OR sell AZ house and stay in WA so I can start my own seedlings *g* 5. Keep a gardening diary and write down EVERYTHING. There's no way I can remember what worked and what didn't if I don't write it down. 6. Quit over-fertilizing. With good soil/compost I do not need to add all those slow-release pellets. I end up with lush, green plants with too many leaves and not much else. If something looks stressed and needs a boost, deal with that plant alone, not the entire garden. 7. Build some sturdy tomato cages and throw away those cheap wire cylindars or use them for the peppers. 8. Plant more carrots. I can never have too many carrots. 9. Liven up the garden with color...flowers, bright colored planters, garden art. Make it whimsical and fun, I'm the only one who really sees it, so make it look the way I want. Buy some floating row covers (or sheer fabric) so I can have spinach and beets in the spring with no leaf miners. If I want to build a new garden bed, build it. Tell husband AFTER the fact. Sneak it in while he's napping. Learn how to type "raspberry". It is not "rasperry". Granny Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden