Those are exactly the pictures and research we need, so good job on that. If I understand correctly, here's what's up ... It looks like there is a well established swale behind your property running downhill to a catch basin. This is great news! It's possible the orginal grading of the yards in the neighborhood may have never been top notch, but just enough to get by. Then, over the years, the swale may have collected enough silt, that it started to drain slower, to the point that it is backing up into individual yards. If the swale is running slow, it wouldn't be sufficient to just fix the grading and drainage in your yard. You need to contact the city public works departand get someone out there to tell your predicament to, and to inspect the drainage in the swale. It would good if you could follow the swale, documenting in video the drainage flow during a major storm, just in case you need it. More than likely, the bottom of the swale just needs to be cleaned out so that it has more capacity. Meanwhile, carefully inspect the grade of your lot and assess that it has positive pitch running toward the back, likely at a diagonal toward the left side. Drainage from your yard would generally follow the blue line. One thing to note, even if the swale is functioning as it should, or is made to do that, there still exists the possibility that torrential rains can overwhelm it because it has a finite capacity. It can only carry away so many gallons of water per minute, and if the rain exceeds that volume, backing up is going to happen. In that case, nobody would be able to do a thing about it but wait for the rains to cease and for the water to finally clear out. But at least, making sure that you have positive pitch in your own yard will ensure that it will drain when the rain ends. If water does back up, you'll need to raise the shed a a few inches higher and grade the surrounding soil such that it has pitch away from the shed. You might do this just in case. If the city declares that the swale is functioning properly, then your only remedy would be to take care of what you can in your own yard. If the city acknowledges that the swale needs cleaning, but they are in no hurry to take care of it, you might try to encourage your neighbors who share the problem to complain to them, too ... you know ... the squeaky wheel getting the grease.

Thanks for the picture. I have always liked Paradise. Do the own-root ones do as well as the original grafted one?

Off the subject: while taking pics, I noticed Senecio haworthii (I believe now Caputia tomentosa) is being stripped of it's white wooly covering..I remember same thing was posed before, I believe it was Dinie who actually saw the culprit. Not sure if IRC, but it was either solitary bee or some similar insect: I wonder if they line their 'nests' with it...I have 6 cuttings and original plant, and most have been stripped in same way. As much as I don't mind sharing :), I think plant should be protected - that wooly covering is there surely for a reason.

Sheila, high winds are a pain, along with ice storms, and two feet of snow in three days...things like that. It's one of the reasons I work on trees and shrubs for the garden, to provide shelter. Condolences on the snapped canes, though both you and the roses will recover. I remember how beautiful my 'Anna Jung' was, until she drowned in a wet winter. There are a lot of beautiful Teas that I don't have, a fact worth keeping in mind. But I have to give them acceptable growing conditions before I can try them again. I'm inclined to think that spacing is a good idea. It may be honored more in the breach in my garden, but then the roses go out and out, and what can I do? It's hard to foresee how enormous they'll get with time. Cold weather now will push summer back a bit, or at least, that's how I would look at it. It's beautiful here now. My sister took quite a few pictures in the drizzle; I don't know how she's planning on posting them. They're stopping back by for a couple of days between Venice and the west coast, and sis has said she wants to tour the big garden, which she hasn't seen yet, just the yard and the shade garden and the Rock (laburnums). I was down there this afternoon collecting a few cuttings, and the grass was thigh high. It would dress up the place no end to have it cut, but the motor scythe is at the repair shop, where they say they can't get the necessary belt, so it appears we will have to wade through the sea of green as we look around.