Auteck, I've been warned against afternoon "watering" as opposed to light "misting". Which one are you doing? I will try to get some updated pictures for you. heelsfan, I just came back from columbia, SC which is only 4 hours drive from here and what a difference in climate. It has rained here twice in the last 2 months yet yesterday in SC I got thunderstormed on 8 times in one day. It was like a rain forest. That is the kind of humid coastal plain weather that puts that tropical swamp grasses into high gear and we haven't had that here and we don't normally even get that kind of weather until August. If you're having or have had that kind of hot humid weather with temps in the mid 90's and above then that really isn't what I'm having to contend with. I did see some tall fescue that actually looked like it was in excellent shape though.

I love this forum and all of you to learn from. Jon, you are my favorite teacher, thanks to you I have so much fun braiding and weaving canes. I love to prune but my question is how much damage can the deer inflict on my precious roses? We lost trying to keep them in the pasture last fall and winter, then as the roses were recovering this spring, during Hubby's grading project, they found a way back in the front and ate so much of the new growth and abundant buds. I had several extra large Climbing roses with very long canes already pegged, which delighted the deer. Is there anything I can do to help them recover, Again?

With arid plant survival in moister climates, the short version is: it varies. In some plants, the only danger is root rot, and in this case they'll accept as much water as you give them if there's enough drainage. In others, a dry dormant period is required; a lot of shrubs fall into this category, and can't survive constant moisture even if drainage is perfect. I've heard of people putting transparent canopies (clear plastic or the like) over arid plants in order to simulate dry periods outside, but I don't have any experience with this personally... Regarding the plants you collected: 1. is more likely than not Machaeranthera; probably quite easy to grow. 2. sounds a bit like Liatris, but I'm not sure. 3. sounds like it's probably an Artemisia (sage brush, but actually related to sunflowers rather than true sage). 6. probably manzanita, genus Arctostaphylos, and most likely kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) or a closely related species. Some of the other manzanitas are very difficult outside their native climate, but kinnikinnick is supposed to be one of the more adaptable ones... The others don't sound familiar offhand. Kinnikinnick, Machaeranthera, Liatris, & Artemisia are all cultivated reasonably frequently, so there's probably some information around online about them. Patrick Alexander

Once they leave the box, they don't go back in. Sometimes if they've fledged to soon, and can't flutter to a bush or low tree, you can throw a towel over them, pick them up and put them back in the nestbox. But you have to put a temporary hole reducer on it so they can't get out for another couple of days. The parents can still feed them though, through the hole. This gives them time to gain the extra strength to make it to safety. Then after a couple of days take it off. I'd say they're at least 12 days old then, and they fledge at 16-21 days old. Leslie