I live farther north in Palos Verdes (next to Redondo Beach) with similar marine conditions. I've grown without any mildew problems: Mellow Yellow - Hybrid Tea (grown in a pot even though it is a big rose) Sunsprite - Floribunda (grown in the ground) Gemini - Hybrid Tea (in the ground - not sure how it would do in a pot - it is somewhat big; awesome rose for cutting) Honey Bouquet - Floribunda (very clean, lots of flowers, but this was in the ground) Sexy Rexy - Floribunda (blooms in huge flushes, also in the ground) Trumpeter - Floribunda (grown in a pot, it is a relatively small rose) Gourmet Popcorn (never out of bloom and tough as nails) I have not personally grown these roses. At the South Coast Botanic Gardens here in Palos Verdes the healthiest disease free roses I've consistently seen during multiple visits throughout the year were: Midas Touch (small hybrid tea) Mardi Gras (floribunda) - lots of flowers Sun Flare (floribunda) Passionate Kisses (floribunda) Molineux (David Austin English shrub) The following got some mildew in my garden but baking soda and canola oil spray minimized it: Mr. Lincoln Double Delight Iceberg (tree rose in a pot) Cheri Parfait for me was a rust magnet. No matter what I tried it got rust. After seeing the board comments some have experienced this problem and some have not. Most likely the garden centers do not pay much attention to their sources as long as they are cheap.... You might consider one of the roses mentioned here grown as a tree. Tree roses grown in pots are really beautiful. I like the fact that people can walk over and smell it without having to bend down. Hope you find the perfect gift! Lee

Poway (zone 21) and Ramona (zone 20) are both inland and will be hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than near the coast. The ground won't freeze, but this past winter we had the coldest weather in 70 years and many areas got down to 15 degrees for several nights in a row - it was a disaster for many tender plants, and local nurseries and wholesale growers lost millions of dollars. However, this is highly unusual. Soil vary dramatically from area to area, even within the same piece of property, so once you buy your new place you'll need to study what you have. We had rain yesterday - for the first time in months! Here in Vista we got 2.7" of rain in one day - bringing our total rainfall since Jan. 1st to a whopping 7". Many parts of the county have had far less rain. My plants are looking sooooooo happy today, with their leaves washed off and their stems all plumped up. Plants from all parts of the globe with a Mediterranean climate do great here, so you can easily grow plants from the Mediterranean basin, South Africa (including a vast array of effortless bulbs like watsonia, babiana, freesia, etc.), coastal Chile, much of Australia and New Zealand. You're going to have too much fun! I've got plants from all over the world in my garden, and I've grouped them according to their watering needs. Mine is a low-water garden throughout (except for one very small area), and we'll soon start planting trees which will be watered with "gray water" from our laundry, showers and bathroom sinks. There's some interesting new articles and books lately about water harvesting, ways to save/store the rainwater that might otherwise go down the drain. You might want to think about that when you plan your new garden. One downside to Ramona - it can be a long drive to downtown San Diego. Poway is next to a major highway and easier to get to/from. Ramona sometimes gets some snow in the winter, tho not enough to use a shovel for, I don't think. *grin*

The Rose-of-Sharon once they get started bloom until it gets cooler. The Texas Star Hibiscus blooms around July-August, The Confederate Rose Hibiscus starts to bloom when it starts to cool down, in fact mine will be blooming now until it gets too cool but they can grow to 20 feet tall if the weather allows. If not they can be cut back to the ground and will come back the next spring-early summer. All the seeds I have are Texas Star Hibiscus and Confederate Rose Hibiscus. The Confederate Rose Hibiscus has bloomed lightly some times during the spring season, but mostly in the fall.

Hi Laura, sorry I forgot to include you yesterday. Guess my mind was somewhere else (or still spinning from the madness inside that building). With hope we can all get together again soon. Hi Jen, congratulations on your new plants! Like sunseeker said, you picked great plants. How did you get them all home? Hi sunseeker, Wow, four more plants! Congratulations! Did you bring a truck? How many plants do you have now altogether? I know you are way ahead of me, but I have a pretty established landscape (25 years in this house), and two of my older plants are close to 3'x3' giving me a glimpse of what I will 'have to deal with' with my young plants in a few years. So I can't add too many more. It's really difficult trying to choose under this aspect. You are so lucky you had your husband stand in line while you got to go take pictures at the show. When I was in line, they were still setting up for the show, and then my husband decided to go to the Automotive Museum. He loves the plumies, but he hates the crowds. So the deal was: "Call me when you are at the cash register!" By that time my back was killing me and I had completely forgotten about going back into the show. Next year.... Enjoy this georgeous day! Iso PS: My Pol. Red does not have any flowers. The plant that Mike had outside (with flowers) was too big a tree for us to get home.