Maybe the heat does lighten Munstead Wood a bit, but not by much in my zone6 Kansas garden. Here is the first bloom on the second bloom cycle of my new Munstead Wood. Temps have been around 90. I took this pic this morning. To me, this bloom is a bit lighter than the spring bloom, but not as light and red (with no purples) as the other pics posted above. For ease of comparison, here is the earlier pic I posted of MW during its spring bloom cycle. There do seem to be some darker shades and more purple in this spring bloom, but I don't see a lot of difference--maybe more petals on the spring bloom, but colorwise, they are close. Now the question will be, what color will my MW be when our temps reach and stay at 100+ degrees. You know that is coming--I'm just thankful it hasn't happened yet. Last year at this time, we were already stuck in the 100s! Well, whatever color it is, I still think Munstead Wood is one of the most gorgeous roses I've seen in some time! Actually, I'm nuts about her--with or without her purple highlights! LOL Kate

An own root Banksiae will withstand water stress much more successfully than many own root types, particularly evergreen roses (Teas, Chinas, HTs, etc.). They are harder wooded and are able to shut down and exist when conditions are terrible. They have tremendous root systems compared to many, even Dr. Huey. When rating commercial roses for any kind of soil and climate performance, what kind of roots they have makes a tremendous difference. Huey is rather extensive and persistent, but even it suffers greatly in heat, aridity and extreme drought. I have a very large, double white Banksiae in the very loose, very dry, un irrigated slope at the southern side of the rear deck which receives direct, full southern sun about 80% of the time. The ONLY "irrigation" it ever receives is either rain or the extremely infrequent hosing off the deck. I cut it off the deck a month ago and it already has a good fifteen feet of "wands" thrown up on to the deck, both from out side it as well as through the openings between the floor boards. Everything on that slope requires watering except that Banksiae and the volunteer black walnuts and peppers. There is a newer terrace which begins about fifteen feet away from that spot, but in the same exposure. It contains seedlings, the Atmore Lamarque, Reve d'Or, and George Washington Richardson. These MUST be deeply watered weekly if temps are in the eighties or above. That blamed Banksiae was planted there 35 years ago, watered weekly its first year, then left to its own devices. The Myrtus communis compacta in that line was well established when the house was bought in 1975. In all that time, it has only received rain and it is nearly six feet tall and much wider. Until I began planting back there last year, only the three existing roses and one crepe myrtle were irrigated and that was weekly (at most) by the gardener who kept the place trimmed and leaves blown off. Otherwise, there is no irrigation system and no one else dragged a hose around to water. Lili Marleen, a well established plant in 1975 when the house was bought, has Manetii stock escaping from under it. the Lili Marleen was nearly gone, but the Manetii has inch and a half thick canes exploding in all directions which I'm working back so both can be maintained. Manetii made it all these years on weekly watering and rain. If the wood is hard and dense enough and the root system sufficiently vigorous, it MAY work with weekly supplementation. Softer wooded types or those whose root systems aren't as invasive, are going to struggle terribly, or outright fail. And this is in the Encino Hills where we get more coastal fogs and generally more rain than many hotter, more inland areas. This is the Wunderground calendar for Historic Lincoln Park in Pomona showing temps and rainfall for the month. I selected it as the elevation is similar to ours here. http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KFUL/2012/11/19/MonthlyHistory.html#calendar This is the closest one to here, though it is 200' lower than I am. http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KVNY/2012/11/19/MonthlyHistory.html#calendar It might be interesting viewing the historic data for the month as it shows comparative heat and precipitation. I know the performance of many plants here in Encino as well as the Santa Clarita area, where I grew over twelve-hundred roses for over eighteen years. I can well imagine what should be expected from them with little to no irrigation there in Pomona. If you select wisely, plant properly and irrigate sufficiently until they are well established, you might well succeed. But, your selections would be better skewed toward Banksiaes, Fortuniana and deciduous, xerophytic species. They possess the extensive, vigorous root systems, harder wood with greater sunburn resistance, and the ability to suspend their activity sufficiently to withstand the extremes in heat and drought with the least damage. Kim

Amending of planting holes and small beds creates problems with how water moves into and out of these amended areas. In organized trials growth of test subjects in unamended control groups has been better than that of those that were planted with amendments. This pattern of findings dates back as far as the late 1960s. The reason many think amending of back-fill improves results is the plants in the amended holes don't always die, and top growth can be great after their roots escape the amended zone and they get into the unmodified soil outside the hole or small bed. Showing that they should have been planted in the existing soil in the first place, without modification - other than loosening and aeration, which is the main benefit of digging in amendments at planting - it is the aeration caused by the digging that new plantings may respond to, rather than the presence of the amendments themselves. Of course where you have managed to improve the overall humus content of a large area plants put there will probably tend to enjoy this - depending on what kinds of plants they are - as long as they are not on the edge of an amended bed - where there will be interactions with unchanged soil around the bed, same as in a small planting hole. In general you don't want a soil organic content above 5%. More than this can be counterproductive. And in permanent plantings you always have the problem of organic material dug into soil decomposing and filtering away, long before the life of the planting is over. With flowering annual and vegetable beds, that are redone frequently this can be kept up with. Also wild ancestors of these types tend to be from recently disturbed soils that may be rich in organic litter. With most other groups if you instead plant in existing soil and mulch afterward you are following the natural model of the forest and woodland.

Actually, to be honest I noticed my roses are growing faster and if I have planted something in front it would have bump completely. Like an example would be Dutcher and Dutchess de Brabant. They both have tons of room. I know I space them 6 feet but I think I did a little more. They are growing wide in every direction. I think I need to research on plants that grow well with roses and not competing with food also. I have to look at humidity, the soil like it can get so complicated that I don't know if I am doing overboard or overreacting if you know what I mean. oh, I got this at Lowe's. Figure you might check it out there. They have paperwhites and other bulbs.