I think Californians really need to think about how, when and why they prune roses here. Nobody should be surprised about the way roses act well here -- even without the copious watering, the fertilizing, the winter (or any!) pruning . We've simply gone along with what the Eastern rose gardeners tell us, via magazine and books from back there. It's even too bad that the American Rose Society, through its Master Rosarian program, perpetuates these regional processes throughout the whole country. Fact is, roses are simply shrubs; hybrid shrubs with the bulk of their genetics from Rosa chinensis, a subtropical evergreen rose species. Being such, it really doesn't "need" pruning in the winter time. It's actually best to prune it during the growing season, much as one would do with any evergreen repeat-blooming shrub, keeping it at a size and shape we want, mostly by cutting off bloomed-out stems. As long as we cut back cleanly to some husky wood, the rose responds positively all year long. If we do this, we have minimal pruning -- and sometimes NO pruning -- to do in the winter. We're trapped into thinking that we need to prune roses hard (to short stubs near the ground) because that's what they do back in cold country where they think it's going to save the rose tops from cold freezes. Even that's a myth. More than that, we're trapped into thinking that we need to cut off the water, let rose hips form, put on crushed ice and all kinds of silly tricks to get our roses to go into "dormancy". They won't, they can't, they're Rosa chinensis genes. Beyond winter chores, we're trapped into thinking we need to fertilize roses often and heavily. Some old cutlivars maybe. The newer ones much less. When planted in heavy soil, which contains good nutrients, roses are very happy. When planted in sandy soil, roses sulk. And amending is a myth, too. We've been convinced that roses need gobs of water. Roses in heavy soil, when trained with good soakings deeply and infrequently (once every 3-4 weeks in summer), become extraordinarily drought-tolerant. When planted in sand or put on a co-dependent drip system, they become sissies. And there are hundreds of rose cultivars that are disease-free and have self-cleaning blossoms so maintenance is lowered even more. Problem is, too many gardeners plant old problem-ridden cultivars, plant them in sandy soil, waste their time with amendments, use drip systems and over-fertilize and then tell everyone how problematic roses are. Surprised? Joe

Hey mangodog. Yes,its rootstock now. In 2011 and 2012,It was constantly sending suckers up below the graft. I would cut them off..but they seemed so vigorous. And so were the Baileys...just only vertical growth. It had reached 7' not including the pot. YET, it did grow a single Mango fruit below the graft ON THE TRUNK. It didn't taste any different from the fruit that grew up high normally. And it didn't look any different. After fruiting in 2011,in a pot, I left it uncovered on a single 32f night in January 2012..and it was devastated. All growth shriveled and died. In spring 2012,new sprouts on a trunk about 2' tall grew...slowly. I then planted it in ground were it grew well that summer. Again,we had a cold January 2013..BUT, with only a T shirt over it..NO damage. All summer of 2013 it grew, and really added bulk,stems went from those wiry potted plant type to real tree like stems. Its now about 40 inches tall..about 3' wide. And with covering and the light bulb during this years freeze, has no damage on it..still flushing leaves are greening. Now,when it will fruit again I dont know. Since 2007,I've gotten Manila,Baileys,and Rootstock Mango to fruit in the bay area and yes,they were sweet. Unlike Papaya's or Guava's...all the work pays off in sweet fruit here. And a nice looking small tree.

smartdesigner- I generally have a negative reaction when people want to classify bamboo as a nuisance based on their fear it will get out of control and devour the neighborhood. However, your situation is exceptional. If you are not allowed to use the normal, effective bamboo controls, then I think that approaching the city with the position that this could become a nuisance situation is a good strategy and kind of puts the ball in their court. They would have to either say that you aren't allowed to control it and worry about the consequences if it moves out and compromises the area, or they can decide that a modest barrier is going to do more good than harm. Or they could decide to get your neighbor to remove it. He might still get annoyed, but you wouldn't be the sole target. Installing barrier means trenching down maybe 24 inches, which means groundwater would still be able to move, and if the barrier was kept an inch or two above ground level, surface water could move over it when the area gets a lot of water. I understand that they don't want to have people building diversionary dams, but I would argue to them that bamboo barrier doesn't constitute that level of habitat alteration. (Between you and me -- and something you don't need to share with the city -- is that, although bamboo do like water, they do not like too much water. Bamboo will typically not move through a stream bed, and they begin to suffer and die when their root systems are continuously subject to standing water for several weeks. So it's hard to know in your situation what bamboo will do in this environment.) However, approaching the city with your concerns is wise as this shouldn't have to fall all on you. Good luck and post back when you have more to share.

Notwithstanding the tragedies that have occurred in N. California... I feel I must say something in defence of Eucalyptus trees, at least the ones we grow here, and which many of us love and put to good use... ...There are I think 3 varieties that have been popular for a long time... Eucalyptus gunnii, Eucalyptus dalrympleana and perhaps the most attractive of all Eucalyptus pauciflora ssp. niphophila [Snow Gum].... ...you can see any of these pop up in gardens all over the place... I've grown 2 of the 3... We now also have 2 dwarf versions, Eucalyptus gunnii 'Azura' and 'France Bleu'... ..'Azura' is very dwarf, almost a miniature... 'FB' is larger but very slow growing, a dwarf gunnii.. I would love to have 'Azura' and might be on my shopping list... The way to use gunnii I think is to give screening to a garden where you are overlooked by a neighbouring property that is on higher ground. A single specimen tree will do, it grows 6 foot a year, so within 2 years or so you start to have cover. It's crucial with this plant to cut 6 foot off the top with one incision every year in April, when it has reached just beyond the height you need for screening... if you miss a year it gets away from you and you have lost control.... I also used my plant to support a rambling rose... I grew 'Leontine Gervais' up it right to the top, where it would then cascade downwards, more so after the annual prune... the light pink and the blue foliage I found very attractive.. ..I also planted Cistus purpureus around the base and a tree lupin... gardeners here don't make enough use of these trees like this.. they plant them, neglect them, and before you know it, you've got a 40 foot tall tree on your hands.. there is one in a garden near me, it's about the tallest tree around here, perhaps 60 foot or more, that is just not the way to do it in my opinion.. used to best effect as single specimens, these are superlative trees, and I absolutely love them... I do not like to see them planted en masse, like a small wood [there are some here like that]... I'm so sorry, and was not aware, they had been over planted in California and that they have contributed to the fires..