Hi Beth - I'm new to this forum, but not new to coastal Southern Cal rose growing, so I'll chime in too. I'm in San Juan Capistrano on the South end of Orange County and about 2.5 miles from the beach in a coastal canyon. So I know all about roses in the marine layer fog. Mildew, not black spot, is the bane of our existence here. The only blackspot I've ever seen in my garden was on florist roses. But I do spray. And the three most fragrant ones on your list -- Double Delight, McCartney Rose and Fragrant Cloud -- will mildew even with religious spraying. But, the fragrance is worth it and I grow all three. No one has told you about the rose societies here yet. There are several. I go all the way south to the California Coastal Rose Society in Carlsbad. That's probably too far for you. There are two other OC rose societies -- the Orange County Rose Society which meets very near to Huntington Beach in Westminster -- they focus on exhibitions and hold their show the last weekend of October every year at Rogers Gardens. There's also another one that focuses mostly on gardening, garden tours and garden parties -- no exhibiting -- which is the Saddleback Rose Society -- that one's a bit inland for both of us. Wholly different climate those folks have. You can get to either one by googling the names, or I've put a link in here for the OCRS. On the rest of your list, I've grown most of them, and they do just fine. But as a general rule, in coastal cool areas like ours, fewer petals is better. Many roses just won't open like they do in hot climes, and sometimes you just die waiting for a leeeetle bit of heat to get them open, which never comes. So, plan to have some that open without heat. As for colors, try these -- Pink -- Our Lady Of Guadalupe is by far the best pink floribunda. But also check out The Imposter and Lovestruck, both of which do well for me. For Hybrid Teas, I like Memorial Day. Purple -- Intrigue is okay, but try Purple Tiger -- it's better and it's striped. It does really well on the coast. For a Hybrid Tea, I like Neptune and one that Armstrongs carries called Della Reese that is a darker purple hybrid tea with occasional exhibition form. Orange -- About Face Red -- I'm still looking for a good one. Yellow -- Julia Child or Midas Touch. Or even Peace, which gets enormous blooms on the coast. Multi -- get some stripes -- City of Carlsbad if you can find it or Cabana if you can't. Have fun. I seem to move every few years just BECAUSE I get to replenish my garden. Enjoy it. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Orange County Rose Society

here is a partial list of toxic plants that I had when my kids where little. This list has a toxic list number of 1 meaning that it is major toxicity. By googling toxic plants you will get a mass list of links to check out but this one in particular I like because of it rating of toxicity with each plant listed angel trumpet azalea belladona carolina jasmine cardinal flower chinese lantern datura delphinium flowering tobacco foxglove heather healiotrope hydrangea jimeson weed lantana larkspur lily of the valley' lobelia love in a mist love lies bleeding lupin monkshood morning glory night blooming jasmine pampas grass periwinkle rhodedendron tomato non fruit part vinca This didn't mean that I didn't grow any of these plants when my children where young, it's just that I was super careful about where they where located and planted them in areas that my kids would be near only with supervision. I also didn't have pets or livestock that could get into them. The kitty was and still is always a house pet. Too many wild animals around in the woods that would love to have her for a meal. Fran Here is a link that might be useful: UC Davis list of toxic plants

What Ian said... Despite rumours otherwise, NZ is quite dry in summer- my folks live on the West Coast of the South Island (no fancy-shmancy names for us..) and ran out of water this summer. We've seen some pretty severe droughts in the last few years. Historically the West sides of the islands have been significantly wetter, capturing rain and leaving the East dry, but since we seem to be getting 'hundred year' droughts and floods every couple of years. Damn Climate Change. Anyway, despite our small landmass, NZ's soo long and thin it goes from sub-tropical up North, with some (NZ style) desert in the middle to sub-antarctic down South. A lot of natives succumb to phytopthera if too wet, even the tree ferns and other 'tropical' looking plants. Like Ian, i highly recommend hebes- they are TOUGH- I don't know what your access to NZ plants is like, but if they have the 'wiri' cultivars, they are really stunning. Astelia is one of my favourites. Very hardy, dramatic pale green and silver spear-shaped leaves. Astelia fragrans...need i say more? How about the Caprosma and muehlenbeckia families. Maybe a bit of an aquired taste; divarcating, very 'architectural'. I love em! I think heat and dry would't be a problem. Months of freezing...not so sure. Of course alpine plants would cope, as it's blimmin boiling up those mountains in summer!

These were taken January 1 2008. We were feeding mostly wheat mids with a little corn. By feeding wheat mids, the deer got some nurishment without breaking the bank. We fed around 60 pounds a week. They would have eaten more if it we would have fed it. There were evenings I counted over 30 head coming to feed. I've lived here on this very farm for almost 30 years, and have never seen so many hungry deer. Once spring arrived, they vanished into their seasonal routines.