Well I feel very sorry for all the roses down south, they will now feel what our roses up here do...................... And I will watch this thread with interest...... Did you get the hot drying winds as well if so I do hope they did not suffer too much and after a long drink and a cooler night I reckon they are back to what they looked like before. Cheers..MM.

I did get some crispy roses but not as many as I expected-not like in Perth where my roses used to turn to instant potpourri.The wind was hot and humidity was high. I think the deep clay here helped. What the heat did was bring a lot of buds to maturity and I had heaps of blooms today even though the colour was washed out. Most of the roses were in the middle of a major flush over Christmas up til now and it was mostly the older blooms that crisped up. The roses crisped up and I sagged and melted. :) What a lovely cool rainy change this arvo though-gotta love Melbourne. regards sandie

I am so glad I had picked a bunch because anything that was left is a total disaster! Even buds looked like pot-pourri. It's a bit sad, but I guess they will recover. Rain and cool now...delightful contrast!......Cheers, Dee.

I was really surprised at the way that Shariffa Asma(delicate pale pink David Austin)handled the heat. It came through like a trouper retained its colour and did not crisp at all. Most of my DAs did well. Yes MM we did get those HOT HOT drying winds. The Bourbans did really well too actually much better than the Hybrid Teas. (on the other hand I almost died!!)

Hummm very interesting Pam as here in the Sub-Tropics they reckon HT's as one of the best to grow plus some of the other oldies. I do hope all your roses recover ok, and yourself of course..... It was 35 here today and yesterday actually it has been in the 30's for weeks and I have a cool house where the breezes flow through and overhead fans. Still have not used the A/C but I will when it gets to 40 thats even too much for me. Cheers..MM.

I was very pleased with the way my garden stood up to the bizarre weather 43 degrees on Saturday, 16 on Sunday with torrential rain. I had to stake Sally Holmes, the two branches in full flower sailed through the heat but got a bit heavy in the rain. The new DAs in pots were untroubled, even when wet bathers fell on them. Apricot Nectar came out very suddenly, but looks great. Just Joey seems to enjoy the heat. Only Flamingo and Princesse de Monaco browned up a bit, but they are very weather sensitive. Bonica, which I find melts in the heat, were all between flushes on Saturday and came out yesterday. We had big garden day yesterday. We removed all the bird net that's been protecting the new beds from possum attack. Not an easy job, some of the Delphiniums still have bits of net attached. It all looks so much better. We also put in a $26 obelisk from Bunnings (much easier than building one) for Lamarque and Mermaid. Mermaid didn't seem to notice the heat either. Today we have lovely misty rain, so the sprinkler can have another day off.

How Lucky is that to be able to use a sprinkler and have rain too...MM.

Queensland has climate, Victoria just has lots of weather!!

Do you think climate is changing? This was unusually cold, moderate and cloudy summer in Perth, so far. Last night was raining too. People don't remember such thing. Great weather for all garden plants, so far. - Tom

Yes the weather is changing. Here we have had weeks of around 35 degs every day, where usually in the Summer the days used to be 28 degs and we are not getting the Summer rain either. Its so different.........Cheers..MM.