my vague sense is that grafted roses may lose their graft, but selfrooted cv can't. I've seen roses grown dry. they flower in spring, then dry back. drip. streamside/watercourse plants should like drip. (grapes, brambles, bermuda grass, aesculus c., iirc oleander. poplar would like drip so much, it would soon clog your water meter :-) ) ca natives have brief history of cultivation (nursery, hort abuse and hybridization, selection), so non-watercourse natives (diplacus?) likely lack hort-flexibility of non-watercourse ancient hort plants (perhaps olive is good example?). soil. suburbs are usually clay. most aesthetically popular dry plants are native to coarser soils (or are large) Reading years ago, I decided that all major Mediterranean climates differ significantly from each other. We grow plants without their native fauna and flora. so much is different... so, nothing beats (somebody's) hands-on research :-)

Stan, I'm glad to see the 7 day forecast here doesn't have any lows under 40 which is a nice change from last week for sure! Both Tuesday and Wed mornings got down to around 25 at my place. My citrus,palms,cordylines,yuccas, all did fine, but, my musa basjoo got fried of course and is toast for the season (it had a nice long run this year though). I have a large jade plant in a container outside year round which was unscathed ,but,it's under an overhang so it has a few degrees more protection. I also have a clump of bird of paradise(strelitzia reginae) planted in the ground under the same overhang and it was mostly unscathed. Just had a few lightly damaged leaves that stuck out a bit beyond the protection of the overhang. It was really interesting to see the difference in a matter of inches (overhang vs. no overhang)....Mike

I've developed a new kitchen habit - the "slops" jug kept beside the sink. The problem with kitchen greywater seems to be the detergents and the fats, so any water containing neither goes into this. It's interesting much washing-up can really be done with detergent-free water and a good scrub. Detergent is only needed for foods containing fats and oils. A small vege garden plus lots of my precious native plants in pots are easily kept watered a bit at a time with this jug, as they're not far from the kitchen door. The ethics of "water down the drain" vary according to where the water goes. Those of us lucky enough to have septic systems appreciate that it goes back into our own patch. Water that ends up in the inland river systems must only add to the national good (though it's interesting that the Toowoomba citizens who voted "no" don't seem to mind that their wastewater is used by other Australians all the way to Adelaide for drinking water, with no better treatment than systems which are decidedly of lesser quality than the one they so firmly rejected). Where wastewater is pumped out to sea, there is certainly an urgency about recycling, whether it is by use of greywater by individuals, or by government-built systems which recycle it back into the taps of the citizens. To capture freshwater high in the catchment thereby removing it from the river systems, and to send it more or less straight out to sea with none but the human race having got any benefit from it is not fair on all those other organisms, is it? The form our water restrictions take is pretty idiotic, too. Gardening is the only activity where humans use water to benefit the ecology and slow down the transfer of water from upper catchment to the sea.There should be more of it, not less, in a drought. A more ecologically aware (and perhaps more democratic) system of would restrict the amount of water to households on a litres per person basis,and let us decide for ourselves how to use those precious litres. We might prefer to bath less and water our gardens more! At present we allow members of our government to impose their own personal opinions as to which kinds of domestic water use are more wasteful than others. So we can legally fill our spa baths as often as we like. Trish

Here is an update: I have continued to water the Hakea with distilled water. The intent is to flush out nutrients (or at the least make an attempt to lower nutrient concentration). The 'Cluster roots' common to proteaceae are especially efficient at uptaking nutrients - this leads to an increased chance for toxic levels of nutrients which may lead to premature senescence (which I believe to be the problem my hakea is experiencing) among other things. The first few weeks of flushing the pot with distilled water resulted in a growth spurt (albeit a relative small amount of growth). Additionally, the senescence had halted on the older leaves (ie leaves before new "growth spurt"). While this seemed promising, the hakea has once again halted its growth and has continued with senescence (or what I believe to be senescence). It seems to be spreading faster through the "older leaves" but does not seem to have effected the leaves from the "growth spurt" yet. I am not too optimistic about this hakea's survival - she's looking rough! I would still appreciate any advice from people ho have experience with hakeas or other proteaceae. Also if a reader would be so kind as to provide me with a better description of the soil that constitutes native Australian soil, or soil that Australian natives naturally occur in, I would be very grateful for your time & assistance. Until next time, James.