Hi Patreesh, I'm not in the same zone as you, so the following should be evaluated with that in mind. Most of my well established roses are either once bloomers, or bloom in two heavy flushes with sporadic flowering between. Well established and nearly continual bloomers: The Austins - Heritage, Mary, Sophy's Rose, Molineux and not quite as continuous(but was moved this spring, so..), Geoff Hamilton. Shrub rose Easy Does It. Florbunda Marie Pavie. Very good rebloom on the rugosa Roseraie de l'Hay. Fragrance to die for! One year in the ground and a pretty constant bloomer - HT Firefighter. I added many new roses this year, it will be interesting to see who does what in the future. Do you water your roses? I found that to be the most influential factor for bloom and vigor, as well as over all health. A deep soak whenever they need it(not on a schedule!). I use RoseTone, alfalfa pellets, Neptune's fish and seaweed emulsion(secret weapon), some organic hydroponic amendments, green sand, and copious amounts of compost(the garden/nutri brew, bagged mushroom compost and leaf compost. Mulch with small pine bark nuggets. If I could get ground pine bark, I would buy all I found and use that. Not an expert by any means, but just what seems to work out for me here. The water seems to be the most important thing, by a long shot. Nice to see other CNYer's here! I hope you enjoy gardening in CNY, Nastarana. I have been following your posts for a while. Krista gives very good advice, and helped me with some choices several years ago. I think of you every time I look at Eglantine, Krista. Thanks.

I went to the Central Velley last summer for the first time (Fresno area) and I too was blown away by the incredible Crape's growing all over the place. The entire region is irrigated, even the strip of land between the local interstate lanes! It was all very lush and yards were filled with everything from palms to paper birch trees! Yes..paper birch in Fresno. But, in those areas that no longer received irrigation...forget about it...not a green thing in sight...totally dead. I guess unlimited sun + unlimited irrigation + great soil = grow anything you want.

Thank you. When we bought our house there were just lily of the valley, mint everywhere, a white azalea and an orange azalea. I remember just starting out too, that was 10 years ago this August. Now we have a border along the driveway under some oak trees that is about 50' long x an irregular 10 foot curvy, a front and rear foundation planting, a front bed, the white island,a rear path and patio (under works) a new corner garden just started, and we are clearing the edges of our propery on the other side of a small stream. The propery is only 3/4 acre, but we still have a lot of room for more gardens. I am thinking of putting in a new white bed in the backyard, I have kind of learned a little since the first one (not to put a white garden under trees, the moonlight doesn't always hit it with a full canopy of leaves above) and it would be nice to sit out back at night and or just look out the window and watch the moon glow..By then I will probably be dividing up some of the perennials in the original white garden. It is fun to try and find new white flowers to keep the garden looking white all season long.

1) To show people that native plants are beautiful, excellent choices for landscaping, to help stop foreign invasive plants from being used. True, but often natives just do not respond the same way to cultivation as they tend to be soil specific, requiring more aeration of the general clayey type soils that constitute the fill that is used in lots homes are built upon. And as people tend to have lawns the way the lawn is handled is generally how the rest of the yard is handled, and that is as easily as possible. 2) To support native plants and animals. These plants were selected because a number of native California butterflies, birds, moths, etc. feed on them. We are also trying to expand the territory of the lonely little grey fox that lives near the conservancy. While many of the plants you list may be attracted to butterflies and moths as well as hummingbirds, you need plants that produce seeds that birds will eat and in your list only the Ribes appears to be so. Plants that are annuals or biennials that produce small seeds for finches or larger seeds for the larger birds of your area, which you need to research. Also butterflies need plants such as milkweed for their caterpillars to feed on. "Lonely little gray fox"??? Grey foxes are solitary hunters! And they can climb trees which is one of their escape routes from dogs. You need large trees with cavities in them for the fox to hide in. Also you will need debris piles, such as piled up branches etc for rodents to live in that the fox can feed on. 3) the bushier plants are meant to discourage trespassing. There is a real issue of homeless people basically invading sections of the river and destroying it. We want to use these plants as a barrier to save the last pristine section of land, which is only maybe a fourth of a mile long, less wide. None of the plants you list can create a suitable barrier apart from the Cornus and even it is not enough to dispell intruders. You need plants like THISTLES fronted by NETTLES to form a wall at least 5 feet deep to discourage intruders but once these idiots learn you are growing Datura then forget it as they will simply find a way to destroy your barriers to get to this plant that is used as a drug. I could not believe that you would list such a dangerous plant like this. It should not be encouraged to be grown. 4) open the door for more native planting projects. If this one is successful, we would do greater habitat restoration projects, where we would actually plant more things that would naturally occur in the area. I really think you people should contact the California Native Plant Society in your area and really talk this over with them. They have the knowledge and resources that can assist you. Check the link. Here is a link that might be useful: CNPS Santa Clara Valley