Cath, I think 'Ice Follies' does well everywhere: it grew here for years until overwhelmed by a prostrate ceanothus, and was one of my major survivors in Washington too. As my taste has developed I've become less impressed with its looks, though. The trumpets I find a bit surprising, though I don't know why; the feral daffodils one runs across here are mostly of that same type. 'Ice Wings' is another Triandrus hybrid, I notice it has received the RHS's Award of Garden Merit. I'm getting fond of Triandrus daffodils. Bart, good luck! Who knows, your cedar may perform wonderfully. I can only report about trees growing in local conditions, and those can be summed up in one word: clay. Ingrid, Gardening is certainly a tempering experience. No sane person would want to deal with the conditions you're fighting now, but they're forcing you to keep on thinking and planning. I wonder what the native California flora might have to offer you? principles of desert gardening as developed in the Middle East, northern Africa, Spain? Here we're still waiting for fall to arrive. It was downright hot yesterday, and sticky, with the sun finally visible after nine days of clouds and rain. Temperatures are supposed to drop this coming week, the sky to clear entirely, and I should think the humidity level will drop as well, and thank goodness. I'm still getting chigger bites and have allergy symptoms. We finished filling in the 70-80 holes we had dug, stuffing them with hay and the dirt that had been removed. It was a heavy job. Last week's rain watered everything nicely, and when it gets a bit cooler we'll be able to begin planting the rooted roses, with my attention particularly focused on those grown from suckers I collected last winter. These are once-blooming European OGRs, mostly Gallicas and Damasks. We have some warm climate roses to get in the ground too, but their holes still need to be prepared, and it's going to be a slow business. And there are a lot more chores. The (mostly) OGR varieties I propagated from suckers are the following: 'Agar' 'La Ville de Bruxelles' 'Petite Orleannaise' 'Duchesse de Berry' 'Nouvelle Pivoine' 'Incomparable' R. gallica 'Splendens' 'Gloire de France' 'Miranda' 'Belle de Crecy' 'Kazanlik' 'Winchester Cathedral' 'Mme. Zoetmans' 'Celsiana' Celestial' 'Nuits de Young' 'Nestor' (?) 'Elisa Rovella' 'Leda' R. foetida 'Persian Yellow' 'Austrian Copper' Of the Petrovic order from two years ago we may have lost as many as a quarter of the total (I think that tends high: I haven't checked the whole line yet), which still leaves us with sixty-odd new varieties. I'm still back-filling holes to bury the grafts deeper, digging out the occasional cursed rootstock sucker, and cleaning around the plants. They'll need to be nursed along for at least a couple of years yet, but they're on their way. Our losses were mostly in two low areas of the bed, which we found out were low when we got the wettest winter imaginable after planting the roses. In these areas we've been building up the planting sites and trenching around them, always amending generously with old hay. The grass and clover this fall are wonderful. Melissa

I have a weakness for ceanothus, maybe because I love blue and easy care plants. I like the substance of the various dark green foliages. And I like to have plants for the bees, and ceanothus is a bee magnet! I fell in love with Julia Phelps for its delicate beauty as well, but noticed it took quite a while to start growing compared to Dark Star. I planted 5 plants 14 months ago from 4" pots. The 3 Julia Phelps are only about 1 ft. tall now and the Dark Stars are about 4 ft. tall and 5 ft wide already. i think I read somewhere that Julia phelps is particularly sensitive to alkaline soils, maybe that is why? Frosty Blue is already at least 8 ft. from gallon pots planted a year ago, its seeming to be tree like, at my last place it grew way slower. And I love Ray Hartman as a small tree, its a showstopper in bloom. I bought a tuxedo on a whim and it is a nice contrast to the others, with its dark foliage. My only regret from planting all the ceanothus, and some toyons with it, is i have no room for manzanitas. I especially would like to plant Dr. Hurd if I had a spot.

I am a balcony gardener mostly. Unfortunately , there are too many rats, alley rabbits, and wild dogs in my industrial zone neighborhood to successfully grow veggies in the mud pit driveway/ garden. Here are my plans for this year... as copied and pasted from my journal and some of it has gone outside already. Once again...this is a cut and copy of my happenings and plans...pardon the type os and run ons, it was like a scribble only in typing. ------------------------------------------ Downstairs in the muddy dirt driveway next to my car: 1) old grandma craigslist transplanted wisteria: survived!!!! YAY! 2) Tons of muscari and mint planted on top of the dug up rats nest. Growing! Allysum growing despite the starlings. Hostas growing 32 pips Lilly if the valley not growing!!!!ERRRRR!!!!!! Tranplanted lavender Growing! Grapes trimmed and growing. Lilacs , small but alive Borage growing. Pink hollyhock growing transplanted rose of sharon no sign of life. Mint growing on the stairs level 2 olive oil can full of garlic growing and happy paintbucket full of wisteria trimmings left outside and alive(?) bucket of mint no sign of life. landing bucket of mint.. no sign of life. 2 5 gal buckets of carrots of all colors growing. on the stairs level 3 tons of mint in pots no sign of life. balcony. pail of chives overwintered outdoors loving it! pail of giant lovage root overwintered out doors coming up Mint in cauldron, living despite the starlings. overwintered rosemary DEAD! 2nd batch Yellow violas doing o.k. first batch the starlings ate. mini roses, were fine now ERRR(??) peas peas and more peas outside and loving it. nasturtium, no sign of life. Indoors Growing. 1 ft lacinato kale 2 pots of arugula overwintering french tarragon Crazy ass ginger root. 2 genovese basil 3 types of oregano 2 types of mint. I type of lavender 1 type of thyme. 1 pot of parsley 1 overzealous rootbound african blue basil Ready to transplant ASAP( c'mon weather!!) giant sweet genovese in file box just like last year.. same time same method same place. (Snuff out the starling first this year!) outdoor lacinato -bucket 3 4 inch pots of parsley- Balcony in crates 12 black nasties- all over 3 day and night- nasties all over an bunch of emperess of india- nasties all over Black prince tomatoes balcony in 5 gal. giver rest away cherry tomatoes -5 gal give rest away striped roma-milk crate give rest away italian paste -crate give rest away 5 mini strawberries. top crate okra, 5 gal bucket. # blueberry plants ready to put in container in front of car.Make mix purple pole beans for the deck supports 5 gal bucket. blue lake beans for landing/ deck rail.. 5 gal bucket yellow bush beans for landing 5 gal bucket black and purple carrots for landing 5 gal buckets 12 wormwood/ for near Any rat entry and exits in mud pit back yard. 1 wormwwod for use up here. 7 black holly hock/ back yard 20 sunflowers of dif varieties and heights. along the dysfunctional driveway gate various fox gloves. who knows where i will put those. 20 lambs ears... near the trellis. under the wild ass grape vine that will fruit this year. Johnny jump ups ready to go Allysum. ready to go(???) Billions of summer savory.. ready as soon as they are. Trade trade Trade!! Cuttings; mint - fine. Af. Blue basil- 30 cuttings doing overly splendid. oregano rooting. lavender(???) thyme -rooting swwet potato from counter rooting Affix old ladder to bldg. for hanging planters for herbs. find a place for chamomile. Find Black Purple Silver or White plants and have a ton of stuff to trade. clover for under shady grapes, maybe GODZILLA clover! plant munstead. Get rosa rugosa for hips try the vert garden thing with the stakes. and steel (???) find a crappy old clawfoot to grow out of in the back mud pit.(???) Tame them grapes to feed me. Kill those damn rats and flush out those starlings first thing... and , paint the grill And get a heliotrope, saffron and opium poppies because i like them. :) Find a place to hand black fuscia figure out cool bucket/ chain design to hang in negative space of skyline. Kill the tree of heaven next door when no ones looking. Kill the stump of a crap tree in yard and dig it out this year. Patch big rat holes in wooden fence. ------------------------------------------- I got a ton of stuff to do.

The landscape around my village is too varied to describe in detail but it is much like the rest of the country, forests and lakes. 63% of Sweden is forest and my garden was apparently old forest before the land was cleared for farming and habitation. A narrow strip of native forest was left when my house was built in 1953, with the same mix of conifers and deciduous trees and shrubs as everywhere around here. Pines (Pinus sylvestris), junipers, birches, rowans, acers, oaks, hazels, Rosa dumalis, wild raspberries, and Amelanchier confusa but not the spruces or alders that are common in lower and wetter areas. I made a list of the native flowering plants when I moved here. There are not many because the wooded area is stony with rocky outcrops with acid soil in between. (The big part of the garden is heavy clay, probably an old river bed.) I listed windflowers (Anemone nemorosa), hepaticas, Campanula rotundifolia, lily-of-the valley (but they seem to be disappearing), Lady's bedstraw, woodbine, Solomon's Seal, Primula veris (a pretty weed!), Viola arvensis, Viola riviniana, Viola odorata, Geranium silvaticum, Filipendula vulgaris, Geum rivale, ox-eye daisies, wild strawberries and bilberries (Vaccinum myrtillus). The rose in the photo is Rosa pendulina, a non-native I planted but the crane's bills and the water avens (barely visible) are native.