After doing some work in the garden I realized the roses are really in stunning bloom right now, so I grabbed the camera this morning (11/03) and took some shots. The best of them, though, I couldn't photograph: the white Margaret Merrill is 6' tall and at least that much around, full of blooms - but without just the right light, it looks like a bush full of big white blobs, LOL. Being from the Midwest, it still amazes me that I can have roses almost year-round, and especially around Thanksgiving. The nights are cool but the days are still warm, so my (sadly, few) roses love it. I took some photos this morning and am posting them below. This is Double Delight, in a wider angle than the photo taken in mid-October above: This is Double Delight again, with Delany Sisters right next to it: This is my Intrigue standard: This is the JosephÂs Coat climber: This is a shrub rose, J&PÂs Ladies in Waiting. ItÂs fragrant and quite lovely, but only flops if you try to cut it for the vase: HereÂs a closeup of Delany Sisters: This is looking alongside the house, back up towards the street. As you can see this is a very narrow bed, just 12" deep! It faces south so the roses are very happy here. That's Intrigue in front with Ladies at its feet, with Delany, then Double Delight furthest away. Here's a photo of my prized variegated pink dwarf canna. It doesn't bloom very much, but it has managed to survive our three very dry summers with minimal watering, so I count it a success: And here's my real surprise - the freesias are coming up! The early October rain was hard enough to awaken them, so I've continued to sprinkle them once a week. Looks like I'll have blooms at least a month early this season:

Pat, I know very little about growing Agapanthus in New England but I think you are on the right track about allowing it to go dormant by giving your plant cooler temps. Do you have an area at your house perhaps a bulkhead, garage, under a porch, that might be similar to a root cellar? I leave mine outdoors until sometime in October after I have a a light frost the tender annuals have been hit and most perennials are receeding. I then put mine on the steps inside my bulkhead right up against the basement door. My leaves die all the way back during the winter. I will also say that the Agapanthus that I transplanted into a larger pot is has fewer blooms than those that are still crowded in their planter.

annuals: zinnia california poppy nasturtium cosmos cleome lobelia blue salvia coleus (but this is the only time I allow them to do so) perennials: asters (and more asters) salvia monkshood mums salvia (cant remember its name but it is still blooming) japanese anenome "Bells of Scotland" campanula...and I just found a volunteer Phlox David....I dead headed in August and got some lateral blooms roses: a final Mr Lincoln Graham Thomas finished the other day :( Despite the sad emoticon it is really all bonus time now. They can flop, not bloom as well as capable of doing, and suffer from fungal disease but I love them all right now. Many of their neighbors are essentially in bed.

I've never seen root rot on a jaboticaba. Mine, which are in ground of course, are in the lowest point in my entire property. There have been some multi-day rain events that have left standing water in this area for a full 10 days without any root issues. During dry season, I'll let the hose run completely flooding the area. That doesn't leave any standing water for more than a day, but I usually have to do it a day or two in a row before flowering commences. Good luck. Harry