I am trying to rescue the unknown clemmie I bought two years ago. Reading this forum helped me a lot. The poor thing survived two winters, just like yours, but it is about 6" high. I dug it up and replanted it into container. The root system is not developed at all! It is basically the same size like two years ago. It was my big mistake to plant such a little thing into the ground directly. So now I decided to nurse it growing in the pot - much easier to monitor all its needs. If your clematis was in a small pot there is a chance that its roots are underdeveloped and maybe it is a good idea to keep it in the container until it will be strong enough to be planted in the garden. After all heavy rains we had this year, the leaves on my plants become yellowish, especially on new growth. I fertilized them with tomato fertilizer, which has all micro- and macronutritiens and with fish meal for the Nitrogen. It did not help. Then, taking an advice from this forum, I fed them with Iron (Ironite Plus), both through spraying and watering. I saw the effect the very next day! One week later my plants (except azaleas - they did not respond well for some reason) were dark green again. I learned that the all purpose fertilizers are not helpful if one or two particular nutritients are missing. In such cases special treatment is required. If leaves on your clems were yellow from the bottom of the plant - it is probably a lack of Nitrogen, if on new growth - lack of Iron. Anyway check here for more detailed information. I am also going to try the fertilizer that was recommended here in the thread 'I love the viticella's' (Eleanors Vf-11 Plant food). Just some ideas... Good luck with your plants.

Thanks everyone for looking & commenting. Mantis, the rosy-colored rose in the foreground is 'Noble Antony', an Austin. Yes, Incendiary does like it's new home here in New Hampshire. I got it last year and it has done wonderfully so far. It is fast becoming one of my favorites. Debra, yes those are roses in the photo w/ Marietta Warrior. I wish the thunderstorm hadn't tattered the blooms on MW because they are so big and stunning in person and a deep red like bing cherries. I will be sure to take more pictures when the weather is better. Nate, I picked that dianthus up at a local nursery. I wish I hadn't thrown out the plastic label on it because now I don't recall the name. I like that it's a perennial and very different-looking than most dianthus. THANK YOU to all of you for looking at my pictures and taking the time to comment! Daylily friends are the BEST! Celeste

Diane, I wish I had stood up for Sow What. Good on you. (An Australian phrase - in the UK they say 'good for you'.) It was a complete mystery to me why she was being attacked. I also remember another one where the fellow left, after being told he had no right to voice an opinion as he didn't live in a similar climate/location. And several people backed up the perpetrator, and said how gracious she was! He has/had a beautiful garden, and I loved his posts, so that was very disappointing. I had similar treatment from the same person, but decided to hang on anyway! I don't think I saw the hilarious one. I was worried for a while that I might not be able to afford the repairs to the house, but a fellow who lives over the road, and is a retired structural engineer, came over when he saw the van of one of the remedial builders, and had a look. He thinks the house is fine, but in the next year or two, the large terrace will have to be demolished. We manage the dogs by keeping them separate, and it looks like this will be for the rest of their natural lives! My daughter is coping pretty well, thanks. Money is her main worry, as the dogs are costing her a lot to feed. One has a digestive problem. And she's applying for jobs constantly, but without success. She did get one interview for a 2 day a week job. She was told 10 people were being interviewed, and 258 had applied! As for the virus, who knows what the upshot will be. At least the planet is getting a bit of a rest from less pollution. I love seeing the stars again. We are having a few days of glorious sunshine. We've had so much rain since February, though it hasn't been torrential for the last while, thank goodness. After years of drought, months of thickish smoke from bushfires, it poured, and the ground is still waterlogged. My roses are mostly poor things. Too much shade, and the disease. Though I started pruning Summer Memories the other day, and didn't see any dieback so far. I pruned it from a 4 metre bush last winter to 6 or so 2' long canes, and painted them with Phyton. It was pretty diseased then, so maybe there's hope, and they will Fight On! Where are the photos you have promised us? I know you've had another disappointing Spring and Summer, but I bet your garden looked glorious for a while. It was great to see the photos above. I love your snaps and hollyhocks. I've tried both here, but without success, except for a Nigra hollyhock, which developed a tree-like stem and meandered over anything it could find, looking hideously ugly, with a very occasional almost black flower. I tried the yellow Russian ones too, but without much success. Not enough to be worth repeating.

I've been looking at the web site below for info about UV radiation, and it's a bit sad how little is actually known about the effects of UVA and UVB radiation on people, other animals, plants, etc. There's a passage at the link below that talks about how scientists have been investigating the effects of UVB radiation on living organisms- especially phytoplankton- in Antarctica since the ozone hole there should mean there is more UVB radiation getting through there (and throughout the southern hemisphere), but "In fact, phytoplankton off the California coast sometimes turn out to be more susceptible to UV-B radiation than phytoplankton in Antarctica, to the surprise of biologists." http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/UVB/uvb_radiation2.php If I'm not mistaken, the UV Index you can consult as part of your weather forecast only gives info about UVA, since that's the primary culprit in sunburn and cataracts. UVB, however, can mess up DNA. It can also impair photosynthesis and other processes critical to life. So to use Ingrid's garden as an example, she has to cope with long-term drought conditions, alkaline salts in the soil and water, and other issues, but UV radiation can reduce her plants' ability to cope with the other stressors.