one of the great things, fawnridge, about growing roses is there are so many right ways to grow them, and, in my experience, very few wrong ways to grow them. ask 10 rose growers for their opinions on pruning, fertilizing, and disease control, you'll get 8 different answers, many of them contradictory. the one thing that no one will disagree about -- keep them well irrigated. i'll tell you a quick anecdote: i planted a bunch of roses at my mom's place a few years ago, then set up a drip-hose irrigation system (i don't like them any more, but i used them then) on a timer. i went out of town for a month, and when i came back, i walked into her back yard and immediately noticed that the roses were dead, or nearly so. except one, a knockout on fortuniana. it had grown THREE FEET in the time i had been gone. it was crazy-covered with blooms. i checked, and the soaker hose that was meant to water 10 roses had broken right under this knockout. so, for a period of at least a couple weeks, this rose was getting about an hour of water straight from the end of a hose, three times a week. i don't know how much water that translates into, but a LOT. the roses that had been just planted, on the other hand, were subjected to our very dry may-june conditions. believe or not, every one of them survived, but it took all summer for them to recover completely. so, i drew two lessons from this: 1) you cannot overwater a rose; 2) roses are VERY tough. about pruning, there are many competing theories. many sources tell you to never cut back more than 1/3 of the rose. that's nonsense -- depending on the rose, some roses thrive on being severely pruned (my teas do). other roses, esp. hybrid musks and climbers, should never be pruned, aside from nips and tucks to keep them in bounds. i have enough roses now that i choose to prune them throughout the year. pruning always encourages new growth, and rosa always terminate new growth in buds. i am myself loathe to prune them much in late winter (tho many people do), because you lose the blooms that come at the very beginning of spring, and these blooms are of VERY high quality. you might get more blooms later in the spring by heavy pruning in late winter, but they won't be as nice. a rule of thumb -- the longer it takes a rose to go from bud to blown, the nicer and larger the bloom will be. you can see here how the rules are fluid and your practices will produce certain results, while other practices produce other results that are neither better nor worse, just different. roses are my favorite flower in the garden because they respond so clearly to care.

Just finished responding to your post about hardy kiwi… now I see your zone, and realize my feedback may not be that relevant (I'm in zone 6). As for this topic, I really would not know where to start… not because I'm unfamiliar with zone 10a, because in fact I've lived in that zone and still make frequent visits. I would not know where to start because there are simply so many possibilities! Jujubes are good, but still quite available and cheap in dry form (which is the best way to eat them anyway in my opinion). I think you could do better, but the list to peruse is long. Start with the California Rare Fruit Growers website, which has descriptions of nearly everything under the sun. If pressed to name a few, I would have to say (in no particular order): -- passionfruit (expensive at the market, great for drinks, productive vines) -- guavas (many types, some rarer than others, many uses, small trees) -- feijoa (rare in market, I just love the taste and aroma, shrub) -- cherimoya (these can be simply delicious, and are very expensive in the stores, small trees?) -- miracle fruit (probably need protection from cold, very pricey to buy, shrub, amazing properties) -- Lychee, longan, rambutan (with protection?, rare/expensive in stores, small trees)

From what I understand, all M.albas are grafted as they do not set (fertile) seed. They are air layered or grafted and that is why they bloom much earlier than a M.champaca would, which is always raised from seed. I second blutayle's note, in that any transplant shock would be evident in 7-10 days. However, Michelias are very sensitive to root rot. I am in zone 7b/8a and have it bring my plants indoors in a big pot. I have lost three M.albas, once which have been flowering and doing great..they just shed leaves and die slowly over 4-6 months :( It could just be an issue when grown in pot, you may not have that with it being in the ground. Good luck with the new tree, and post pictures of the blooms!

I don't grow freesias being out of that zone, but there is no doubt that you should plant them now. No plant thrives on dry storage. You should probably plant them and water them in to eliminate air pockets and then let them live on natural rainfall till they start to grow. If they can't make it on natural rainfall or can't tolerate rainfall, then they are not suitable for your area.