roses. joseph's coat is tough and grows pretty fast, but not too rampant. mine has leaves all year in 7b or 8, and flowers a lot. i haven't had trouble with blackspot or mildew with mine in afternoon sun in front of a wall, and it doesn't scorch either. it is thorny, but since i don't have to prune it much, i don't mind.

I had an extra trellis this year and am trying Zucchino Rampicante (or Tromboncino squash), which is supposed to be a vigorous climber with large zucchini. They've grabbed on and started climbing, no zukes yet, but it's still early for that here. Or you could try some yard long beans - they have a completely different taste than "normal" green beans and are also crazy climbers. I do agree with everyone else that cucumbers should easily climb cattle panel - but I have noticed that some varieties climb much better than others. You might try experimenting with some different types if you're still into trying cukes.

Thank you. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all the help. It's wonderful. My family is great for practical help, but not this kind of thing and certainly not roses. Although I'm an average gardener at best, they speak of me like I have some magic way with roses and plants.... It might take a while, but when I need something done that I'm not able to do, someone else will. I am blessed with a wonderful family and they have made my illness much easier to live with. I'm very grateful. There is a mature olive tree that protects this bed during the hottest part of the day. Bed faces N/W, and I think this particular bed is safe from stucco flashback. I have other beds that really suffer from it. Thankfully this isn't one of them. Any thoughts on Lady Ashe as well? Lisa

Karen, I am short too so I generally just put up 5' tall trellises and let the plants cascade back down to the ground after they reach the top. Sometimes I plant things on the 8' tall fence, and that requires a ladder for harvesting. Using a ladder in a sloping garden is risky, but sometimes I do it anyway. Sometimes husbands do need to be reminded how much their wife does, but it goes both ways. I wouldn't want to have to do all the mowing that my DH does, although, I used to do it all back when he was in the detective division and on call a lot. I had to, or it wouldn't get mowed, and we didn't have a riding mower back then either, so I mowed two or three acres weekly with a push mower. When he took over the mowing, suddenly we "needed" a riding mower. One advantage to not getting rain is that nothing is growing much, so we can mow every third week instead of weekly. The disadvantage to that is that we're not getting enough grass clippings to mulch the garden, so I've been buying pine bedding at the farm store instead. I don't really mind it too much, though, as the pine bedding does not bring in weed/wildflower seeds like the grass clippings will. Amy, Lately I've carried out my little folding stepstool from the kitchen to the garden so I can do things like stand on top of it to hammer in 8' tall T-posts. Tim doesn't like it when he sees it there because, you know, the dirt might ruin it or something. lol. I like it better than dragging a bigger ladder from the garage. I also use it to harvest beans when the vines create a big mass atop the trellis and refuse to cascade back down to the ground. Standing on the stepladder beats stretching and reaching. I'm getting too old to stretch and reach too much. I have a huge pile of tomatoes and peppers on the breakfast room table and ought to be in the kitchen chopping them up. I'm just not feeling motivated today. It is possible I stayed out in the garden too long. By the time I came indoors, the heat index was 98 and I could tell I was getting too hot, but I was drinking the whole time I was out there so at least I avoided dehydration. Dawn