hoovb! Exactly! Eternal optimist here. I know we are in a drought, and many have it worse than us. We and our neighbors contracted to have our pot hole ridden private road paved, and guess what? It rained, and they couldn't pave. Project got delayed twice because of rain! And of course, rain a week ago and yesterday. But, only enough to turn the dust on the cars into a spotted mess. I worry because our soil is decomposed granite, and it drains so well, it does not stay wet. We are committed to 4" mulch, but we have so many grapevines and fruit trees, it's tough to keep the ground damp. Sigh. I should change my screen name to raindance! We should ALL change it to RainDance1 or 2 or 7001... Everyone in CA should! Suzi

Nancy in Venice, that might help explain why Gruss in Aachen is not doing anything for me in cold, damp zone 5. accuweather.com is out with their winter forecast this weekend. They are anticipating continued dryness for the PNW and Northern CA, but some rain for the Southwest, including So. CA. Also cold and snow in the interior midAtlantic states, where I am. Good for roses, bad for driving. I might park the car for the duration. Tibbrix, I was raised by pennysqueezing, use it up, make it do, do without parents. The nickels howled in agony as did us kids "deprived" of the enticing consumer products displayed by our classmates. A mythical entity named "dollars" resided at The Bank, and were never seen at our house. You can learn the easy way, by figuring things out, or the hard way, and it looks like most Americans are set to learn the hard way. I have been thinking, in light of recent events, that maybe it might be wise for Californians to be planting some Neem and Karandja trees, now while the seeds are still available. There is a guaranteed market for the whole array of products of both species.

Mom, I'll lay you 12 to 7 odds that your garlic will be exactly the same this year as in the past. The winter dormancy period does not effect productivity. It's what happens during the spring/early summer growing & bulbing period that matters. I didn't plant until mid-January last year, for instance, and never noticed a lick of difference. And Martin has planted as late as December 31, in Wisconsin, with no ill effects.

i will yell ... NOT IF YOUR GROUND FREEZES ... and i am pretty sure your probably does ... bunch of cliches .....dormant trees need little water ... dont confuse a dry surface.. with moisture at root depth ... and if soil frozen.. its not like you can dig little holes to find out ... roots need air as much as water .. and if frozen into an ice cube.. no air ... i am sure this would all be different in warmer climes where soil doesnt freeze .... lastly ... these dudes cant predict tomorrows weather.. i have little faith in long term predictions ... try to keep some perspective of all the chicken little weather predictions ... too many peeps put their hoses away .. when raking leaves in late october ... you should be CHECKING moisture thru thxgiving ... and if need be.. ON NEW TRANSPLANTS... give them a late drink ... THEN PUT THE HOSE AWAY ... again .. i would not be all that worried about long established plants ... in our zone ... and lastly.. again.. lol ... you can waste a lot of money.. cracking hoses in very cold weather ... probably more money than the plants you are trying to save ... its hard to wind up a hose for winter storage... when its 40 degrees out ... ken