The local paper says we've had .46" of rain in May (that would all be in the last 3 days.) Not much but I'll take it. I was VERY surprised yesterday when I moved the pine straw that I put down on Tuesday to plant some annuals to find the soil moist (this was before half the total rain had fallen) AND zillions (well, several dozens) of tiny (1/4 inch long) worms sitting under the mulch on top of the soil. (I can't find anything about what these might be; hopefully, they're good worms. They're not moving much.) I fully expect my roses to "slow down" in August, but I'm hoping they won't "shut down" like last year and go leafless. I'm hoping the pine straw will help a lot along with resituating the soakers earlier this spring. Like others have said, it's hard to bear bushes in my front yard that are ugly and bare, but people up north do it all winter long so if I have to sit tight for a month or so with naked Teas and Chinas then so be it. The rest of the year they're mostly beautiful. The trick is getting them mature and building the soil to support them. Hopefully, I'm on the right road. At this point I can't see myself taking them out. I will take out individuals that don't like it here, but to stop rose gardening at this point would be a defeat of huge magnitude. A local Rosarian with 400 bushes (moderns & OGRs) wrote in this month's Society newsletter that 2 years ago he stopped spraying from mid-May until just after Labor Day (due to the strain of doing it in the heat & humidity of our summer). He listed several (mostly OGRs but also Polyanthas & Shrubs) that defoliated only 25% or less and also those that defoliated 75% or more. So certain roses can be grown well without spraying even in hot, humid Central Florida. We simply have to be smart in our choices and not expect unreasonable results from the wrong roses. And from personal experience Earthkind may or may not be a smart choice in Florida with our different climate from Texas. For example, Rosette Delizy last year (1st year) seemed to keep a lot of yellow leaves. This spring not so. She is green - and growing just as much if not more. So age definitely is a factor. And I'm seeing a lot of Knock-Outs in other landscapes now with a lot of yellow on them - a lot more than my OGRs. So, Ingrid, we do have two challenging things in common - porous soil and hot sun. All I know to do is to amend the soil - so that it is less sand and more organics & topsoil - and keep it as cool as possible. Rose roots don't do well in hot soil (I think somewhere around 80 degrees, I forget though). I see a lot of rocks in your photos. Can you anchor newspaper down with rocks or with the bricks that you may get? It may give your garden an unusual look to have rocks scattered all over it but it may be an answer. La, when I handwater, I'll try to use you method with wand where I don't have soakers. But (and I don't know if I'm right on this) I think it also makes sense to "cool" the mulch a little by dampening it some, but I may have the luxury of being that extravagant since I'm not on water rationing. Sherry

Oh they are tough little plants arent they?my plants suffered from irregular watering and they became limp and not growing that much.Then i figured that they need more water than say,cacti.Now i water them just like my other plants EXCEPT when they are dormant and/or they replace their roots.Even in winter i water them a little and they are happy as a pig in the mud!!!!so my advice would be to water your plant a little more..oh,and give it strong light if you can!! (Haworthia arachnoidea var nigricans seedling,its pot sometimes floods but it doesnt complain,it has excellent drainage!) This post was edited by angellilly on Mon, May 12, 14 at 17:15

Yes, a little in the morning. You get to listen to the birds, feel the fresh air, get in a morning walk and do some bending, cutting and pulling for exercise. Then, after it starts to get warm, or you just think "okay, that's enough" - stop there. That's what I've been doing. This way, I start another indoor project and get some stuff done inside and I still feel like I've enjoyed my gardens. During the time I AM inside, though, I have to admit, I do take a quick walk outside, look around to say hello to the flowers/birds/butterflies, etc. etc., but I try not to work those afternoons. This has kept me from overdoing it and has increased my interest in other things... while I still have my love of the outside and gardening... :0) Carrie

After the bath, a couple shriveled, clearly not liking it. But it's definitely satisfying to see white dots floating in the water. I left them out to dry and started to pick more stubborn bugs from some of my plants. Most of them were motionless, so I assumed the soap bath did the trick. So I left the rest alone. Nuked all the soil of new pots with boiling water, followed by a 4 minute cook off in the microwave. I set them off to dry for a few days, and I tried to pot them up last night. And guess what? The mealies SURVIVE!! Except for those that I had picked on, the rest still had tiny bugs crawling in them. You can call them eggs, larvae whatever, I got fed up. Took out my tub of rubbing Alcohol dunk half a containerful with more dish soap, and yanked everything into the concoction. Rinsed them into another tub of water, and set them off to dry again. This time I inspected every single one. Miraculously, no white stuff or survivors. I'm guessing it worked. The poor remaining plantlets all don't look good. I guess only time will tell if these all can be saved. Will continue to update... Oh, and I also found infestations on my new jades too, thankfully I caught the spread and am now containing it, or at least am trying to..