Jaqueline, here is some local information: there are more than a dozen Pernetiana rose cultivars that thrive in the S.F.Bay area, -at Morcam Parks old rose garden (corner of olive and Oakland ave. If you stand at the NOrth side of the Victorian rose circle bed, (in the center of the Old Rose Garden, where Mme. Ernst Calvat is planted on 6' tall poles, the main Pernetiana bed will be in the N.E. corner bed, and Talisman on the N.W. bed to the left. -Morcam is a no-spray garden by official vote. These are thriving there, and blooming normally, with little blackspot. These do get P.M. but not enough to defoliate or reduce blooming. 'Talisman' 'President Herbert Hoover' my favorite climbing Pernetiana for its delicious fragrance, which I've grown in Emeryville, in my organic rose garden. 'Gruss an Coberg' very floriferous and fastest re-bloom of this group. 'Mari Dot' There are c. a dozen other Pernetiana roses planted there. I would reccomend most Pernetiana roses within a small microclimate in the Bay area, where temperatures are rarely high enough for blackspot to spread. This includes all the areas within 3 miles of the s.f. Bay. From Hayward to San Jose, blackspot might be more of a problem, but not for you. The only Pernetiana I would not reccomend for you, is 'Lundys Lane' which defoliated c. 20% of its leaves, from blackspot despite being sprayed with Cornell in Emeryville, where I live. Good luck, I love the Pernetiana group best among all the other H.T.s, along with the few Tea Hybrids. Lux.

I have CPM - we are in dry weather (70's day time). Harmonyp in CA grows CPM and she mentioned that she'll put it in partial shade for better color. When we had hot temp. in 90-100 degrees, my CPM's bloom were whitish beige. She's in morning sun only. Now it's cooler, and her bloom is more yellowish - not quite yellow like Golden Cel. I put tons of horse manure on CPM today, I expect that the potassium in horse manure will deepend CPM. Our temp. will go toward freezing in late November, I'll report if her color changes to orange. She's a gallon size, own-root planted in May. She's very big now, at least 6' canes. She's best next to a wall. She won't make a good centerpiece, very long awkward canes. She consumes an ENORMOUS amount of water, I'm glad she gets morning sun only. Our sun here is getting weaker as we are heading toward late fall.

Hi Karen, I only have three plumeria with names, Pink Moir, dwarf Yellow and Kimo; the others are with no names so at some point it will be interesting to see what blooms they produce. Supposedly, I have a red one according to the lady I bought it from, but she didn't have it named. I got advice to put my cockatiel's cage outside in case she came back to roost -- didn't happen. I don't think she would know where her home is being that her cage is usually in the laundry room. I am in North Hills. It's bad enough that I live close to a grammar school, let alone living close to the Rose Bowl if that is where the parade will be, lol! Curious, a few years ago I went to a home here in the SFV where the guy was having a party in his backyard. We did potluck, and were given a ticket for a free plumeria cutting. We could also represent a plummie lover who couldn't attend because of distance or whatever. The original invitation was posted here in GW. Do you recall that, and were you there? Eloise

I don't think the Santa Clara Valley has microclimates to the same extent as other parts of the Bay Area. If you want to see a microclimate in action, drive from Orinda to Oakland or better still Treasure Island. 15 minutes and 25 degrees. In San Jose and the rest of the county - the northern part nearest the Bay - a bit windier, a bit cooler sometimes (5-8 degrees on a summer day, not much), a bit less rain. To the south and near the hills - a bit warmer (as above) a bit more rain, a bit less wind. Near water is always windier than at a distance. SDGE (the power company) considers Del Cerro to be a mile or two at most out of its "coastal zone" that starts at the beach and ends around the 805 at that point for power pricing purposes). As I said, "Air conditioning, not all that common in coastal areas (where our place is) is now a standard feature in new construction and more frequently retrofit into older places that didn't have it. " So if you consider Del Cerro inland, that comment may not apply to your experience. But it's hotter there now too. Feeling argumentative?