gb - it was chilly and damp here yesterday but no snow. 'dee - yes, that's the sage on the right side in that picture. The sage is just the ordinary Salvia officinalis that you can pick up dirt-cheap just about anywhere that sells plants. They're very hardy and turn into lovely garden plants. The flowers get ratty-looking as they start to fade so need deadheading: just grab a handful of stems and whack them off at the base - no delicate treatment required! thyme - yeah, it's been not a stellar fall here for color either. Too warm (especially at night) and too wet after a tough summer. The rain was much needed; after several years of dry falls and almost snowless winters we're finally heading into colder weather with some decent moisture in the ground. Snowless winters are nice in that I don't get stuck in the house so much - but they are very hard on the garden so I'm hoping the damp fall this year may be a sign of a snowier winter to come too.... The dry winters (and summer dry spells) have taken a huge toll on that beautiful Vyvyan Pennell clematis unfortunately. After the wisterias it is/was probably the showiest/most memorable bloomer in the garden here. A The President clematis was also a big star a few feet behind where Vyvyan is. Both are barely hanging on for the last two years! They are in the rain shadow of the roof hangover of the front porch so need supplemental moisture. A snowy winter adds a nice amount of mosture to the soil to start things off - but the soil has been bone dry after the last couple of winters! DH retired a couple of years ago and took over responsibility for watering the stuff on or near the driveway. I think he concentrates on the pots and forgets about the plants in the porch bed and/or does not water them enough. I intend to take over watering the porch bed next year to see if I can revive them before the clematises expire completely! A history of a beautiful clematis: Vyvyan near her prime in 2006: After a hard winter she stopped climbing but still flowered well - 2008: Tidied up the old stems in early spring 2010 in hopes of reviving her enough to start climbing again - I called this 'the goose' phase: By June/July it looked like the rejuvenation had worked - she had climbed to the top of the lattice and was producing the summer flush of single flowers: And then disaster struck! There was an explosion in the snail population. Even though I dusted almost daily with diatomaceous earth, the cursed snails took out all those lovely new stems! :-( And then she's has to cope with a succession of dry winters and long stretches of summer dry spells... Vyv is still hanging on, producing a few flowers in June but it's so pathetic in comparison to previous years that I haven't taken any pictures since 2010! I hope improved watering in 2014 might help - as long as the snail don't respond with a growth spurt too. We miss the beautiful Vyv, so it's worth another attempt to revive her.

Please use December rose list. Thank You. Happy New Year, Ron S

Debra, I grow Mississippi Memories and Mississippi Blues. Ironically I did not order either one. Two separate vendors decided I needed them. As bonuses. I like MM, but MB has not multiplied or bud well for me. Which is strange because it is a Stamile and they always do well in my garden. And I don't think it has ever bloomed 5 inches. Kate

They were all ginormous. I think certain hybrid teas are really into the weather in this south LA microclimate even though they are usually not that vigorous. Maybe it's the ones with more tea genetics? My JFK is gigantic after 2 years (I live about 1 mile from this garden). We get ocean fog about once a month and ocean breezes but usually not santa anas. The soil is old riverbottom so sandy. Now if we could just get some rain...