Tree planting, next phase: Along with two of my sisters, I traveled earlier this month in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. We did not make it to Suzy Verrier's nursery but that is at the top of my list for the next trip. While we were a bit too early for the fall leaf season, we did see trees, lots of gorgeous trees. Now all but one of the trees I planted this past January survived, but I do still see a few empty spaces remaining. I have ordered three more trees for planting this fall, one Pinus edulis (two-needled pinyon pine) and two Pinus brutia eldarica (Afghan pine). Both of these species can get by on our average 15" of rain per year once established, though they need to be watered for the first year or two. I may add a couple more pinyon pines if the first one does well. I like the idea of the pine nuts, and you need more than one to get them, kind of like apples. I have been wanting more conifers in the landscape. We do have a some, mostly redwoods and cedars. The pine native to my area is Pinus sabiniana, (gray pine and other names) were long ago completely removed. I keep thinking of planting one. Who knows? Perhaps one day I will. There is still room for one. Rosefolly This post was edited by rosefolly on Thu, Sep 26, 13 at 17:16

Ehann, I was afraid someone would say that! But I think Ann is offering some encouragement. Believe me, there is plenty of sun and heat there even in summer from at least noon til 7PM. The trees have almost no overhang on the south side. It all goes to the north with a huge horizontal limb from which we hung a porch swing. This photo is from a couple of years ago - before roses. I'm wondering if it isn't needing a little relief from the sun and that's why it's growing to the north. I once laid a thermometer in the grass in Orlando when air temp was say 93. The thermometer read 130. I know we're not the Arizona desert, but our sun will fry you. It seems like it must be reaching for the cool shade that's only 93. I was shocked to see all that growth to the back today since I hadn't walked back there lately. To look at it from the front, it looks like no growth at all. Now I have a question about leaflessness (a big problem with my roses). What's the deal here? Summer dormancy? Should I be dumping large quantities of fertilizer (milorganite, RoseTone) on this bush? When I dug this garden (and I can truly claim ignorance at the time. I just didn't know this was a no-no, and now I have no place else to put this rose), the finer roots of these trees just filled the ground, and I'm sure they're back sucking up everything that comes their way. Like I said, I'm using MiracleGro now. BTW, if the bush has no leaves will the canes absorb the MG? OK, so I gather that this shape and growth is alright at this point. And I'll just stand back and watch the show. I'll keep you posted, Ann. I was told this rose could be 10x10 on fort - after I bought it, naturally. I think I feel better about it. Thanks a lot, Ann. Sherry

I've really enjoyed reading about all the projects. Thanks for sharing! Maybe it will inspire me to get going. Very long, I'm sorry. This has been an odd year. It was not without its social drama. DH retired- twice- and DD got a new job in a new state (at least a little closer, only one time zone away this time). Then she got engaged, bought a house and got married. DS and DiL had baby #3 in June. We kept our older grandbabies for the month of June, at first only during the day and then full time. (Need a vacation? Keep an active 5 and 7 yr. old for a month then send them home. The relief and relaxation you feel will be as great as any you can get on a vacation.) Mom lives alone about 100 mi. from us and manages quite well. This year she fell. Fortunately someone was there to help. We were able to get there and take her to the doctor and nothing was broken but it continues to concern us. Next the weather- a long drought with less rain than normal at the beginning of summer, only a sprinkle or two for the rest of summer and then none at all for fall. Temps higher, at times recordbreaking. Till now. After Thanksgiving we began experiencing wind, rain, more wind, then cold, down to 20's and lately teens; actually not abnormal for early December. However, we had only about a week of fall and we are far behind in our fall chores. The biggest gardening problem we had this year came from a neighbor who decided to sell some of his wood in late summer during the drought. He cleared the right-of-way that he owned between our house and our neighbor to the NE and cut the trees behind our property and that of our other neighbors. He felled a good many trees that were deemed not market worthy and left them. However, very hungry wildlife, now with nowhere else to go, came into our yards hunting for food and water. The deer destroyed our vegetable garden and a good bit more of landscape and flowers. Even things that deer had ignored before were fair game. The exceptions were native salvias, lavender and rosemary or something deadly like digitalis or hellebores. So the projects- Drought and less time than needed for gardening have made me realize that I need to plan for these things in the future. With no water source in the front of our house, the bed beside the drive was reachable only by adding a long second hose to the first and then snaking it around to reach the bed. As a result, that bed didn't get the water it should have. The tree removal in the woods behind us didn't seem like a welcome change but it allowed more sun from the east in the back of our house. I am planning on making a new bed for those roses behind the play area/sandbox for our grandbabies. It will be a tight fit but I think it will work. I'll move my culinary herbs to the driveway. That bed is also a place where I planted a lot of my heirloom daffodils and iris, so I want to keep them where they are. Bulbs and herbs are better suited to low rainfall and not much supplemental water than the roses. Second project- On our own property, we also had a couple dead or dying trees removed that were likely to fall on our neighbors' buildings since the other trees between us had been removed. After clearing out some of the exotic invasives, we have some room to add a few natives; a sourwood, a carolina snowbell, a native smoke tree, cinnamon clethra, maple leaf viburnum and a couple of Guthrie chickasaw plums on the edge of the clearing. Someday they should bring in pollinators, provide food and shelter to some of the birds and forest creatures and be a delight to the people who live here. I don't know if we'll see much of it but it won't happen if we don't get it started. I will need to make wire cages to keep them deerproof. The weather has cooled and we have some rain so time to get started. Third project- I start most of my garden from seed or cuttings. I need to be getting my milk jugs ready for all my winter-sown seeds ready to go. First I have to finish planting everything that I couldn't get into the ground earlier this fall because of the weather. And somehow I have to get ready for Christmas. <Sigh>

Technically, we are in the subtropics, not a temperate zone. And we really don't get four distinct seasons... more like two: a long summer, and then what I like to call yo-yo weather the rest of the year. Summer weather starts up mid-to-late-May and runs till mid-to-late-September. We may have hot weather in October, but it isn't the stultifying heat of summer. We do get freezes each year; some years we get snow, but it is flat here in the coastal plain, so the danger of steep landscapes in snow isn't a worry here. Not-summer weather can range from upper-twenties (Fahrenheit) to temps in the seventies and eighties. It is rare for us to have freezing temps for more than a few hours, though, so the freeze-and-thaw cycle that can wreak havoc with areas in zones 6 & 7 aren't usually a problem here. We've had two freeze warnings in recent weeks, but still no freezes. I know, because I still have many coleus plants in the yard, and though they look pretty tatty at this point, they are still alive, and a few are still blooming and providing nectar to their biggest fans, the bees. That will end once we actually get temps below freezing. They will re-seed, though- I have little use for annuals that don't. Roses here don't actually need winter protection, but I have toyed with the idea of moving my two Hybrid Chinas to a colder part of the yard to see if that might encourage spring blooms, but it's hard to determine where those colder zones might be; the ground is quite flat, and we have trees providing wind protection throughout the yard. Last winter was unusually warm, so it remains to be seen if what passes for normal winter weather will provide sufficient winter chill for those two, and my other once-blooming roses. As for autumn color, there are a few Japanese Maples in the neighborhood, that look quite pretty with their yellow leaves. We don't have a hickory, but our pecan tree (related to hickory) does a dismal job of providing any color-the leaves turn brown and fall right off. We do have a couple of gumball trees (Liquidambar styraciflua) in the wilder area beyond the back fence, and they have yellow leaves in fall and early winter. I know folks like to complain about the spiky seeds, but they are such a benefit to wildlife, and the seedballs are not much of a nuisance out where our trees are. Also in the back area there are some wild grapes, at least two types of Smilax, Virginia Creeper and Peppervine that provide fruit in the fall and winter. I do try to keep those plants from seeding in the yard itself. In the same area, there are a few invasives that I try to do battle with despite lack of easy access: privet (we call it disgustrum), Japanese honeysuckle and Russian olive. These plants may be better-behaved elsewhere, but are not wanted here. Virginia