One thing you should know is that, even in well-drained soil, most of the feeder roots are in the top 6 inches. This layer needs to be consistently moist if the roses are to grow and bloom continuously. Another is that the gardener's judgement of "moist" encompasses a range that may include not-quite-moist-enough. As long as they grow continuously, you are OK. New growth should start at the upper leaf axils within 7-9 days of deadheading or pruning. Almost all new shoots should flower as opposed to going "blind." So basically you need to judge water by how the plants are doing. 10 days without water in hot weather seems like a long time, though. Most gardeners who irrigate for maximum growth do so at least once a week. If you have a non-drainable layer a foot or so down, it may be better to water your shallow soil only 1/2" inch at a time but at closer intervals (perhaps twice a week). As you suggest, saturated soil can cause iron-deficiency chlorosis, but you ought to check the pH as well. Roses do best at pH 6-6.8. Narrowing of new leaves could suggest some other trace deficiency such as zinc. I wouldn't recommend cultivating rose beds. The feeder roots come right up to the mulch boundary.

Well it's been some time now, and our Ae-Ae bananas are starting to turn ripe. We've tasted a couple of them at various stages of "ripeness", but they're still not ready. So far, they taste a little like a manzana banana -- an apple flavor -- but still not good. We'll let them get more ripe and see if that helps in the sweetness department. Manzanas taste best when fully ripe and when the fruit is getting soft -- actually they're good when the skin starts to turn brown. Maybe the Ae-Ae is the same way. We'll find out. Here's a photo showing both the green and yellow/ripe variegated still on the plant. It's interesting how the green part turns "banana yellow" and the white part turns a light cream color.

Thanks, Cindy, for looking those up for me. Now I'm anxious to reread Perrin's book to remind me of his other recommendations. I've read similar books by Eric Burns and Colin Wilson, as well as the Dirda you mentioned above. I like that sort better than the usual unembellished lists -- those try to be too all encompassing and are geared more toward the most popular -- dare I say, book-club-type -- stuff. Ahh, the mention of W.H. Hudson: I have a very low affinity for fantasy, but his Green Mansions, the love story of a naturalist and a bird girl named Rima, has been a favorite since I was a kid. It probably helped that I read it young before my taste congealed. I don't see it mentioned very often, but surely it is considered a classic. Cindy, the "Out of Print, Out of Mind" title they considered for their web site seems particularly apropos. I think I could remember that better than "Lost Books," which seems generic. However, so many books that were once out of print have now been resurrected. I've told this story so many times that I've probably told it here, so forgive me if you've read it before. But... When I was in high school, two years running (sophomore and junior years) my English and history teachers were dystopia obsessed, but they obviously didn't coordinate their lesson plans because I wound up assigned 1984 and Brave New World for three different classes. That was the beginning of my particular loathing of those popular books (the popularity hasn't abated either, apparently). But there was another book assigned for the same "dystopiathon" that I actually liked. It was about a fellow who went underground (in a network of caves, or something) in search of his lost father or uncle. In this underground place was a colonial remnant of the Roman Empire that had lived there since the empire dissolved, and they had developed a particularly nasty form of government. Does it ring any bells with you?

Thanks everyone for looking and taking the time to comment! It's great to hear from you all. And I know it's fun to see new blooms. One thing that I will mention about The Royal Greens is that the first several blooms were very splotchy... but it whipped itself into shape :) A lot of my blooms have been splotchier than usual this season - like Glory To His Name was splotchy all the time - today is the first time I noticed non splotchy blooms, and it's about done for the season. Debra, Love In A Vacuum is definitely red, not purple - sorry if the color wasn't captured accurately. I'll include another pic below. I got LIAV from Hanson, last summer, so it wasn't me that outbid you :) Pink Panther Paws has a mauve-ish color on the ends of it on some mornings (depending on rainfall probably), but fades to light pink. Nancy, I believe Lotus Position is one of the parents of Pink Panther Paws. Sea Scape is one I bought to try something different from Davi, and I don't really care for it - ha! Brad, thanks for the info and your thoughts on the bites! My thinking last year after suffering with the bites for a while was that they were/are probably chiggers - I suddenly remembered about doing some volunteer work a few years ago at a state park nearby and they made sure that we were clothed appropriately and were sprayed with Deet. I hate going to the dr, but did last year when one of them got really infected... I think I had to go three or four times. The PA agreed with me that they might be chiggers, but she had never seen such blistering, etc. They were really bad, and I had dozens of them at a time - very itchy and painful and in bad places for blisters to be. I started wearing pants, and tucked them into socks, and sprayed myself down, but it didn't seem to really help. I know one of the sprays I tried last year had Picaridin (sp?). I need to try the sprays again. I probably have about 15-20 bites right now in various stages of blistering, scabs, etc. The other day I resorted to popping one of the blisters with a sterile needle, as it hurt so bad - it was going to keep growing until it burst anyway I think. Deet makes me a little nervous from what I remember back in my camping/backpacking days, but maybe I will get some from Amazon and try that as a last resort. We do have a lot of dragonflies (not sure about damsel or how to tell the difference) here. I'll look into permethrin clothes. Thank you! Anyway, if anyone has read this far, here's a couple of daylily pictures for your trouble :) Another pic of Love In a Vacuum Forgot this one - Westbourne Blackberry Cobbler - bought last year on a whim, added to an order I bought this one last week, had admired it last year when I saw it in person, Lemon Strawberry Twist And here's Davi's Dilemma, not sure if I posted it last year, I think I got it fall of 2018. I love it, even though it's pink :) I made a video of it last year, but never shared the couple of videos I made Thanks for looking AGAIN!