LOL. @RoseBlush1 I will gladly share my rain if you will share your plants....mine are rotting. OMG, I have spent soooooo much money on plants this year. I can hear them calling me...."Susan....save us!"

It's a deal ....

Of course, you can send your rotting plants to me and I can save them. They are telling us that the drought is going to continue for a while.

Smiles,
Lyn

So sorry to hear about the drought. I have been through a few, probably nothing like California. LOL. My shrubbery have not ignited. But, joking aside, it is just plain depressing. I do think a box of rotted plants might cheer you up after all.

Maybe if you included one viable plant .... I'd have to dig through the mess to find it

Smiles,
Lyn

Sure thing!!

Ah Ha ... a treasure hunt through glop .... Oh, yeah ... that should cheer me up ...

Smiles,
Lyn

That is how I feel when I walk through my yard. LOL. Three cheers for glop!!

Seriously, Lynn ... I am so sorry you are getting too much rain

It sounds like we are both dealing with extremes. I am going to have to go out and water tomorrow and it really is too cold from my point of view to be out there working at all, but things are looking too dry. It's going to take hours ........

Our usual January thaw is over and temps are dropping. If I don't water, I'll have more die back.

Dang ! I am going to have to wear my snow boots because they are the only boots that will keep my feet warm.

It's always something.

Smiles,
Lyn

You are right about the weather extremes. We seem to swing from one to the other. A couple of years ago I was dealing with drought, during 100° heat. I had to come home from work and water everything and still was not enough. At least I was allowed to use my hose, I think. Actually I do not know if there was a band on watering or not, I did all mine at night and did not have much time for watching the news. #Who cares. I ended up putting all the potted plants I bought into the shade and then I only had to water once a week and most of them lived. I had everything in gallon size pots or bigger. Those small ones don't work.
Amazing that you are watering in snow boots, California really gets it bad all the time from what I hear and then there is the fires.

Lynn.........

I live in an area which is considered a county-of-origin for water in California. We usually get from 25 to 50 inches of rain between November and the end of March. This year, we've had less than 5 inches. We don't get summer rains.

Ever since I joined ATP, I've been trying to figure out where I could locate a semp garden where the plants wouldn't get too much rain in the winter months and too much direct sun in the summer months. I'll find a pocket somewhere, but not this year. I had to stop reading the semp forum because this is not the year for new projects.

The sun is out and it looks tempting to go out and work, but temps are still below freezing. I don't have that much courage, so I'll have to wait a few hours until it warms up a bit. Dang ! my cat is smarter than I am. He won't even come out of his "little house" to eat breakfast. He's snuggled in and isn't going to move !

I think I'll work in the kitchen and make tonight's dinner so that when I come in from being cold, all I have to do is heat it up. Besides, that will make the kitchen warmer.

As for fires ... I live in a wildfire area. Most of our fires are started by lightening. My neighborhood is fire safe because my neighbors and I all got together and had CalFire do a huge fire fuel reduction project a couple of years ago and we've kept it up.

The snow boots are my warmest boots ...

Smiles,
Lyn

Just thought people might enjoy
Primulas

@RoseBlush1
If you are below freezing then you would not need to water, right. I read that perennials do not need any water if the temperature is below 40° because they are dormant. Would it be possible to ammend the soil with some vermiculite or something like that which would retain water better? Do people in your area use moisture crystals?

I am glad you got that fire thing done. Lots of people do not realize they are adding fuel to the fire when they plant things so close to the house. I have also heard of fire resistant plants but cannot remember what they are. LOL.

By the way, I am no sprinkler expert but last year and because as you know necessity is the mother of invention. I purchased two "T" joints one for the front and one for the back spigot and this allowed me to have four hoses hooked up all the time and at the end of one hose is the regular spray handle but the others can have a sprinkler head and can be moved around. I do not have a timer and do not have plans for a timer but I use my kitchen timer and just let them run for 15-30 minutes depending on how hot it is.

Then I can move them around to different spots and turn them on again. It was wonderful for me because I did not have to stand there for a whole hour and even then it was not enough. This way you can do something while the stuff is getting watered. My sprinkler gadgets are cheap, just 6.99 at HD or Lowe's. In the link mine are similar to #4 and can be set to water half circles or full circles up to about 25-30 feet. #back saver, #time saver. Hope this helps!

http://www.orbitonline.com/pro...

Oh, those are so pretty.

ge1836 said:Just thought people might enjoy
Primulas

They are beautiful...where can I get some??

We have them in super markets now.Might look at HD or Lowes.

@virginiarose .......

>>>>If you are below freezing then you would not need to water, right.

Actually, I do need to water the roses for a couple of reasons. 1) As many have posted on ATP, a well hydrated plant can withstand the cold better. My night temps have been in the 20s, but will be going down to the teens now that the regular January thaw is over. Normally, I don't have to water because it's always raining ... and 2) modern roses never truly go dormant.

In all of the seasons, except for winter, I use the same system you have described for use of the sprinkler. I use my kitchen timer, too. In the winter, as soon as the night temps go below 28F, I put my hoses away for the winter and cover the spigots to keep the pipes from freezing. Not this year. I've only pulled out one hose and am multi-tasking while watering. There is no way I could stand there and just hold a hose. It would drive me bonkers !

Today, I got one of the street beds cleaned up while I watered out in front of my home.

My soil holds the moisture very well, especially since I mulch. I am only watering deeply about once every two weeks during the winter for this drought. It's just that it is cold out there.

Smiles,
Lyn

That is wonderful Lyn, I do not know much about modern Roses. If I lived in California I would have dozens of them but not here because of constant battle with fungus and black spot, they are not worth the trouble. I do have a beautiful knockout rose bush and I did buy another one last fall, they are not trouble and do not get black spot. I also bought a Julia Child and it died so I bought another one and it will be here in the spring. Wish me luck.
Glad to hear you have good soil, mulching is very good. How do you keep your hose from freezing??

Susan

Hi Susan ....

I have been obsessed about roses for a couple of decades. When I owned my condo in southern California, the only containers that were not stolen where the ones where I was growing roses. I volunteered to work at a specialty rose nursery to learn how to grow them and then got involved with rose breeders. I had to really study up on them to be able to play with those folks because they did not dumb it down for me. As a result, the only thing I know how to grow is roses and weeds ...

There are five strains, or races, of black spot in the US. So a rose that may be clean for you could very well be a gawd awful mess for me because we have different strains of bs in our gardens. 'Julia Child' is a beautiful rose and has shown bs resistance in many areas of the country, so it might do very well for you.

Usually, my hoses are stored under the house during the winter so that they don't freeze. This year, I am risking one hose and draining it after use and storing it in the garden shed. So far, no problems, but wrestling a cold hose is an adventure.

Smiles,
Lyn

PS .. you might want to look at the roses bred by Paul Barden as he is located in Oregon and his roses were tested up there before being introduced to commerce.

Thanks for the information. I did not know that there were five strains. I just thought a spot was a spot, but spot is not a good nick name for a rose bush. Here ya go spot!!

I think storing hoses under the house is a great idea! We also have one out but not hooked up and my DH drains it after using. I do not like wrestling with hoses, too much excitement for me. Adventure is a good word for it though!

Thanks for the encouragement, I love that 'Julia Child' rose bush. I am counting down to spring, just ordered my first Desert Roses!! I am so excited about the plants I am getting in spring.

susan