The reason I decided to get a furnace is that my older body started to object to stacking wood and splitting wood down so that I didn't just have big chunks of wood for my fires. Also, my reliable wood guy died a few years ago and I've had a hard time finding another wood guy to replace him. It just wasn't worth the hassle any more. I am getting what is called a mini-split system which is a heat pump, but a bit more sophisticated than the old ones. I think I am going to like it.
I've been researching alpine plants /rock garden plants, xeroscape plants and native California plants. Anything that can handle a lot of high temps and grow in poor soil. My summer temps are in the high 90s to low 100s for 3 to 4 months. That's hard on a lot of plants. Everything has to be established before the heat hits, so spring is usually a marathon and I am getting kind of tired of running that race, so I need to plan better.
I am going to remove most of my smaller roses so that roses don't dominate all of the beds. That way, I can have beds with differing watering requirements. I think that will allow more versatility in the garden. I am also going to give away any rose that just isn't doing it's best in this garden. I know enough about roses that I have chosen good roses for this climate, but with my soil, some of them just can't thrive. It's time to let them go to a better home. That will give me space to try something else.
In a way, it's kind of nice that I have to start over.
Thanks for the support.
