Viewing post #626974 by OldGardener

Although we are close to the ocean mile-wise (under 5 miles I'd guess), we are on the other side of the canyon hills so we don't get any marine influence what-so-ever. What is worse is the house is located in a micro-climate that push the temps higher. We typically run about 8 degrees hotter than the valley so we get about 3-4 weeks of 115-118 degree weather in late summer . I try to compensate for this by keeping a deep layer of mulch (old horse manure and shavings) in the garden beds and I try to encourage deep roots by watering more heavily but much less frequently than the neighbors. I also typically would plant in late autumn after the temps have broken so everyone could develop a good root system before the heat but I ended up waiting all winter long for cooler weather that never came. So I am stuck now either getting everything in to the ground next week or waiting until next autumn/winter and hoping that the cooler temps arrive. As you can tell, I went with the decision to plant now (even though I may have to water more frequently to keep everyone perky) as I cannot afford to lose yet another year if we get a repeat of last winter.

I have a ton of agapanthus here. I am happy to hear that it can be considered a "tropical-look" type of plant as it definitely is quite the work horse. I know it sounds silly but I seem to have a difficult time sometimes distinguishing if a plant looks tropical in nature or not. So, I really appreciate everyone's suggestions!!!