More Rose and Iris Blooms

oh, we have pretty extreme conditions where we are, almost sub-desert. It doesn’t rain much and we get 110+ degree F temperatures in the summer, so we definitely irrigate. But I don’t know what we use. You know what we did though was find a landscaper on Angie’s List that was well rated and they keep the irrigation running properly. I’d recommend doing something like that. your system should not be drowning or leaking! We still have a few problems, like an area of the lawn that doesnt drain properly, we’ll probably have them put in a french drain when we have time.

But a lot of my roses,… once they were 3 years established with good root systems, and they are roses that are more drought tolerant than others, they don’t need as much water as you’d think. My irrigation system broke for a few weeks and I didn’t notice because I was on bedrest for the pregnancy. It was off long enough that my crape myrtle turned totally brown! But 90% of the roses were fine. I don’t recommend turning the water off, but yeah, isn’t that encouraging?

Thanks for the tip on the French irrigation. I have a cement backyard with a tiny strip of dirt and was thinking about building some planter boxes. I’m thinking a modified version of the gravel may be suitable and a slight incline. I live in the San Fernando Valley so I totally understand about the heat. I killed some plants via the burning sun. I knew plants turned brown but I didn’t know you could scorch and drown them at the same time. My neighbor is a green thumb genius and does all her planting in the French way (as she is French). I love her grape trellis that winds around her lemon tree. She gave me iris buds but… I’m sure you can guess what happened to those.