the daze of whine and roses . . .

It's something we gardeners dread -- losing a beloved plant. I hope you have much better weather this coming year.

There has been a drought here in SoCal too, but on our small property anything I've lost this year has been due to my own negligence.

BTW -- I thought by the title this was going to be a wine discussion, since so many rose lovers also appreciate fine wine. I'm guessing you meant to type "whine" :-)

I am not sure yet what next spring will show damage wise. I know we have lost a Dogwood tree in the front. Also, about 5 azalas in the back. Some loss might be due to the late Easter freeze which destroyed much and weakened more. The drought just finished off what the freeze could not. I have watered and I have a humongous water bill to prove it, but so much was zapped at Easter and could not rebound with hose water. Lesley

carla, have you put up rain barrels yet? The prediction for the next year is just as dry if not drier. We put ours up yesterday, but of course no rain in the forecast.....

I lost 2 new roses I planted and 5 azaleas that were new. And I can plant anything new....If it doesn't rain next summer, who knows what will die. My lawn for sure.

Prepare but don't panic.
When I lived in Montana the experts said we were going to become the Northern desert.Rained so much the next couple years,never had to water.
Three years ago they said this part of Florida was going to become Hurricane alley.Nothing over 30mph since that dire prediction.Well,except for our insurance doubling based on the experts sage input.

When we bought this place 5 years ago, there was the largest, most unbelieveable weeping cherry tree in the side yard, beside the deck with the above ground pool. It had obviously endured some abuse (with the deck and the pool so close.) We removed the deck and pool two years ago, returning the side yard to turf, and the tree looked happier. This year was, I believe, its last. 3/4s of it is completely leafless, and the rest doesn't look too good. I can only hope that it went dormant because of the dryness, but I fear this is optimistic false hope. The view from my office window here won't be the same without it.

The lawn is toast, of course. (who cares about grass anyway) The roses, OTOH, are just fine. They have been in pots all this time, so I have been carefully hand-watering them. With the rain we had this past week (6.2"!!) I will finally be able to start getting this little guys into the ground.

Connie

Petaloid, I mean to type wine.
Buford, can you tell me where you've heard/read that next year is supposed to be as dry?

Thanks,
Carla

My conditions are like lesmc's, except we're on a well so watering is limited. And the well's been pumping more mud and sand than before. (I have to clean the reusable filter on some water lines much more often than in other years.)
We've had a hundred year old tree drop 3/4 of its huge limbs. Other massive oaks are dead. I can see a neighbor has lost his tallest Tulip Poplar.
DH has wondered how many of the bare spots (down to exposed soil) in the yard will refill with grass. I'm guessing our grass will next year be a higher per cent of weeds than other years.
Big established roses are surviving.
Modern roses that were most damaged by the Easter Freeze have lost many canes that were out at easter, but the mature ones have regrown stems. The dryness of summer and fall may have hardened them off. Spring will tell.
Sedums are looking good.
We remain in Exceptional Drought. With no sign of relief and ground water replenishment.

We have had the opposite Carla. A very wet summer with hardly any sun at all. In July we had two solid weeks of monsoon like rain. That is our best month when we can at least expect some sun. My yard is super squishy, lawn riddled with moss (have been treating it) The roses have had a terrible year as far as fungus issues.

Hey, if your hydrangeas don't make it, I'll send you some cuttings of mine, "Grown right here in our test fields of Tennessee." LOL

Adrienne

Carla, here's a link. I don't know how accurate it is of course:

link