Sheila, we've just finished our 18th straight day of temperatures of 90s-100s+ with lots more to come. At least we don't have smoke, which we usually do this time of summer. No rain since May which is pretty normal, so I'm totally irrigation dependent. Some roses are still resting, but a lot of them are trying to bloom--and the deer just keep coming back, taking every bloom and bit of new growth. I chased three males, all with antlers, out of our back yard yesterday at 3:00 in the afternoon. These are big mule deer. My repellent is not working on these males. Diane

Me again. I forgot to say that I hope you don't have two more months of heat and smoke. I would love to see your photos. Diane

Ugh, that is a lot of smoke (living on the west coast, I'm also familiar with this) - hope any fires don't get too close!!!

Thanks for the photos Sheila, but, please tell, what is doveweed which looks so good with Young Lycidas?

Daisy

Diane, I feel so badly that the deer are eating your roses. It just seems so unfair. No coyotes or mountain lions to help with that? Of course we have coyotes but still the rabbits keep munching.

Sheila, your roses are drop-dead gorgeous. The lion fountain is just magnificent. So sorry about the smoke, though, which I know is very unpleasant. I continue to marvel at how fast your roses grow compared to the laggards in my garden.

I hope the smoke gets better! Hopefully the heat will subside as well.

It's been really hot here too AND DRY! AND HUMID! It has rained all around me, but I haven't got nothing but a sprinkle in a month. Its killing me. I really need a good long soaking rain.

Diane I'm sorry for your deer trouble! Also that your deterrent, isnt working.

Thank you kind members for your support. Alana I hope you and Ingrid and Diane and Lisa and Jeri and Cyndita, and Marianne etc, etc get rain. Daisy, the dove weed is croton setigerus, turkey mullien, which is a western annual I think that grows anywhere here. I love it as do birds, but it is toxic to animals per wikipedia.

Diane that deer problem is so hard. I really struggled with that with moose in Alaska. Having a fence here is such a relief. Thankfully, I can irrigate here, although emitter failures are common. It is a constant struggle to keep emitters working, although easier than dragging a hose around.

Thanks so much, all of you, for your kind words of commiseration about the !@#$% deer. I am seriously contemplating removing a lot of my more vulnerable roses. It's a tough decision.

Sheila, I meant to comment on your stunning setting and beautiful roses. I love them all, but Young Lycidas is special to me, and yours is a beauty. I love its color and the "doveweed" growing nearby. Is it really a weed? Sadly it also looks like a plant that the quail would love to tear into. They like to eat fuzzy and prickly leaved plants, strangely enough. As Ingrid said, your fountain is magnificent. Is it an antique? The colors in your photos are so clear and bright. Love them. Diane

Ingrid, I do have slow growers here too. Comtesse Emmeline de Guigne from RU (6/20/17) and Triompe du Luxembourg from RPs (11/15/17). Emmeline wants to bloom, not grow, so I realized I needed to pinch buds for sure. Triomphe is just sitting there after it's initial glorious Spring single bloom. It finally started to grow after planting 2 months ago and I am pinching buds there too. I was curious if RJG and Triomphe were the same, since the names seemed to be used interchangeably. Apparently not, from RPs anyway, because RJG is a much faster grower.

Faster growers here are Maman Cochet and Etoile de Lyon and the likes of William R. Smith and Mrs. Dudley Cross. Marechal Niel from RPs (own root) is also doing very well in a pot so far.

Emmeline.

Triomphe

Trying.

Trying again.

Failing. Pictures won't post right now for me.

Diane - I'm so mad on your behalf about those deer eating your wonderful roses. Sigh.

Sheila - hopefully the hot weather/smoke/fires will get better for everyone in your area. I love the roses you showed...especially Trinity.

Alana - I hope you (and everyone else) get some rain. Hopefully alot.

Carol

I love our deteriorating fountain too. It is not an antique.

Trying Triomphe again.

Sheila, so sorry to hear about the smoke - and to possibly have a couple more months of it is awful. Your outlook before smoke is beautiful - so tranquil. And I, too, am a fan of your lion fountain. Also of Adam, which I had no idea was so lovely.

Diane, you removing roses!!! That would be heartbreaking. Those d*%$#d deer. I feel so upset for you.

Sorry to hear it’s smokey—I remember how awful that can be! Your roses are so lovely—I love them all! They look so lush and healthy despite their challenging environment! :-)

Sheila

Sorry to hear about the smoke and heat. If you’re not on water restrictions, would washing down the roses with a stream of water help? I’ve been doing that several times a week (not smoky, but 2+ solid weeks of 100+ here) and the roses seem to like it very much, rewarding my effort with healthy foliage and lots of new growth.

Diane,

Those dumb deer don’t realize that those of some of the most coveted roses on Houzz and are only to be admired, not consumed!

Ingrid, here's my experience with the top predators in this area. We do have cougars that occasionally show up out here in the hills, but they are very shy, and don't seem to make much of a dent in the deer population. Young, confused cougars end in up in Boise at times, usually up a tree. Then the mighty Fish and Game shoots them dead, offering some lame excuse as to why a less lethal method couldn't be used on the hapless young cougar. They do the same to confused, young black bears that seem to also end up in Boise trees. Coyotes are abundant out here and prey on rabbits, quail, gophers, and roaming neighborhood cats. We don't have a loose dog problem, so they aren't victims here. I don't think a single coyote could take on a group of large mule deer. It's always open season on coyotes, but they still persist quite well, a successful species that has adapted to human encroachment on its environment. I hope your rabbits become less of a pest to your garden, Ingrid, but their food supply is dwindling in the drought. Here, we had lots of pygmy and pygmy cross types, so cute and adorable. They were quite small and did little damage. Then several years ago, a roaming fox population decimated the pygmies. The foxes moved on. Now we have no rabbits, and I miss them. Your rabbits I would not miss. Diane

Thanks, Ben. I'll forward your message to the deer. Diane

I love the color of Young Lycidas...lovely blooms. I hope the smoke clears out soon.

I was wondering if Hot and Smokey was one cultivar or 2 - I was betting on one.

I needed 15 letters I think, rifis. Ben, in Dallas, I bet the roses would like a hose down. So far I'm just watering from below. I bet they'd love it.