Egad.

Perfectly expressed, Fig Insanity. Egad indeed.

I haven't had that happen up here, but our climate is not the same.

Wow, Jeri. They looked so beautiful in their before photo.

I lived in Huntington Beach when I was 11. I remember what we called "Santana" winds - and the sand and dust they brought with them. Amazing. There would be layers of dust inside the house at each doorway, and windowsill, even if they all had been shut.

I am amazed but not surprised that those winds can help you by getting rid of the roses' old leaves in the Fall - there has to be a silver lining somewhere!

We had very warm dry weather here yesterday - except for the angle of the sun, it felt like summer. We don't get the strong winds you do, but we do get "offshore flow" of the air, which makes it warmer. Sometimes when that happens, they do get very strong winds to the North of us in Napa and Sonoma, which is what happened all summer with those horrible fires.

Jackie

Wow! That is a really crazy before and after shot -- hang on to your hat Jeri!

Heartbreaking. It’s like that here, too, and at any time of the year, but the worst is usually in the spring just when the new growth is fully out and flower buds are just showing.

I would be very unhappy if these winds were a spring phenomenon. Fortunately for me, it's a fall/winter thing, so as unpleasant as they are, the winds actually help us along by removing old, worn leaves, which really need to go.

After half a century of living in Los Angeles County and gardening for all but the first two or three years of that time, the perversity of that climate was severely impressed upon me. LONG periods of no rain, with frequent, often high winds of extremely low humidity to desiccate everything completely. Often, when rains have come, they are too much, too quickly so most of it runs off and into the ocean and much of the time, the rains are followed by the "Devil Winds" to remove as much of the remaining rain benefits as possible. Winds not following the rains have been the exception, rather than the rule. Of course, we also "get to enjoy" the blamed winds without rain.

Yes, Kim -- and of late we are almost exclusively "enjoying" the Santa Ana winds sans rain.

In fact, THIS year has brought an additional element to the torture. Normally, the East wind is dry and HOT during summer and early Fall -- and icy cold in the winter. But this year, when we should be having cool winter weather, our Devil Winds are HOT. <SIGH>

It takes a tough rose to deal with all of that.

Yikes Jeri!

That's insane! Here I thought it got windy in spring and fall, but NOTHING like that!

I apologize if it's loathsome, but I must use a little humour on this awful phenomenon...

At least cleanup is a... breeze!

(wah, wah, waaaah :-( )

Steven

Hey STeven -- That's our attitude precisely!

We've never figured out where those leaves go, but they do GO.

Hi Jeri,

You're on the Central Coast, right? I thought the winds were stronger inland, i.e. in Santa Clarita where I am and all through the SoCal valleys.

At our old place in NoHo, the weather was much less extreme: not as hot in summer, not as cold in winter, and far, far less wind. I used to joke that we had four windy days a year.

That's sure changed. I looked forward to riding my bike more out here. Now I'm finding it's too windy to ride most winter days. And as for summer ... four months of daily temps above 95, no rain of course ... unless you're in a pool, outdoor exercise is impossible.

I haven't had the winds strip my rose leaves, but I have 6 to 8 foot walls all around my property. That must deflect the Devil Winds. However, the deciduous trees in our front and back yard shed their leaves dramatically. On a windy day, you can leave in the morning and see trees in bright fall color. When you return, the limbs are stripped bare.

Fallen leaves here get into corners, behind pots, hide in the corner by the BBQ, cower under the patio table ... it takes a blower to remove them. The winds have not cooperated so far.

Sylvia

Sylvia -- I'm in Camarillo . . . And yes. The wind IS stronger up near I-5. In fact, our valley is sheltered enough that we often are spared it. But if it comes down at the right angle (and this year, it mostly is) we do get blasted. And this year, that is happening more days than I can remember. It's blowing again today.

You're right about the climate change. It's dramatic, here. We used to have foggy summers. When the Dalmatian Club of America held its National Specialty in Ventura, in 2010, I warned everyone to bring a jacket -- that the mornings would be chilly and foggy. Most didn't believe me, and had to go buy something to wear in mornings, at the State Beach. Now? No fog.

There was a time that no one here needed air-conditioning. We so rarely got that hot, there was no reason for it. But, now, everyone who can, has installed it. And it's not just summer. We expect to see 80 deg here, by Sunday, Dec. 20. That's just WRONG.

Even here, even now, roses that are protected are not as badly affected. But those I pictured are East-Facing. Though the house is opposite them, it doesn't protect.

This big rose is hit by wind from the East and the North.