Jeri's suggestion made me think that you could do well by reading which Gallica roses are grown at San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, on their website and choose a couple Gallica roses from that list, they grow more than a dozen Gallica cultivars. Your site may be colder in winter than in San Jose, which would help. If you are madly in love with Gallica roses this won't help but Hybrid China class rosebushes are supposed to do better where there is little winter chill, than the Old European Roses, such as Gallica roses that have with no China rose genetic influence, which makes sense to me when considering their genetic make-up. I'm a fan of "de la Grifferai" and it always blooms very well here in Oakland, where we go several years at a time without having frost. It also has a slightly longer bloom cycle than roses from the Old European Rose classes typically do. Luxrosa

Hi Bluegirl: I'm a wet-lander in spring/fall, and dry-lander in hot summer. I dumped grass clippings from the neighbors in my garden, they matted up, and took more than 1 year to decompose. High pH stuff is corrosive (lime sulfur has a pH over 11, burns skin). Charcoal ash with high pH is corrosive ... my Mom put that over leaves to break down leaves faster. Lime was used in the old days by heretics to destroy incorruptible bodies of Catholic Saints. That's why my skin looks like a leper with hard-well water, high in calcium.... My limestone clay (pH 8) is corrosive. My neighbor, Ph.D. in botany and biology, dug a hole, put leaves down, then layered soil, then leaves, then soil ... the lasagna method. When it's in big hole, covered with clay on top, there's more moisture for decay. Plus it's warmer below ground for decomposition, versus our -20 degrees below zero, zone 5a winter, plus high wind that blow stuff all over. Nitrogen can kick-start the composting process. Stinky dry chicken manure has NPK 5-3-2.5, only $8 per 25 lbs. bag. I used to pile up leaves in my garden, they matt up and took longer to decompose. If I have to do all over again, I would layer leaves, sprinkle some chicken manure, then horse manure (with wood chips), etc.. The lasagna method prevents leaves from matting up. Thank you, Bluegirl, for raising very good questions. Some info. I dug up: http://www.scgh.com/go-green/composting/composting-tips-warm-hot-or-cold/ "Compost should be as moist as a wrung out rag; thus, if your heap is drier add water or move the bin into a shady area. â¢Keep a lid on your compost pile to reduce evaporation; dry compost does not decay." More good tips from the below site "Composting in 18 days": The materials containing high amounts of carbon, but low in nitrogen are considered âÂÂbrownsâ The materials containing higher amounts of nitrogen are considered âÂÂgreens.â Composting materials with a very low C:N ratio of 7:1 would rot very quickly, because they are high in nitrogen, eg. fish, this decomposes very quickly Composting materials with a very high C:N ratio of 500:1 would take a long time to decompose, because they are low in nitrogen, and need to be broken up, eg. tree branches. Basically, if you want to to get started in a hurry, aim to use 1/3 Manure and 2/3 dry carbon materials. It will work. Just pile alternating thin layers of greens and browns until you end up with a compost heap that is 1 metre square and a bit taller than that. " More info. from below link: Chicken manure is higher in nitrogen than horse manure. Horse Manure 18:1 Cow Manure 16:1 Alfalfa 12:1 Chicken Manure 12:1 Pigeon Manure 10:1 Fish 7:1 Urine 1:1 Here is a link that might be useful: Composting in 18 days with hot...

I really dont like it when someone uses a gardening forum to bash people they disagree with politically. I also tire of trying to inform people about the farce global warming but I will never give up (LOL). I put this together for another gardenweb thread when someone crying about how global warming was going to doom our children and how we need to follow the advise of the experts at the UN. Here goes... In order to put public policy actions in place to combat global warming which could have negative effects on economic progress, the following should be true. 1. global warming is occurring (probably true). This is not all that unexpected since we may still be coming out of the little ice age which we know occurred at least from 1600-1850. Also warming is much smaller when measuring from satellite rather than from ground based measuring devices that are affected by urban heat islands. 2. the majority of the warming is due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions and not natural (questionable). Correlation between rising temperatures and CO2 is problematic. Ice core data appears to show that CO2 increases follow or lag higher temperatures and is therefore an effect and not a cause. Additional, the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere is small (0.03 percent). Mans contribution to CO2 is a small percentage of CO2 (5%). CO2 contribution to global warming is small (4%). Much of the increase in CO2 due to man entered carbon sinks and is not still in the atmosphere (50%). 3. unnatural levels of global warming will occur during the next century (questionable) IPCC predictions have ranged from a 1.5C to 5.8C increase by year 2100 over the last ten years (needless to say the best answer may be they dont know) Computer models so far have done a poor job at predicting recent and past results. There is still a poor understanding of the global carbon cycle which makes any climate change due to CO2 unpredictable 4. The consequences of this warming will be disastrous (unlikely) Typically only negative aspects of warming is noted, positive consequences should be noted as well *Nighttime lows may be higher in temperate regions extending farming regions north *Increased CO2 encourages plant growth *Some desert regions (the Sahara in particular) may see increased rainfall based on historical data In addition, if changes to the climate take place it will be over long periods of time allowing for the adaptation and migration 5. we have enough knowledge to put in place world-wide policy action that can reverse the warming (unlikely) Also, any solution must be effective and be better than alternative actions (or inaction) and not produce unacceptable new problems. The thought of political leaders from around the world sitting around a conference table debating the best policy to put in place (and enforce) in order to keep 2100 global temperatures at a +0C increase instead of +2.5C is laughable. Fossil fuels are the life blood of the human economic engine that has improved the life of nearly every person on the planet. The level of proof for those wishing to change or effect the way we live is very high. The proof so far is quite lacking in my opinion. In addition, the proposed methods to combat this theoretical problem have been either impossible to implement or likely ineffective. Let the flame throwing begin. :) BTW. The 2003 map was very similiar to maps from the 1960's. Zones were lowered during the 70s and 80s when the earth went through 'global cooling'. Kind of blows that GW theory a little...

Deep frosty winters kill germs and build character. We've built up a LOT of character here near Lake Michigan over the last three winters, with 50" snowfalls. I don't mind the cold -- since I don't have to be out in it -- but I do mind less cold *grey sky* days. The other three seasons are *beautiful*, and we escape to Maui for a few weeks to break the winter. I wouldn't feel at home in The South, Florida, Arizona or California. So...how did the book tour go? Worth the effort? Stay in any nice hotels? Enjoy Room Service? Any good restaurant meals? (Bet you are glad to be home and cook what you like!)