RE: `Britain Meets the Bay'?

I also live in the Central Valley.  The only Austin rose that I have is
"Graham Thomas."  It's wonderful color and form make it our favorite for
bouquets.  The color is a warm apricot-yellow that doesn't fade in the
strong California sun.   It usually has two good flushes of bloom, one in
April and one in late summer, with sporadic blooms between-times.  My only
complaint about GT is that the stems, although strong-growing, are somewhat
lax.  This makes it a rather floppy, fountain-shaped shrub, unless it is
tied up or otherwise supported.  It is pretty much evergreen in our climate.
Mine hardly went dormant at all this winter.  Even with the unusually cold
weather, it retained its leaves and has appeared perfectly healthy.  It has
been putting on vigorous new growth for the last couple of weeks, and the
new leaves are hardly distinguishable from last year's.

Kurt Mize
Stockton, California
USDA Zone 9

-----Original Message-----
From: michael larmer [m*@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 5:20 PM
To: sean.ohara@poboxes.com; medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: `Britain Meets the Bay'?


While I share your general feeling about the difficulties encountered in 
providing good, functional, appropriate design for landscape in 
California (and possibly earning a decent living at it), I don't see any 
reason someone from out of state/country couldn't do a reasonable job of 
it.  Lanning Roper, certainly a pillar of  English garden style, was 
from New Jersey.  

Your point about clients enamoured of all things "English" in the garden 
is well put.  It seems to me that often the struggle is in educating 
people during and prior to the actual design to a point where designer 
and client share some common vision that gives pleasure to both.  James 
Rose wrote a book, "Gardens make me laugh," that treats this dilemma at 
some length.  His problem was that everyone wanted "Japanese" gardens. 
It was reprinted in 1990 and promptly remaindered.  Might perk you up a 
bit to give it a look.

Dave Poole:  I don't know where you got sthe information that the Austin 
roses don't do well in hot climates, but here in California's  Central 
Valley the ones I've tried grow like blazes.  The temperatures in July 
and August are commonly over 100*F and occasionally reach 115*-120*.  
The main problem is more keeping them within some reasonable bounds.  
They don't seem to go completely dormant, maintaining some green leaves 
throughout the winter unless stripped, which I refuse as too much work, 
but still flower well.  From my country to yours, thanks for these 
superb roses. 

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