In our little corner of the Commonwealth, the temperature has dropped down considerably and back to manageable levels – a pleasant 25c. Dogs are back out in the fresh air. I said that my soil was tested and the less we say about that the better. The large pots and planters is probably the best way to go. The two Desert Roses (new) that I have out front, in sunken pots are doing considerably better than the actual roses in the ground. The same is true of things at the back of the house – although I do have the added problem of trees that shed leaves at the slightest puff of wind. Actually I think the threat of wind makes them nervous enough to drop leaves by the bucket load. I also bought an English Gooseberry Bush and have that in a large pot. It’s also doing well and survived the heat. The Mulberry – in the ground – did not. But depending on how the gooseberry progresses, I might try again with a mulberry in a large planter pot.
On the subject of heat, Australian Eucalyptus trees, because of the heavy concentration of oil and the letting off of oil vapour in heat, have a tendency to explode throwing fire and flaming debris 
across a wide area and overshooting fire-breaks. The oil makes it pest resistant so nothing eats it and keeps it in check. Once imported into an area it becomes messy, very hard to get rid of and flammable – and the wood is not all that much use for anything. In the late 19th century Australian trees were imported by the bucket load into California. The climate suited them very well and now Australian trees are everywhere in Calif. and are responsible for much of the intensity of the fires that occur there. I have said before they are messy, shallow rooted, with a tendency to drop branches and fall over without a lot of warning. These are the “Native Trees” that this council wants to plant everywhere. The do say that they will plant them on the medium strip, not near houses. Well, that’s encouraging – at least they will only drop branches and kill drivers =- heaven forbid they should damage property.
Watched our state news this evening and there, confirming what I had already been told, was the snow falling on Arizona. I’ll bet that was a shock to the system. I was always fond of winter and snow – not so much on the aftermath, rain, slush and mud. No matter how hard you tried it was net to impossible to keep your feet dry and more often than not we arrived at school with wet feet. Not fun.
What you see here is the debris created by a single tree and these trees were scattered over every footpath in the town. This is what the council wants to inflict on the median strips. Yes they require very little water, but to offset that, is the mess, the shallow root system and, like a second rate boxer, take a dive when the going gets tough. Can you imagine what a whole forest full of these things is like.?
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