Ya, the recent heat can be tough on our plants, Steph.

Glad to learn that dwarf ixora can be propagated from cuttings. I have a yellow dwarf ixora and recently it has bloomed for me. May want to propagate it for my mom and sis.

When I tried to grow regular sized roses here in the desert the blooms were tiny and lasted only a few hours and the plant died. Mexican Sunflowers do well here. Hooray for your orange hibiscus, looks like your cuttings are working! :)

Heat can really mess with some plants. During the extreme heat we sometime have we see it too. Hope the orange hibuscus continues to do well.

Hi Steph. Nicandra physaloides, easily grown from seed, is reputed to deter white flies.

Glad to hear your hibiscus cuttings are taking root and growing. I am not good at all at rooting things. Your Ixora is looking wonderful!

How excaiting, I still remeber how impressed of your curage I were when you told the story of how you stop and asked that stranger for the cuttings. I do hope you will see it flower. Sad with your roses, no wonder they prefer England, moisture and less heat I guess. Try again, I find them Roses beautiful even if they only lasts for a few month ( as the rest in our gardens..), not all beautiful things last for ever you know :)

hi steph.... when you lost your plants...you have another chance to get a new one.it is always nice to get new plants when you have good excuse.

Don't be sad, this often happens & sometimes you just have to accept nature take it course.
Few tips though in my experience - hopes it helps:

1) Miniature roses are very fussy. They just very confusing. I have not seen any miniature thrive greatly in any garden my area which brings me to think that they might be just like those lime trees sold during Chinese New Year.
- regardless, I have this climbing rose that is doing so well - regardless the rain, the sun, the lack of watering & sometimes overwatering. So - do get the good hybrid that can stand the weather.

Mexican Sunflower - I think the plant is coming to a matured stage and when the time comes, it often succumb to infection. I notice this happens a lot to wishbone flower & most annuals.

Glad to know that ixora seemed to be braving up in their blooms.

Addition note:
Mexican Flower.
Do start to propagate the seeds and by the time this one goes, you got another continious one in a cycle.

If your rose is still in the dying - do the shock. Take out the whole plant, strip off the old & dying leaves (keep the young shoots), cut of all the flower buds and replant it with a new soil (make sure the new soil is not soggy when watered)
Place the plant in a shade and water it in minimum. Look out for any root infection - it might show on the leaves.

You can safe it this way rather than seeing the whole plant dying on you without able to do anything about it.

love that Chinese fringe flower!

Do you think it's possible that the leaves "burned" when you tried to get rid of the insects? Like if you sprayed and as the sun hit it, thing whole picture got worse?

I don't know. Cuttings look fantastic!!

JC, I am sure your mum and sis are going to love that yellow ixora. I saw them in the nurseries, they are really pretty!

Diane, so, I am sure you have imagined how tiny (smaller than small!) was my miniature roses... ha ha!

Prospero, thanks for introducing that plant to me!

Lona, the warm climate here helps to promote growth.

Becca, Mia, oh yes, I was so happy to see those new leaves growing out from the stems of the orange hibiscus :-D

hs, ha ha... LOL. I love shopping for new plants :-D

James, thanks so much! I really need more experience and pay more attention to roses next time. Glad that you have listed down the process in detail here.

Wendy, yes, if the sun is too strong, then those leaves which are more tender will get burnt easily.

Hi Stephanie; ups and downs in the garden sphere;
Give me a gardener who has not experienced it.
Stephanie, generally roses are tough as old boots. The hot humidity gives them some trouble.
Some roses do better then others in the hot climate. I think the best climate for tea roses is the Mediterranean, others love and do not mind cold winters. Iceberg is a very easy rose to grow and succeed in the hot climate. Now they are sold in dark burgundy, pink and naturally the white one. Roses are greedy and love fertilizer and once a week water. In pots they might need more water then once a week.
It is better to try and not succeed then not to try at all! Thank you for your comments always very much appreciated. T.

I am glad for your Ixora and Hibiscus.
They are lovely :)
Brad

So glad to hear about the progress in your garden. It is extra happiness when what you propagate turns out ok, so nice to see the green shoots :)

Hi Stephanie, I think mini roses have a pretty solid reputation as short-lived plants, at least here in our climate. They have problems with black spot, and usually don't last more than a few years. I've received a few potted ones as gifts. I had one in a previous garden that was very happy, and lived for at least seven years. (I don't know what's happened to it now, since I left it there when I moved.)

Of the five or six mini roses I've been gifted with since moving here, only one still survives after 5 years in the garden. There were two - a red and a yellow, but the yellow one didn't come back this spring.

In spite of those few things that haven't been happy for you this spring, you have lots of beautiful success stories!

Titania, thanks for your encouragement! I will definitely check out Iceberg and pay attention on plant's requirements. Burgundy should be gorgeous :-)

Brad, glad to know that you find tropical flowers lovely as well.

Autumnbelle, yup but still keeping my fingers crossed ;-)

garden girl, thanks for sharing! Your stories are very encouraging and sounds like growing roses is not a impossible thing to do. I hope my next rose will thrive better :-D

I have had my share of lost and forlorn plants. I think that a lot of commenters are right when they say it's a good opportunity and excuse to get more and try again. HAving said that I also get sad when a favorite plant dies that someone gifted to me. I feel "guilty" and don't want to tell them! My husband has given me some plants that bit the dust and I just don't say anything.

It is good that you could collect seeds from your mexican sf. That is a great plant!

I haven't seen an Ixora bloom in a long time. Thanks for sharing your picture.

Stephanie,
Sorry to hear about your few setbacks... I've heard that roses can be a challenge. But, it's just the beginning and I know you'll be sharing your successes in the days to come. How is your sweet potato vine doing?

Hi Stephanie, i am back! My condolences for the fate of some of your carelings. hehe. Those plants are really like that, they wont last long. Those that do with our very hot climes are hibiscus, bougainvillea, ixora, those shrubs with hardy stems. It is also the case here, so aftre sometime i lie low. At least we have the amaryllis and lilies which shed leaves during dry months, but just sprout and flower when it rains. The examples are in my previous posts.

Rosey, maybe if you get the same plant for replacement, your husband and friends will never know their plants actually died... just joking he he... The degree of sadness is more if it is a plant that I really liked and it is difficult to find a new one.

MBT, if you live here, then you can see Ixora everywhere :-D

Avis, my sweet potato vine is doing fine (thanks for asking!). Earlier, I had cut off the whole plant as the leaves were spoilt by the rainfall. This morning I saw new shoots and the young leaves are looking good.

Andrea, thanks for sharing. Yes, those plants really do well here, especially in my hot garden :-D Hope to hear from you soon.

Someone had passed me a very short piece of the Chinese fringe plant for identification. Later I had placed that little stalk about 6cm with few leaves pressing it into the soil.
Somehow, that one is surviving. - its about a month now.
The colour is slowly changing from deep magenta to brownish green due to the lack of sunlight in my garden.

I guess, you can propagate it but the stalk need to be shorter (not more than 10cm long before placing 1/3 into the soil)