Deep mulch; planting far away from concrete walls, patios, walks and driveways; hopefully some shade from trees, particularly afternoon shade, to alleviate the intensity of the heat and OVERHEAD watering! Your more fragile roses may not survive, but you'll find HTs and floribundas to be spectacular there, particularly those with less scent and greater petal substance. What you'll be enduring is very much like Arizona and there are some spectacular roses grown in those parts. One of the members of the Rose Hybridizers Association actually breeds roses for high heat conditions.

It's going to take a lot to get used to, but eventually, I think you'll settle in to a routine and have many fewer rose issues than you probably do in Kansas. Wait until you see some of the amazing things you can grow once you get there which take a whole lot less time, work and water than roses! And, they can help provide shade and interest when the roses need the help.

You can grow them there with some tweaks, so don't let the apprehension get you down. It'll be a learning curve, as Kansas has been. Think of how "expert" you're going to be once this is all over! You'll be able to give expert advice to just about anyone growing roses anywhere, other than Alaska! Kim

Folks I've known do much of the work on their roses at night, and I can understand why that would be. And shadecloth can provide some shade, which your roses surely will need.

Me, I'd probably forgo grass, plant natives and drought-tolerant things, instead, and save the water for the roses. :-)

Jeri

Once again thank you! I'm not going to give up. I'm having my husband investigate the houses there. I'm going to check and see if they have further information on the Post Website. That way I can figure out which houses we would be eligible for according to my husband's rank. I'm hoping if I contact the housing office they would be willing to give me more information about the houses and the area. I'm sure once I have my baby girl, my husband will give me back my power tools so I can maybe make a nook or something for the roses to be to create a wind block and add more shade. Most of my roses are Floribunda. I'm hoping this will all work out, I'm tempted to ask my husband to let me live a bit farther away, but I hate being far away from him. So I don't think that will even help anything. He's doing some recon talking to the people who are stationed there. You're insight on the issue is great and gives me a bit of hope! I'd love to keep my roses healthy and happy. I very much like them, and they bring some light to my days when my husband is away for any amount of time.

Thank you again!

Jeri,

I'm sure the desert has hidden beauty, and I'm sure I'll adjust to the area, it's just not my preferred place to live. I'm going to draw out a plan for a nook or something to make and have a shade cloth at the top. Would they need direct sunlight there? Or always in the shade? The housing management take care of the lawn work, so if there is grass, I'll surely enjoy it! I'm imagining sand and dirt and a place I can't enjoy the outdoors fully. I've only driven through the Mojave, and it looked harsh and dead (though I know it's the opposite). I'll have to embrace it nonetheless.

Thank you so much Jeri!

The link below will take you to photos from EuroDesert Roses -- another wonderful nursery killed by the economy. This is REAL desert, too.

Jeri

As Jeri pointed out, there are ways around a lot of the issues you may encounter. Your modern roses are the best suited for that climate, anyway. I've not grown any OGR in conditions approaching that severity which did anywhere near as well. Even the more suitable ones such as Chinas, Teas, Noisettes, Hybrid Musks, have such papery petals, they fry immediately in continued high nineties to triple digit heat. Roses with shorter, narrower petals in lighter colors and heavier petal substance will tend to absorb less heat and last longer in extremely hot, dry conditions. Scent will likely never be readily perceivable outdoors and any pastel colors will probably quickly go "beige", which is what I encountered for 18 years in my old Newhall garden, which was severe, but no where near Mojave Desert conditions. I have an old high school friend who raised his family out in California City, near Edwards Air Force Base, http://www.edwards.af.mil/ and he and his wife grew marvelous roses. They just copied what they saw succeeding elsewhere in the community and kept the water flowing, all with NO pesticides or fungicides. You'll make it! Kim

It IS ovenly hot out there in the summers -- but you won't find the humidity which makes ogrose so mizzible in DFW. When we go East, and hit humidity up in the 80% range, I about die. I can handle the Mojave Desert FAR better than I can handle thick humidity.

Jeri