Inquire locally whether deeper wells produce cleaner water.

Or, hook your gutters up to a large cistern and you'll have plenty of rainwater. In the 1950s, I knew people at Punta Gorda Beach who lived comfortably year around on rain collected from a 1000 sq. ft. roof.

Denise, have you been told going deeper won't do any good? I know new wells are expensive (here $3000+ but we have to go pretty deep even for irrigation - 175'), but going deeper in the same well until you hit clean water might be doable. OR - I use my city water for irrigation which to me is not drinkable because of all the chlorine & chemical taste, but my DH installed a whole house filter (about $60 from Lowes) to remove the chlorine for the garden once I learned organic gardening & chlorine don't mix, and now I have drinkable tap water to boot. Have to change the filter quarterly. It adds maybe $40-$50 to my water/sewer bill per month for almost 100 roses. Thankfully, this summer has been cheaper, but now the rains will probably be drastically less so...

Hopefully, this will be a minor setback rather than an end to your rose dream. Wishing you the best!!!

Sherry

thanks for your suggestions Michael and Sherry

The money just isn't there for a new well and frankly given our location so close to the canal it would probably be money wasted.

Yes I could hand water the roses but the irrigation covers the whole yard and would have to be shut down to avoid "salting" the roses, therby killing everything else. Our in-house water is city water without the salt and iron and is very drinkable without a filter.

With no rain this past summer (the rainy season here) the plants depended on irrigation to survive. Now we are going into the dry season and there will be even less natural rainfall to ameliorate the irrigation faults.

Some roses are still alive: Awakening, Souvenir de la Malmaison and her climbing sister, Louis Phillipe. Perhaps they are more able to take the salt. There is no rhyme or reason so far on who lived and died except the smaller ones all died.

C'est la vie (en rose).

Could you replant one or two of your roses into large containers and place them near your house? Then you could hand water them and that way at least save something from the wreck. I realize this is not at all a solution to your problem, which sounds terrible, but you would still have a few roses. And I have read that Souvenir de la Malmaison is suitable for a container. Or, if they are too big to transplant, you could get a couple of smaller-growing roses and put them in containers. There are some lovely early Hybrid Teas that are small, and also a few of the Teas. Again, I know this is not the garden you envisioned, but you would still have a rose or two...

Daylilies should be great for you - they are supposed to be drought-tolerant.

Laura

Beat me to it. I would get 5-10 LARGE containers for the roses. That's enough roses to give you the "rose feeling".
Big giant concrete pots from Mexico, then stain them with concrete stain, and then a coating of clear violet wood stain to tone down the bright orange from the concrete stain

My little trick for large containers-to inprove drainage, is this. Bend a round form out of hardware cloth-About 6" tall, and that goes up to the wall of the pot, all around. Put that at the bottom of the pot. Then put a bunch of layers of newspaper over it, then your dirt, then plant. By the time the newspaper rots away, the dirt has settled over the hardware cloth, and you have a nice 6" air pocket for water to drain out, --instead of a few little holes. I have had great sucess with this method.

Guess Rhodies are out of the question too? They hate salt.

Can you afford to water them on city water the first year and then just let them go? I don't water my established roses and they go two to four months without rain every year. Roses are among the most drought tolerant plants. Of course we have heavy soil, which helps. You could try with tough roses known to do well in Florida.
Melissa

Thanks Laura, poodlepup and Melissa for your suggestions.

Perhaps all is not impossible.

Yes containers COULD work but need constant vigilance in the summer or they will fry. This past summer was unbelievably hot, no clouds and very little rain. A rain barrel would have been a waste of space. And when can I leave them for vacation?

I think I could commit to hand-watering if there were no other way and the number of roses were not too much.

The biggest issue is determining what irrigation zone to turn off permanently because even in containers the salty water would get into them.

Melissa, I agree that roses aren't water hogs but as you know Florida "soil" is very fast draining. I do mulch but it would take some time to get the soil to the point that it retains water. That is a goal worth aiming for.

poodle
thanks for the drainage tip. I use Al's container mix (GW Container forum) and it drains very well. Because of nematodes in our sandy soil I have been using containers for tomatoes with no problems. The nematodes are so crafty here that we have to raise the pots from touching the ground so that the 'todes don't slip in through the drain hole. lol.

A bright note: Mrs. Hillingdon (Cl.) is alive and in bloom today.

Thanks all,

Denise

Denise, I grow my roses in containers. I don't have any yard to speak of so pots are my only option but the roses do well. I have only teas and chinas. I did lose a couple this summer when I was up north for 8 weeks cuz we didn't get our regular rains. :-( But that gave me an excuse (like we need an excuse LOL!) to order new ones! :-)

Hi Peggy

I love hearing from a FL zone 10 rose grower! It sounds like you had the summer we did, like walking on the surface of the sun...and it continues, 94 yesterday and 93 for today...non-stop heat and still we have no rain.

I am considering containers but am trying to figure whether it is worth the effort to do it and have the roses die due to lack of rainfall (as yours did) when we are on a long vacation.

DH has gotten involved and we are considering having the well investigated for potential deepening. Cost is an issue.

I am considering not using the irrigation at all and mulching heavily, using drought resistant florida natives for the bulk of the landscaping and keeping the roses that have survived thus far.

My thinking, which may be wrong, is that the irrigation did more harm than help with it's high salt content. I think that most of my plants might have survived the drought but that the saline water hurt them at a time that there was no rainfall. The baby roses would have been goners no matter what (drought, salty irrigation). That's a lesson learned the hard way.

Water conservation is an issue, as you know, in Florida and I heartily support less use on yards. My dilemma is how to make the changes and keep my roses, that I so much love.

Thanks for your comments. The endeavor continues....

Denise

Denise,

I have been following your saga and my heart goes out to you. As you know, I garden in pots mostly due to toxic rubble landfill.

I do not travel away though so I am here to attend to the beauties when they need it.

However, in the interest of ending the hose dragging chore I have been contemplating a drip system. I am pretty sure that these systems can be on a timer, too.

Perhaps that will be an option. And I am sure that the resolution of your tragedy will help others who read it, even if only in the "inspiration" category.

BTW, Thank you so much for the CFHRS sale list! I will be there.

Veronica

Veronica, I have several clients that have MANY plants, and ALL are on drip system w/ timers. Certainly makes MY work much easier when I'm there to care for the house, pets and plants! Of course the water that goes into the system would have to be good!

Hi Denise.

I grow alot of roses down here, which coast are you on? Have you considered filters and/or water softener systems? They are not that expensive. I have grown many many roses in pots, both above ground and with the pot sunk in the ground which helps keep them abit cooler. One trick also with pots is to double pot or look for those that have a double wall. Again, this keeps the roots cooler and less water is needed.

Mari

Veronica
thanks for your good thoughts. Hope you get some good roses at the sale.

pandy
I am going to talk with the extension service and see what can be done inexpensively. Perhaps turning off the irrigation is possible if the mulch is thick enough to conserve water.

Have any Florida rosarians grown roses without an irrigation system?

Denise