21,402 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

I have been playing in the dirt all my life. While it has not saved me from asthma, allergies or, most recently, the tick-born red meat allergy, it has made me wildly happy, kept me grounded, brought me many friends, inspired my creative urges, and expanded my awareness and knowledge on many fronts.
I do wash my hands and face before preparing food and I keep my tetanus shots current. I also try to practice moderation in all things, common sense, and critical thinking applied to all sources of information, from sensational journalism to scientific journals.

The BBC published this article (Aug 28, 2014):
Here is a link that might be useful: link for above

I have not treated any RRV diseased roses with hydrogen peroxide nor with aspirin. This is because I have not had any confirmed cases of RRV. "From memory: early on I had a number of "RRV type" infections and I removed the whole plants. This was over several years. At some point I put the dots together. The "apparent" infections were either in the bed that was immediately downhill from the neighbor that had a lawn service or were very close to where I had used a herbicide on newly sprouted poison ivy (many places among my 1000 roses). I changed the bed next to the neighbors to a raised bed and stopped all herbicide use (except corn gluten meal). I have had zero cases since then."
The recommendations are based on results in the scientific literature for plants with other virus infections.
Examples for hydrogen peroxide:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roses/msg0417381111236.html
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg0518594226728.html
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Example for aspirin:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/roses/msg1011110221766.html
See the following Google Scholar search for Aspirin:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=plant+virus+aspirin&btnG=&as_sdt=136&as_sdtp=
Here is a link that might be useful: link to Google Scholar search
This post was edited by henry_kuska on Wed, Sep 3, 14 at 10:34

I don't know what they are either, but just so happens I pulled one just like your photos off the top of my rose Savannah's newest growth tonight, where the little booger had chewed off the entire tip of the new growth today. I plopped it into the bucket of sudsy water I was carrying with me (I was picking JB's at the time.) You're right, this was much larger than a rose slug.
I swear, it feels like every bug that possibly could eat roses has shown up in my garden this year....:-(

I agree that Linda from Long Ago and Burling from Burlington are great to order from and very reasonably priced, with nicely rooted plants. I find that it's most reliable for any given season to email them both to see what's current for the season, since the HMF list is only what they have potentially available in mother plants, not necessarily what's available for a given season. I have however put in "wish list" requests for next season that they both will take into account if possible in their plans.
Cynthia

Diane - I really appreciate this reminder you send every year and I learn to rely on it. I had about 30 roses I grow or have grown in this year's list. Not only is it great to get an automatic copy of the RIR survey results for your area each year, but there can be other perks of filling out this survey. Once years ago there were so many respondents from our region that there were random drawings of a gift certificate to people who responded from that region, which was a great unexpected perk.
Regardless, we always wish there were better information about the roses we grow or want to grow from our own region, and this is the means by which this kind of information is gathered. Even if you only grow a few roses, be sure to check it out. Most of the roses are relatively new releases but not entirely, so do check it out!
Cynthia



Hey Kippy. My Lady of Megginch performed the same way. Very stout basal shoots turn into arching monsters of 15 plus feet in length with one to three flowers on the end. And the thorns on these canes are outrageous. The smaller bushier part of the plant just sits there with little bloom. Makes a lopsided nightmare in the rose bed. Beyond time for shovel pruning.

Those were the types of growth Clair Martin used to "self peg" and train along stakes in the Austin bed at The Huntington. If you have the room and desire, as well as water and energy, you can frequently get flowering lateral growth from them when trained as climbers. If you don't want to or can't accommodate that style of growth, that's totally valid, but if you can and want the rose, it may be a way to keep it and make it perform for you. Kim


I have two coral drifts and 2 apricot drifts that have been in my garden for several years now. I wouldn't call them spreaders by my definition. I think of spreaders as something that roots/suckers/colonizes...my Drifts don't do that. They are wider than they are tall...if that is what is being described as spreading. They are extremely resistant to blackspot and extremely prolific bloomers. Only negatives to me are that they have no fragrance, and they aren't good about self cleaning (spent blooms hang around on the bush too long unless deadheaded).

I would add mulch, water when the soil is almost dry (use 50% more water per watering than usual in sandy soils) and do a soil test to check for salt toxicity (too much salt) and mineral defficiencies. Then add organic compost at the recommended levels per your soil test result.
This post was edited by luis_pr on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 8:43

Never apply insecticide unless a particular pest that has serious consequences has been identified. You are stressing the plants unnecessarily with chemicals that can burn leaves. The symptom of Sevin poisoning would be bronzing and dead brown spots on the leaves. However, I doubt that is the problem.
Let me repeat my point that, if you plant Western-grown roses in Florida sand, they will decline after 2-3 years from root-knot nematodes. If you dig such a plant for inspection, the roots will be sparse and lumpy, Choose Florida-grown roses on nematode-resistant Fortuniana rootstock.
If that is not the problem, it is probably insufficient water or nutrition. In sandy soil during summer, pants need water every three days and over an inch (about 6 gallons) per week.
I strongly disagree with the advice not to fertilize in summer. When I gardened in Central Florida, we fed roses every 4-6 weeks year around. Malcolm Manners is a professor of horticulture in Lakeland and a world expert on roses. He feeds twice as much in summer as in winter because the rainy season leaches nutrients from the sandy soil. He uses Osmocote-for-Florida every 3 months plus organic ferts and lime.
Let me ask again if the yellowish leaves have green veins.
You should get a soil test through the county extension agent.

I think that the consensus is NOT to spray.
I've had midge before and I was advised to use something like your option #2 in the planting area for my roses.
The life cycle of the midge depends upon the pupa being able to survive and develop after dropping from the affected plants on to the ground below.
If you nuke (your concept) the ground your roses grow in, then you break the cycle (i.e. no more midge).
It worked well for me. I only had midge the third year of 10 years of growing roses.

I guess the recommendation of aegis may be as good as you will get here. Most of the gardeners on this forum are opposed to "nuking" plants with insecticides, though sometimes some feel they have to. But since most of us don't use insecticides, we often don't know much about them in terms of what "cures" what condition. We do know that they kill bees and earth worms, etc.--and we try to avoid that.
You do see Bayer mentioned as a spray on this forum by a number of gardeners, but they are talking about the fungicide (for blackspot), not the insecticide put out by Bayer.
Sorry I can't be more help. Good luck.
Kate




Hey Just_One_Nerve_Left,
We have had Mr Lincoln since 2010 and I'm still trying to figure him out...lol (Own root)
All I can say is experiment and see what works best for you and your roses then go with it...
I really never hard prune anything any more unless it's damaged and has to come out. When I dead head during the season I just snap the blooms off right below the hip. My roses get TALL by the end of the season but i like them that way. I think the roses are happier when just left to grow as they please instead of me trying to tell them how I want them to grow. And all that cane is stored energy for the plant. In bad winters I do lose it but in good ones they came back much quicker because of all that extra food stored. I tend to think we fuss and prune WAY more than we have to, lol!