22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Compost is mostly compost--in this state (CA) sellers must list the general ingredients, e.g. "composted forest products", or whatever--and there is a certification outfit OMRI that lists what can be put into a product that passes the standard defined by the USDA National Organic Program. I don't buy the bagged stuff much myself--I get bulk stuff from a local company. It's well composted, shredded tree.
You don't have to work it into the soil; just mulch with it and let the earthworms pull it down into the soil for you. The less you disturb the soil, the less weeds will spout, and also roots are not disturbed. When the mulch thins out, just add more.
Black Kow is not compost, it's composted manure, 100%. It's wonderful. Black, earthy, no smell (cannot say the same for Black Hen), and it is great for roses. If you don't have a manure source, this is the next best thing. I am not familiar with Ladybug, but BK is superior to any compost sold in bags at garden centers.Black Kow
I'm pretty sure your Hot Cocoa is on Dr Huey. I did a comparison of this rose grafted on Dr Huey, Own Root and grafted onto fortuniana. Own root was a week, thin cane waste of space. Dr Huey wasn't much better. Better vigor but still spindly and very few sprays. Fortuniana was a huge difference. Nice full bush with beautiful foliage from top to bottom. Lots of tight sprays and very few single blooms. With afternoon shade this is a beautiful bush with tons of russet blooms. If you can grow roses on fortuniana root stock, this is the ONLY way to grow Hot Cocoa. I'm on the east face of the Smokie Mts in N.E. GA. Zone 7/a-7/b
Thanks Seil and Ken. Ken, I don't know the rootstock, but my best guess is Dr Huey since it's commonly used here. Alana, I wouldn't say this rose needs a lot of shade. It simply put out ugly pink blooms when we were growing it full morning and filtered afternoon sun. It ended up in rose purgatory after I got sick of having an unsatisfactory rose in a prime spot. Rose purgatory is a crowded, mostly shady area where homeless roses are kept "on hold" until re-homed. The bloom color is a rich russet in the shade, but it still throws gnarly canes appropriate for a horror flick, and it doesn't bloom much. Morning sun may do the trick in your garden, especially if your weather is cooler than ours. I hope you'll let us know how yours does.
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I really have to agree that most of them won't fit and they will likely all be taller than the palm. I think you're in Galveston? If so, those Austins wil grow much larger than advertised. Very wide and sprawly. Lady Emma stayed smaller for me though, if that helps. Mr Lincoln was skinny but eight feet tall. I do like that bed!
They are still tweaking, thankfully. Maybe we'll get a useful (and useable!) forum out it of yet! lol. It's MUCH better than when they launched it, even though I think the whole thing could have been less painful if they'd asked for suggestions prior to throwing us to the wolves!
John
Beth - what fig_insanity said is true, and so important. If only folks who take the effort to go in and re-do their settings notice unanswered posts, it does not solve the problem. If they changed the fall-back settings for everyone to put unanswered posts at the top, the likelihood of someone not getting an answer would be reduced to zero. This is one of the main reasons this forum exists - to help other gardeners, or especially newbies.
Jackie
..I have had all sorts of problems within the last hour.... at one point, I was typing a reply and it was like invisible ink... nothing was showing up.... but it seems to have rectified itself... other issues too that made me think something not quite right here at the moment....
High country should sell roses for you as well as Rogue Valley. That is if your looking for own root. I could be wrong, considering our zone differences, hopefully someone closer to your zone can chime in as well as what seil told you. Were you looking for grafted or own-root?
I placed my first order from Palantine last fall. I don't have them yet, but many members of my rose society rave about them. They are rooted on multiflora, which is supposed to be good for colder climates. Since the roots go fairly deep, they are also good for drought areas.
You only need to cut the stems way down if you are aiming for more long stems for bouquets. The higher you cut, the more bloom you're likely to get -- but on shorter stems.
When we exhibited roses, we cut long stems. Now that we don't do that -- and since we grow mostly Teas -- I often just snap faded blooms off at the abcission point. 
That is precisely what my grandmother did with her 1950's era Hybrid Teas -- and taught me to do, too.
On this immature plant, I would snap a faded bloom right off where indicated.
huckdog as far as I know you can't change your username (unless the one you want isn't already taken), but you CAN change the name we all see. Hover your mouse over "Your Houzz" in the top right corner of the screen, click "edit profile", and under "First Name" type whatever you want us to see. In my case I put "Rosecandy VA, zone 7".
As for posting pictures, you can click "photo" on the bottom left of the "comment" screen (which I am using right now). From there you can upload a picture from your computer. I wouldn't try "Houzz Photo" yet, though, as I did earlier to see if it worked and I had to refresh the whole page as the website got stuck. If it worked properly that button would allow you to insert a photo that you already downloaded to Houzz (which you can do under "Your Houzz - Upload Photos or Files").
The picture below is a test to make sure the "Photo" button works:
Lesley, no reason to be embarrassed! I don't think this is working the same for everyone. Yes, you are way better than average growing roses! Please, hang in there.