22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
In Southern California, watering is now problematical. Where possible, I am watering with graywater. Heavy fertilizing is out of the question.
The weather is cool. There is a lot of overcast. I'd say, remove damaged leaves, water as much as you can, and don't feed them anymore, for the present.
They are rose slugs. Lots of roses suffer from them about this time of year. It is a annual event. Most gardeners just squish them and wait patiently for the good predator bugs to show up and eat up the rest of them.
The leaf damage the rose slugs do is rather unsightly at times--after the predator bugs have eaten up the rose slugs. At that point you may want to pluck off some of the most unsightly leaves, and then wait patiently for your rose to produce new leaves--which it will.
Usually that's it--until next spring/early summer when you will have to go through this ritual again, most likely. Happens to many of us. : )
Kate
Alfalfa meal is as if you put alfalfa pellets in a food processor or blender and ground them up almost to a powder. The Dr. Earth alfalfa meal also has added "Pro-Biotics beneficial soil microbes". From my reading, it looks as if the best thing for the roses is to buy pellets, make tea, and use the tea as a foliar spray. I don't want to undertake the making of tea, so will apply pellets and meal instead. I am thinking to put the meal in the amended soil used to fill my planting holes for roses and other things I need to plant soon, and to apply the pellets within and at drip line of established plants.
I bought a 50-lb bag of Arco brand pellets at a local feed store for $18.99. I also ordered the 3-pound box of Dr. Earth alfalfa meal on amazon for $11.71. The 50-pound bag of pellets measures roughly 5x16x24, whereas the 3-pound box of meal measures 7 x 10.75 x 2.375. I could not find much info online about Dr. Earth alfalfa meal, so (in case anyone is interested), I will paste in the notes I made from the Dr. Earth alfalfa meal box:
Dr. Earth #720 Alfalfa Meal 2-1-2, 3-pound box.
2-1-2 NPK or Nitrogen-Phosphate-Potash.
Also contains 7 kinds of non-plant food ingredients, e.g. Bacillus subtilis [a soil bacteria].
Supplies Pro-Biotics beneficial soil microbes.
Store in a cool dry place. Avoid direct exposure to light.
Vegetables, annuals, perennials, bedding plants:
a. New plantings: Mix into your soil amendment: 1 cup per 10 square feet. Till to depth of 4 to 8 inches, and water in.
b. Established: Side dress any time during growing season: 1 cup per 10 square feet of growing area. Work lightly into soil gently, and water well.
When potting up plants, mix 2 T per gallon of potting soil, or 1/2 cup per 1/2 cup cubic foot of potting soil. (1/2 cubic foot of is approx 5 gallons.) Mix soil and alfalfa meal thoroughly. Water well.
Established potted plants: 2 T for 6" container, or 8 T for 12" container. Scratch into soil gently. Add thin layer of mulch if possible.
New plantings of trees and shrubs: 2 cups per half cubic foot or 5 gallons of soil for filling the hole. Water.
Established trees and shrubs: 1 cup per inch of trunk diameter, measuring 4 to 6" above the soil line. Work gently into soil inside the drip line. Water.
May be used as compost starter.
Everything I've read says a minimum of six hours of sun, but you are so far south, that I think it would be OK, I'm in Dallas, and a rose on the back side of my house doesn't get that much, but it's really happy, Late afternoon sun, when it's in the 100s can be brutal,
The canes above the knot look fine. The shoot coming up from the soil next to the plant is probably root stock. I would dig down to where it is connected to the roots and tear it off. I can see three green canes, not one. I think the rose should be fine once you get that sucker out of there.
You could dig out that root stock sucker and plant it if you wanted to. It would take it a few years to mature before it would be big enough to graft another rose on to it.
Thank you all so much. This was a rose that my Mom got from the White House when she worked for the Justice Department. It is the most beautiful and fragrant rose ever. My Mom, Rose, recently passed away and I am just beside myself that I may lose her prized rose as well.
Thanks again all.
Ann, at first I did not understand the significance of your question about excessive thorns.
As you have stated in your e-book: "Hyper thorniness is not a dependable indication of RRD"
I have a copy of the full Chinese paper. In it they state: "WRLRD differs from RRD in the following ways: first, the witches’ broom symptom consists of the proliferation of only small leaves along the canes, instead of both leaves and twigs at the ends of canes; second, the leaves are not distorted and twisted; third, the thorns are not red-tinged or produced in excess."
Thus it appears that the Chinese closterovirus possibility (for the Damask rose infection) can be removed if the claim of excessive thorns in the damask rose is accurate. However, when I look at the picture that they (the damask investigators) provide, I do not see the clear indication of excessive thorns that I have seen in some rose rosette virus pictures. I suggest that we wait for the results of the definitive PCR test before concluding whether the middle East is or is not to be added to the known locations of rose rosette virus. I
Summer, yea I live a few hours away. I have not been to Palatine either. I have yet to order from them too. I rather see the plant in person in general before buying. But I know what you mean. I talk about roses and garden and rave about them at work and my friends, that I am sure they are tired hearing it...lol.
My Elle did exactly what Seil's did. Just this morning I was marveling at the pretty bloom and this afternoon the same bloom is wilted and fried looking. I am in hot and humid Alabama. It is a new plant for me, so I am hoping next year it will get stronger. It bloomed beautifully in the spring, but it does not bloom prolifically at all. But again, it is very young.
My favorite is definitely Sterling Silver. I realize it is not considered the most prolific bloomer, and there are many other purple roses that are more vigorous, but I still prefer it over other purple varieties such as Sweetness, Lagerfeld, Neptune, or Blue Girl.
First, the blooms of an established Sterling Silver rose bush are perfectly shaped and very full. Second, the color; it is among the most bluish-lavender hues of any rose variety, and the color is completely uniform and not the slightest bit splotchy. It is not the deepest shade of color, and could be described as slightly greyish, but that is why it is called "Sterling Silver". Lastly, the fragrance is probably the best of any rose I have smelled. The fragrance is like lemon with damask. But unlike certain other rose varieties, the "lemon scent" is not the type that smells like lemon disinfectant, and the damask-like aspect of the fragrance is very soft, it's not like other roses that have a very sharp smell like alcohol in a bottle of perfume.
Of course, what I like about the shape, color, and fragrance are entirely a matter of personal preference. But in my opinion, Sterling Silver is the perfect rose variety, so long as you can be patient and appreciate the blooms when they come.
Thanks for the photo. This definitely looks like something weather related and not a function of your care or any particular disease. Botyris can crop up in humid weather but usually if those roses haven't done this routinely, they'll pull back to their usual blooms as the weather changes.
Cynthia
Hi Donna
Glad you like these! I have two of these trellises bookended at the front of my house, as well as one in the back yard, and my husband helped me stabilize them so they stay more or less close to the house and upright. The two in front were from a local Ace Hardware store that had these in mid-season for a ridiculously low price, so I bought out the two they had. I think the one in back was from Big Lots, and it caused more problems at first being somewhat flimsier metal. I think you could check around at various Lowes, or Home Depot, or other big box stores to see what they have, as well as online sites where you can order things.
Cynthia
My William Baffin was a much better repeat bloomer than my John Cabot. However. others (50-50?) reported the opposite. It was like there were 2 different versions of William Baffin in commerce.
I have prairie princess on a trellis too. She's also a survivor but more in the traditional form of a climber. She's not blooming yet or I would post a picture.