22,795 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
My favorite rose quote is one that's posted in my office: "We can either complain because roses have thorns or rejoice because thorns have roses".
My other favorite is a general garden quote: "Gardening is a way of showing that we believe in tomorrow".
Cynthia
Applying sulfur as dust probably should call for a particle respirator as you will be surrounded by clouds of it. Also it doesn't stick through a light rain as spray with a little soap does, and you will use so much more sulfur that it will affect soil pH. So if anybody wants to use sulfur, I recommend micronized sulfur and a tank sprayer.
Not really no clouds, a simple mask will do. Easiest method is putting sulfur in a pantyhose and attach to a stick then shake over plant. There are also special applicators. This method is used traditionally on grape vines. If leaves are slightly damp (say from a dewy night) sulphur sticks just fine. You don't need to cover the whole plant since, as mentioned, it works mostly by sublimation. Not much hits the ground but, where I come from, this would hardly matter since we live on lime... Much, much cheaper and very effective.. But ugly in a garden.
Basals (primaries) come from the graft or the ground. Laterals come from leaf joints in the basals or previous laterals.
The only big concern with tying climbers is that you not break the canes. With some varieties, the young shoots are glassy and brittle. You shouldn't try to bend them much until they become somewhat fibrous. Other varieties have canes that become quite stiff and unmanageable when fully grown out.
I would bend the first canes a little further down than you have done, to leave room for other canes that will be tied into those spots later. Build the fan starting almost horizontally.
Thanks, Trish. I can do strident in some areas of my yard, so at least it doesn't sound like a dog of a bush. In my yard, die-back is a given, but it's good to know the growth is stiff as suits the modern colors rather than bushy. I do agree that Garden Delight's growth habit is much more appealing since it bushes out even from being pruned to the ground.
Marlorena - glad you like the photos and that these are some ideas to share, but the notion that one of these might be for everyone is probably beyond this list of 10. That's why I encourage you all to chime in - I'm clearly heavily loaded on the multiple petal roses, and that doesn't do well in a climate with lots of balling. However, with 900 roses I probably could find at least one rose in my yard that would be good fit for just about anyone, particularly since I zone push several teas. Just not the same roses... (smile).
Cynthia
Ok, I realize that I am probably the president of the Cynthia fan club, but wow she is just my best all-around utility player! I don't have a good bush shot, but here is a little bouquet, 4 days in vase and cut when Cynthia's blooms were already pretty open. The light pink is Eiffel Tower (rain spoiled a bit) and some enormous volunteer zinnia that have reverted back from their hybrid colors. The scent is wafting inside the house and I absolutely love this vibrant, vigorous, fragrant bloom factory!
Michael - :)
Stillanntn - I've never tried fried green tomatoes, let alone with gravy/sausage. :) I have seen the movie though - Fried Green Tomatoes. I do like the idea of making lemonade out of problems. :)
Kentuckyrose - It only got down to 1C (33.8 F). Thank goodness it didn't go down a few more degrees to below freezing - goodbye tomatoes.!
Carol
What a tragedy. It is certainly true that communicating with cleaning ladies is important, and can sometimes be complicated.
The first time our new service came to our house (5 ladies, one of whom spoke English), they broke both of my brand new dishwashers, and also a brand new expensive stove/oven. They sprayed cleaning whatever all over the front of them, and scrubbed (these ladies are great cleaners, and scrub everything until it shines). Well, of course all three appliances had computerized controls on the front of them, which got fried as the controls took the scrubbing as input. Luckily, all three appliances were still on warranty, so it didn't cost us anything. Learned my lesson. With some investigation I discovered that all three had a "lock" command, which made it so that they ignored any instructions. Also I now have little bi-lingual notes I put on the controls of each every week, which say "please do not spray anything on the electronic controls", with arrows pointing to the controls. It works - no problems in the past 4 years.
I also have little notes in the living room on an antique clock, and shelves containing a fragile collection, that say "please do not touch". Of course, I don't dust those shelves myself as often as I ought to. One day after the ladies left, I found a very polite note to the effect that they thought I should dust those shelves!
Jackie
LOL, Jackie!
A neighbor/friend had a (wonderful, truly) cleaning lady scrub off the patina of an antique copper piece--the century or two old patina that increased its value & beauty, impossible to duplicate. Dang, that lady must have scrubbed for HOURS to get it like that--it shone like a mirror & our neighbor said she was so proud of her labor.
Our friend is very kind & soft spoken, she just held back her tears & gently explained to the lady to please not scrub down the antique things.
Whaddaya gonna do?
The same neighbor's little boy, with my little brother, tediously removed all the *nasty* tags on my Mother's roses & other plants & told her proudly of their good deed...
Perhaps there is Karma. My mother & her sister, when they were little girls, would pick a neighbor lady's flowers &then knock on her door to present them to her. The dear old lady would always throw up her hands & exclaim to her husband, "look, dear! the girls have brought me flowers!"
Then she would invite them in & serve them tea in her tiny little antique porcelain cups.
Aren't some folks kind? You can be sure, 80+ years later, Mother never forgot the kindness of that sweet lady.
You're welcome sir! There are sources (rather convenient ones, too) of virus indexed root stock. No matter what you're budding, starting off with as clean a stock as possible is worth the effort. Depending upon what you wish to bud, you may have a clean (or dirty) plant, but it's worth making the effort to keep it as clean as possible. Particularly in a climate with winters as extreme as yours can be.
