22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

I've been on Garden Web for 15 years (dang, I'm old!) and during that time several schisms have occurred. If a group of rosarians chooses to take their secateurs and go elsewhere, then via con dios. I'm thankful that many of my rosy friends have chosen to stay and weather the occasional storms.

I have to say that thanks to this forum, I am much less reliant on chemicals than when I first started. I do almost all organic fertilizing, don't use insecticides (but I might have to because of a horrible thrip infestation). I do use fungicide. I have decided that judicious use of a chemical is not an awful thing if it is used correctly and of limited use. We have also switched our lawn care and pest control to organic methods.
Also, for me personally, I have completely switched my diet to a whole food diet. I have eliminated almost all processed foods from my diet. I don't eat grains of any type, although I just found some non-GMO popcorn that is fantastic. If we are thinking out our health and the health of the environment, think about the things you eat and how they are developed and grown. The use of herbicides on GMO crops is disturbing. I use herbicides, again, judiciously, but I sure as hell don't want to have it on my food. Now they have 2,4-D resistant crops. Lord help us.

So strange. I don't even get the slightest note of any fragrance. My Eden has more, me thinks. Here's just another example of doing research on a rose and having it not turn out as expected. And I understand differences of opinion, but I did see it at the Portland Rose Garden and it didn't have any fragrance there either. This was after I had purchased it and before it bloomed. I do like how it looks and so will give it a season or two, all the while trying to find another lavender worth trying. . .

For something low and wide, the Wichurana Ramblers would work well. Their canes are long and very flexible, and so will be easy to train along the fence. I'm not sure how cold-hardy it is, but 'Mel's Heritage' has this growth habit and also repeat-blooms. It was bred from a Wichurana Rambler and a Tea-Noisette. David Austin also has three repeat-blooming Ramblers -- 'The Albrighton Rambler', 'Snow Goose', and 'Malvern Hills', and they also should be easy to train along the fence.
You may also wish to consider adding some Clematis to your fence. Most climbing roses pause during the heat of Summer, but this is when the large-flowered type-3 Clematis really get going. They should be hard-pruned every Spring, as they bloom on new wood. That would make it easy when you want to prune and train the rose -- you won't have to worry about breaking any Clematis stems since they'll all be pruned back to a few inches from the ground, anyway. If you go with type-2 Clematis, I'd suggest planting them where they won't climb into the rose very much -- perhaps put the rose in the center, and use the type-2s at the very ends, and type-3s on either side of the rose. Of course, I don't know how long your fence is -- if it's only 20 feet or so, you might want to skip the type-2s altogether.
:-)
~Christopher

Zephirine Drouhin? Check out Mr. Toolbelt's ZD on the fence photos in this thread, it's so pretty and fragrant. I bought 3 from JP after seeing all the photos in this thread. :-)
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3022954/full-bush-shot-of-zephirine-drouhin-as-requested
mme Alfred Carriere? I love this rose, but it's cold here for her in zone 6a, she dies to the ground, but you're in zone 6b, might be ok over there.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50735258@N07/5857661084
Peggy Martin rose? Check out this thread, it's so beautiful!
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3020212/peggy-martin-has-finally-decided-to-show-off?n=17


That would be my suggestion, Dandylioness. If the other roses around it are performing well and this one is the "dawg" of the bunch, imagine how much better the neighbors might do without the competition for light, water and air. Yes, you can try moving it to another spot and that MIGHT help...or it might not. Your choice, but those who refuse to behave in my yard while the others around it remain fine, demand dates with a shovel.

If you have other flowering perennials and annuals in the garden amongst your roses, you'll likely attract bugs that eat the rose slugs -- in particular, yellow jackets hunt them down. My garden is two years old now, and the worst rose slug damage happened the first year, because I hadn't added perennials yet. Last year, I saw some damage early-on, but not quite as much as the year before, and then I saw very little at all after June. This year, the little I see is concentrated on roses which still don't have non-rose companions -- i.e., areas I'm still filling. You can spray insecticides to kill them, but you may inadvertently kill some of the critters that eat them as well, which can lock you in a cycle of HAVING to spray all the time because nothing else will be around to take care of them. It takes a bit of time for a food source to become obvious to critters that utilize it -- rose slugs didn't appear until I had roses, and bugs that eat rose slugs didn't appear until I had rose slugs.
Just something to think about.
:-)
~Christopher

- Use an Insecticide. Chemical controls are also available, but should only be used when necessary, not routinely as a preventive measure. Horticultural oil, insecticidal soaps, neem oil, bifenthrin, carbaryl, malathion, permethrin, cyfluthrin, imidacloprid, and acephate can all be used to control sawflies. Apply pesticides only when larvae are actually present, before infestations reach critical levels. Always be careful to read the label directions fully before applying any pesticide, and follow directions completely. Not effective: Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt), a commonly used biological insecticide that offers control of many caterpillars, is NOT effective against sawfly larvae.
Copied from missouribotanicalgarden.org
Ps rose slug=sawfly
Horticulture oil, Neem oil, Safer soap are easy to use. Oil bases spray only can be used under 80 degrees(cooler weather). Safer soap you can use anytime. I'd go with Safer soap first. You can get them from Lowe's/ HD. :-)


Dr Huey is a rather gangly climber. It only blooms once and then the rest of the season it just black spots. It's not worth good real estate in my opinion. Maybe if you have a spot that's iffy for a rose and you want to see how one would do you could put there just as a test rose.

Kaymarie - to answer your zone question, Belinda's Dream is robustly hardy for me, even on the cool side of my house that is effectively zone 4. I heartily recommend it another time. The Perfume Delight does indeed smell gorgeous, but it's not hardy for me in zone 5. Hopefully it'll do better for you in zone 6. Just remember that if it's a grafted plant, you'll need to bury the graft in the soil (about 2 inches deep). The graft is the knobby bit at the base of the plant where all the canes grow, btw. That way if all the canes die to the ground, the rose you want still has a chance of growing back in the spring.
Have fun
Cynthia

Thank you. I think I have decided on a place for Cornelia based on its size and that is really needs a trellis. So I'll take that out of the running for the pots.
There is a miniature called "Cupcake" that I have seen that looks like it might be good in 2 of my pots but I would really like something bigger for the other 2.

Hi Jenny
I have two Cupcakes, and yes, they'd be good in pots. I am obviously in a cooler zone but virtually all of the ones you list get pretty big even for me. The smallest would be Thomas Affleck (maybe 3-4'), Xiang Fen Lian (new for me, but supposed to be 3.5'), and Paul Neyron (3-4'). La Reine is supposed to be one of the shorter Hybrid Perpetuals, maybe 4', but it may be bigger in your zone. I wouldn't try Cornelia or any of the teas, and Heritage is definitely 5-6' even for me.
Cynthia

Take a look at this YouTube video & see if this helps her out....TRAINING A CLIMBER

It's been several years, probably the second year she had it. she is going to remove the jasmine, but it is planted on the other side of the arbor. Yes, Paul's way is the way she did it the first year, but she didn't when she moved it.

Looks like a balcony or roof garden to me. It is beautiful! Well my garden is a bit different than yours but I usually use peony rings and recently started bamboo canes for staking. If this was my garden, I would let it spill over the railings as it would look heavenly cascading down. Then again I don't know how windy your garden is so that may not be an option.


I have very few roses in pots. I only put a few small growing roses in pots so that I can raise the flowers to nose level, such as Marie Pavie and Ebb Tide. I just use a normal potting mix, nothing special.
I picked another few blooms yesterday afternoon and turned the triple decker to a quadruple decker arrangement:


I did a talk yesterday in Asheville and Thrips came up. The consensus was that they are worse this year in our part of the world.
Lots of us live near hay fields and untended lots.
What may be a hint is that the first cutting of hay was especially productive this year because of the heavy rain we (almost) all had in April followed by a dry May that really got the grass growing and that's where most of the Thrips originate.
The predaceous thrips are coming, they are just having problems keeping up.
The dates that thrips first appear need to go on your rose calender along with first Japanese Beetle date.

I did see a JB the other day. Just the one. They usually coincide with my Magnolias blooming. And they love to hang out in the magnolia flowers, but don't eat them.
It does seem that the thrips get worse each year. As I said, we were fine this year and roses that usually get their first flush ruined by thrips were ok, but they arrived in the 2nd week of May, so the first blooms were ok. I'm hoping by getting rid of most of my blooms/buds that were damaged that I can get rid of some of the thrips.
The timing of the April rains and dry May make sense.

Wow! So many good ideas. I was thinking about posts or some way to get climbers going, but I definitely like the wire idea best. Thanks toolbelt. I'm having a hard time planning this and I've decided that's ok I have my HT right now and I've got 11 plants (including a climber) coming from Brecks (thanks to the deal hunters here). I'm just going to start with those around the fence on the right of the house by the trees. It gets afternoon and evening sun, though, so now I'm questioning my choice. Ugh! I don't have the perfect spot for them. The front of the house gets morning sun, but not enough. The HT has looked sad today. I'm hoping it's just because I moved it. I move it Friday night. Saturday it had two of the most impressive blooms I have seen. Today all the blooms are droopy. Aren't they supposed to last more than a day?





Hi - at Newflora we have 2 blooming periods on this rose per year - a beautiful color and it makes quite a statement but we do have varieties that repeat better. Are these own root plants or are they budded on Dr. Huey?
Budded, Chris, assume on Dr. Huey as they were bought potted already in growth. Have you noted different growth & bloom patterns on grafted versus own root versions? Are you receiving reports of two flushes from various areas of the country? Are both flushes equal or is the rebloom less full? Time frame? Any further info to share?
Also have a pair of Golden Gates potted & grafted (again assume Huey), bought in bud & bloom a year ago & grown along in larger pots till now. They're 9'+ at this point, finished with their first flush & budding up for another, and originally intended for this same arch, which is 5' wide by 2' deep & 10' high. They bloomed several times last year. Perhaps they are better candidates for rebloom on this arch? Different growth & bloom proclivities on these budded and own root? Willing to use either pair of roses elsewhere & plant own root instead, as it's my usual preference.
Resistance to blackspot is crucial in this established no spray garden. Kordes' roses have done well in all the gardens I've tended over the years & consequently I've a soft spot for their health & beauty. Happy you're bringing more to The States on an ongoing basis & keeping a sharp eye out for new releases. Are you trialing Sweet Laguna yet?
Thanks for your reply & for letting me pick your brain!