22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Fourth day, fourth bag! And yet still bigger. Now I am seeding an area along my back fence that I want to convert into a huge bed this spring with the grounds to attract worms. This has turned into a huge new resource for me. Between the grounds and the horse stables near my house that will fill up as much of your truck as you want for $20 bucks, I should have plenty of organic matter to go around. Don't know why, but nothing in gardening excites me more than turning dirt into that black chocolate cake. I have highly acidic, leached soil with almost no innate fertility, but it does have perfect loam texture. So with the right amendments and organic matter, I can create terrific soil.
I make the rounds from time to time, and get bags of grounds from several Starbucks in my area. Some have large bags full, some might only have a couple of pounds because someone else beat me to it. I mostly compost the grounds, but do add some to my beds. There's a church group that regularly picks up grounds from a Starbucks near them, and they compost them, and sell the compost, and the $$ they make goes to a charity they support that helps children in need.
Plant them. I wouldn't consider this "fall" planting. I don't know exactly where you are or when your first frost date is but this is only the beginning of August and my bet is that they will have plenty of time to get settled in before winter sets in. Give them some added protection this fall and I think they'll do fine.
When I've tried fall planting in the past it was on things ordered for the new season in September. I didn't get them until late in the month, and sometimes into October, and planted them right away. Those never did well at all and I lost them. So I quit doing that now and when I order in September it's for a spring shipment date. But I plant and move roses through August all the time with no problem.
As you have read above, it is rose slugs (which are not slugs but sawfly larvae). You can wipe them off the backs of the leaflets or you can spray with an insecticide containing spinosad, reaching the underside of the leaves. Roses that do not show any damage do not need to be sprayed. The sawflies prefer certain varieties. If you spray in the evening, spinosad is not hard on beneficial insects, and it is relatively safe to handle. You could also use a "house and garden" aerosol containing pyrethrins, being careful to follow the instructions.
I use Milky Spore for the Japanese Beetles. It slow (and expensive), but I add to it each year. I does not completely eliminate them because they do fly in from the neighborhood, but it does keep them under control in my yard.
None of these bugs will kill your roses. Unsightly, yes. But the bugs go away and roses almost always recover in time for their fall flush. As Jeri pointed out, Mother Nature knows what she's doing.
Nothing smell related worked for me; milorganite, blood meal, predator urine, deer repellant.
I made 4 foot diameter by 4 foot high cages and don't worry about the deer anymore. I found out that the cages are heavy enough not to require anchoring.If I want HT aka deer crack, I cage them. I had well over 100 bushes and now I am willing to have, fewer but protected bushes.
Thanks, Cynthia! I may wind up getting Nahema ; the flowers look so beautiful in photos, but the comments on HMF make it sound like an uber-stiff plant, that really needs a WALL. I saw it at Rose Barni but it was not in bloom and the habit seemed stiff-ish, but since it had finished it's spring flush it was hard to tell. Thing is, I've had problems with Compassion and Polka in my garden,growing very stiffly and wanting to bloom only at the top, but I didn't know about that principal by which an unsupported rose will often grow shorter, with thick,stiff canes, in order to be self-supporting. Since then I moved both, but it's too soon to tell how they will do. bart
That makes sense, Bart. Nahema is WAAAY less stiff than Polka, who refuses to bend in almost any way so that I can get the main canes horizontal and then have the laterals blooming more profusely. My Polka only blooms at the ends as you mention so far, but I'm determined to at least arch it toward the ground and encourage those lovely laterals. Nahema is nothing like that much problem, and somewhat less stiff than Compassion, but then I haven't had as much problem getting Compassion's canes horizontal - it has been putting out nice blooming laterals in its second year and looks to be a nice consistent bloomer on my fence. Yes, any of these will get stiffer if they're unsupported and not forced to bend when they're young, but Nahema is the easiest to force of the three you mention.
Cynthia
The only Boerner rose I can recommend for no-spray gardens in the East is 'Aloha,' a large shrub or short climber that is resistant to blackspot in many gardens. The blooms are sumptuous, fragrant, and good for cutting, although sometimes I get bull nosed or proliferated flowers in the first flush. It repeats well. It should be marginally cane hardy in zone 5b, depending on the particular winter.
'Ivory Fashion' produces elegant sprays, but it was extremely susceptible to blackspot in my garden. I currently grow 'Apricot Nectar' and it is susceptible, but I like the large, very fragrant buds. 'Gene Boerner' needs fungicide here, but is not the worst BS martyr. Mike Shoup said it can be a no-spray rose in Texas, so maybe in Wisconsin? It is still an outstanding rose for prolific bloom and flower quality.
Same here, Jeri. There were frequently emails in both directions concerning anomalies in the garden; dumb things we'd each done or experienced; anything we thought the other might find interesting and, as you've received, I'd send him photos of new seedlings I found particularly interesting. When he became ill, he asked not to be forgotten, to be kept "in the loop". It wasn't difficult as the loop seemed to originate with him. Talk about a "hole"...
I do love what HMF has done with the Donations Tabs. Kim
I would be suspicious if such a puny rose as Fair Bianca produced a huge cane--could it be from the rootstock? The thorns look normal. On RRD canes, the thorns are typically awl-shaped and rubbery. It would be a good idea to post a SHARP picture of the top end of the shoot. If you take a number of pictures and display them on the monitor, you can tell which ones are focused.
I think these roses are infested with spider mites, which would cause the fine yellowish stippling on top and the dirty appearance of the undersides. Look at the undersides through a magnifier, preferably 6x, and I think you will see wispy webs, tiny amber colored crablike critters, and perhaps their yellowish eggs. They suck plant juices and will eventually cause the leaves to curl and die.
The Two-Spotted Mite is everywhere, but population explosions can occur a) when roses are grown indoors or sheltered from rain b) when insecticides have reduced their natural enemies c) in hot dry weather. Outbreaks are best treated with water--a hard spray directed to the undersides every day or two. Have you used an insecticide?
I am not sure what caused the brown mottling. but it is probably not a fungus disease. The dead brown patches that I think I see in the first fuzzy picture seem different and could be burn from too much fertilizer.
I am guilty of, or a victim of , everything mentioned.