The raspberries will escape the raised bed, eventually. But it's not that hard to mow down the volunteers that pop up in the lawn.

I do the same thing you do Eric. I've got a bigger bucket that I fill about 3 inches deep with soapy water. The beetles have an instinct to dive when startled, so all you have to do is hold the bucket under them and brush them in (I wear gloves). At a certain point the beetles get too much for me every year though and I give up and start ignoring the raspberries. That's why I like to get the summer crop on my Heritage because that comes before the worst of the beetles. One of the entomologists at the UW said that once the beetles have been around for about 10 years that their populations in the area start to decline. Unfortunately, I'm at year three or four and I had about a million of them last year. Oh, and back to your original question - my raspberries are the one thing I don't bother weeding. I used a lot of mulch the first two years, but now I leave them alone and they out compete everything, even the grass.

Thank you for the replies! The soil above the plant is terrible, but underneath I have a few feet of pure Miracle Gro soil for flowers and vegetables (which has peat moss and manure in it). The plants also get a lot of water and plenty of sunlight. If I were to stick my finger in the soil around the plant right now, it would be moist. As for the type of rose, I actually lost track. It could either be Paradise Hybrid Tea Rose or Color Magic Hybrid Tea Rose. None of the other rose bushes are displaying this much red coloring, so it made me really worried. It makes me feel better to see so many of you say it is normal. Thank you, again.

Can take a cutting of firm new growth NOW! apply 0.1% IBA (Rooting hormone) stick in well drained soil & mist.. takes 25-80 days to root.