Always err on the side of caution and avoid attempting to rush young plants that are under the stress of trying to acclimate & settle in. I've frequently used RoseTone(with moderation) at planting time with bareroot plants. It becomes available to the plant not all at once, but over time. With new ownroots that I plan to keep potted, I generally start off fairly quickly with applications of fish emulsion and/or liquid seaweed every couple of weeks. Dilute solutions (half strength) of regular fertilizer would be okay too. As for alfalfa meal: I've been advised not to add it to the planting hole where it will come into direct contact with the roots, but to scratch it into the surface around the plant. I can't remember ever using it with newly planted roses, but I do not think it would be harmful. Alfalfa itself is a fertilizer (about 3% nitrogen and 2% potassium). I think that most of us who use RoseTone and alfalfa on our established roses also use other types of fertilizers -- usually liquid ones.

I quite like my Hope for Humanity, and being a Canadian explorer it should be a good choice for your zone. Mine is about 4-5 feet tall in zone 5 in its fourth year, without much dieback in my zone (and it's tucked into a zone 4 pocket in my yard). You're right that the ultimate height relates to how much you have to chop off from winter kill to some extent, but a well-established rose will grow by the end of the season to the height it wants to be if it's suited to your zone. In other words, even if you have to trim it to almost the ground in early spring, it'll shoot back up in the spring and summer if it's happy (and you don't cut it below the graft, obviously). Don't judge its ultimate height in the first few years as it's getting settled, since the plant is liable to spend more time putting down roots than building height at first. I don't grow Blanc Double de Coubert, but if you know someone in your area that grows it, then that's a likely option for your yard. I had it at a previous house but it didn't like my alkaline soil and faded pretty quickly to rather scruffy used blooms that you have to deadhead frequently to keep the bush looking nice. Peace is a lovely rose, but being a Hybrid Tea it's pretty unlikely to be hardy in zone 3-4 unless you grow it in a pot and bring it into a protected unheated space for the winter. I can get away with leaving my hybrid teas in the ground in zone 5, but much colder than me it isn't really a viable option unless you have a particularly hardy hybrid tea or a protected zone pocket with consistent snow cover. Always worth a try if you're a gambler, but that one's a long shot compared to the others (including Rambling Red) that are more sure bets in your zone. Cynthia

Hi Jim and Strawberry~Hope all is well in your little corner of the gardening world. Strawberry~thanks for the info. on powdery mildew. Another battle to wage! My grafted Zephrine Drouhin has a very bad case of PM right now, Princess Alex., grafted also, isn't as bad but still some. It has been very humid here but also cool, so optimum conditions for PM and BS. We finally got some rain though, about 2 inches worth, so that is good! Jim~Carding Mill, Belinda's Dream and Honey Bouquet are all HR bands. There is not a lot of BS, just a few leaves here and there, Carding Mill being the worst and only one of the two has it so kind of odd. I sprinkled some powdered lime on the pot soil to see if this would help. I have looked at liquid lime, I don't know if spraying the leaves with a diluted solution of it would help or cause some other damage since it's caustic. I'll just have to see how it looks in a few days to see if the bs is clearing up. Environment seems to be so key to disease susceptibility. I guess we just need to experiment to find what works best in our own garden. This method gets kind of expensive though! On the plus side all of my other roses look good and my Buck "Folksinger" is covered with her second flush of buds. This is the one that was cut to the ground late spring because of severe winter damage. No bs at all. I hope your Buck roses do as well for you as this one is doing for me. Thanks for your computer "condolences" ;-) My husband switched all of my files over to his computer and is using mine with LINUX. Of course now it's running flawlessly!! but at least I'm back on line and have access to all my files. Here are a few pics of what's blooming right now. I have buds on almost everything, I can't wait till I get the very first bloom from my little baby bands. Sharon Folksinger Shrub shot.

I second Osmocote Plus. It’s so easy to use and the Plus part means that it has the trace nutrients too! I can’t do any kind of fish fertilizer, since the smell makes me gag. But I found a fertilizer that has high NPK levels since it is a synthetic fertilizer but mixed with seaweed extracts for all the needed trace minerals. It’s called Sea Grow by Grow More.