You could have more variety of colors if you got some of the other Knock Outs also. They come in more colors than the cherry red in your photos. There is also a double PINK Knock Out. Then there is a yellow one (that fades whitish) that my neighbor swears is quite lovely, but it may be a single. And there is the Rainbow Knock Out which may also be a single--I'm not sure, having never seen one in real life, but I have heard some KO owners praise it also. It probably wouldn't help much, but Home Run, a bright red single that is distantly related to Knock Out, is very disease resistant, but its bright red would probably clash with the cherry red of your current Knock Outs. However, if you have an area where there are no Knock Outs, you might try Home Run. It's true red is a bit easier on the eyes than the cherry red of the usual KO. How do rugosa hybrids do in your area? They are highly BS resistant for me and come in whites and pinks--and I love those crinkled rugosa leaves. Kate

zipperiris, it isn't easy to come to a decision to put down the chemicals, I'm sure, but I think if you stick with it, in the end, you will be happy you did. I haven't used chemicals in 30 years. I avoided roses for a long time because I expected I would not be able to keep them looking good without using something. I broke down and tried roses about 4 years ago and so far it is touch and go. I'm having more trouble this year then previously with two in my front garden. But part of the problem is I just didn't get to them soon enough to pay attention and take care of problems before they got worse. I planted four new roses, bare root this spring and so far they are doing pretty well. The one that is doing the best is an OLD rose. Mme. Plantier. It has barely a spot of insect damage and the foliage looks so healthy. The first bloom just opened and it is very sweet. Julia Child is also doing well after an initial attack by some kind of rose slug or caterpillar. Once someone identified what it was for me, it was very easy to pick off the little caterpillars, once I could 'see' them. [g] Once I hand picked them, and pulled off the damaged foliage that was mostly at the base, the plant looks great and has started blooming well. The other new rose was 'New Dawn' which has healthy foliage and a few flower buds on it. There were also a few caterpillars on that rose, but just a very few at the base which I removed and now that rose is looking well too. Believe it or not the rose that looks awful is the Knock Out Rose. [g] I find that comical. It had some kind of caterpillar/slug damage too and I just haven't gotten around to picking them off yet, so it has more damage then the others. I would mix up the Cornell Formula at home if you want to try something to spray. See link below. You can also do a search on the Rose Forum for Cornell formula for other discussions. There is a great article in the current issue of Mother Earth News on 'pest proofing' your garden. Some of what the author has to say is about how your garden has to come to a 'balance' of good bugs to bad bugs. That takes time to allow that to happen. He makes suggestions for ways you can help increase the good bugs. You might be able to find the article on their website. If you are using chemicals you are killing the good bugs as well as the bad bugs. So you end up with less natural controls of the bad bugs. So once you stop using chemicals, the bad bugs increase in the short term. You have to be willing to wait it out. Aphids are one case in point. I never used to see lady bugs in my garden, but last year I had a large infestation of aphids which I never have either and I was so surprised that before I knew it, lady bugs were out there on the rose bushes and in another week I could hardly find an aphid. I don't think that would have happened if I were using chemicals. Plus, the bees, ladybugs, butterflies and birds are much more at home in my garden then they would be in someone's garden who uses chemicals. Here is a link that might be useful: Will Cornell spray help.....

Msgirl: Your Nicole Carol Miller is very healthy & nice leaves. Cottagegarden: I went out to check my rootings in shade ... noticed few tree-leaves that haven't decomposed yet. Then it dawned on me that leaves from trees can change the surface pH of soil. I have 2 river birch trees (seedless variety), 1 Heritage Birch (very vigorous), and 2 white birch. I tested the pH of the bark on my Heritage Birch tree: very acidic, more so than pine-bark. My lawn near birch trees is lush & dark green & no dandelions. But the lawn in front with less trees is chlorotic (pale), and lots of dandelions. Since Heritage birch is vigorous, it secrets plenty of acid to go through my rock-hard clay. Its leaves are quite acidic, thus fertilized my lawn to a deep green. I don't rake leaves in the fall. If the soil sample has leaves in it, it will change to acidic. It takes years before the leaves are fully composted to neutral pH. For pH values of fresh leaves: http://www.asecular.com/forests/phleaves.htm Most acidic is Eastern Redbud (pH 4.3), Virgninia pine (pH 4.4), sugar maple (4.5), black maple (5.4), black walnut (pH 4.6), white oak (4.6), black oak (5 to 5.5), white ash (5.8 to 6.1), American Beech (5.8 to 6.9), flowering dogwood (5.5 to 6), Slipper elm (7 to 7.9), Hackberry at pH 8.

Jess: Really like the links you gave on making baby-powder recipe. THANK YOU. I have Calendula flowers in my garden (it's a perennial): "1/2 cup arrowroot powder & 1 tsp chamomile or calendula flowers, powdered in the blender or food processor or a few drops of chamomile essential oil." Chronic sinus can also be from allergies to cat-dander. When I first met my husband, he had 4 cats, I constantly sneezed from the cat's hair. He gave away 3, and kept only one cat. I washed his cat weekly, to decrease the dander, so I won't sneeze so much. Now we have zero cat, bad-allergy. However, probiotics like L. Rhamnosus GG (in Culturelle and Solgar Advanced Multi-billion Dophilus) ... that strain of bacteria is proven to slash pneumonia in half, so it helps with membrane in sinus & lung. I gave my 13-year-old daughter Culturelle, Hyperbotics, Solgar, plus Kefir for that past 5 days. I meant to decrease her oily secretions so she has less facial pimples .. and that ended up lessened underarm odor. She's allergic to chemical deodorant, so she uses Milk-of-Magnesia ... magnesium hydroxide has a drying effect, but doesn't last long. Last night I sniffed her shirt before putting in laundry... Wow !! Barely noticable odor, same with my clothes, I can easily wear the same clothes & undies twice, since the probiotics suppress the bad-odor-causing bacteria. That's the logic for daily consumption of Kefir and pickled veggies: less body odor. There's studies that show babies born through C-section has more allergies than babies born through birth-canal. Below excerpt is written by a microbiologist: "For example, during pregnancy, the composition of bacteria in a woman’s vagina changes so that there is a higher concentration of Lactobacillus, a kind of bacteria that aids in the digestion of milk. While he or she might eventually get colonized, a baby born by cesarean section will miss out on immediately acquiring these beneficial bacteria. Dutch researchers recently published a study in the journal Pediatrics showing that infants with colic have more bacteria that are known to produce gas, whereas anti-inflammatory bacteria that live in the vaginal canal are more common in colic-free infants. Health problems that are more common in children born by C-section, such as obesity, asthma, allergies, type 1 diabetes, food allergies, eczema, and celiac disease. While there is still much we don’t know, alterations to the gut microbiome might connect these conditions to what some have dubbed the "cesarean epidemic" in our country and around the globe." http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/06/02/babies-born-by-cesarean-section-may-not-gain-benefits-of-vaginal-microbiome.html