It took me a long time to find out which roses worked for me, in an admittedly difficult environment, and then a rose that worked well for some years, like Burgundy Iceberg, suddenly decided to have blackspot and pass it on. I wish I could start over again with a clean slate and with the knowledge I have now. With roses being taken out or moved, I've often been left with spots to put new roses that are too close to other roses or not right for that particular rose, and glaringly empty spots. The whole thing strikes me as a hodgebodge which is further removed from my dream garden than ever. I hope that with six new roses to plant soon I can try to alleviate some of these defects. The bottom line is - roses are indispensable to me but they're not easy. Ingrid

I have had a couple of Eglantines over the years. While the flowers are very beautiful, I find this variety very finicky to grow. I've never been really happy with the plants, though the blooms are gorgeous when you get them. Both of my plants have been weak growers and required coddling. My current plant was in a large pot and overwintered in side the year before last. I planted it out in the garden in spring 2006. She bloomed extremely well and then almost all of her canes died back to the ground over summer. I believe it was because this cultivar requires a huge amount of water in the heat. In the pot with potting soil she got watered at least once a day and thrived. In the garden she got watered once or twice a week and did not like it, though others around her like St. Swithun and Queen Neffertiti grow and bloom like crazy with the same treatment. She came back with some moderate new growth this spring and only a couple of small blooms. I've read quite a few poor reviews of Eglantyne on this forum in the past year and my experience bears that out. Mine will be replaced with another Queen Neffertiti. If you want to keep yours, I'd suggest trying her in a large pot with good potting soil and lots of fertilizer and water. Weak constitution is my diagnosis for what it it worth. Cheers, Rideau Rose Lad

"I've also given it some All purpose plant food." Bad idea. Never fertilize a plant that has recently been transplanted, it only shocks the plant further. In fact, I'd stop using all chemicals until next Spring and allow the plant to establish roots with nothing but lots of water to assist it.

Thanks everyone for all of the good info! We just dug up the stump, and I am sorry to say that "We have met the enemy, and he is US!". There was not any sign of galls on the roots or anywhere else. However, some of the main roots were completely rotted, and there were fungus fruits 1-2 inches under the soil all over - they looked like small squashed grey mushrooms - yuck! When we took out the jade plant, we put in irrigation, which was part of our automatic irrigation system. I am guessing that that bed was WAY too wet, and basically that rose just rotted. When my DH cut up the 3 inch in diameter main canes down near the bud union, they both were dark brown in the center. So, we dug up the soil, and replaced it with new soil, and I went to look for some sort of fungicide drench to pour over the new soil and the rest of the bed. Then I plan to leave it until next Spring. I went to my nursery (it is the one described at the Sac Cemetery rose symposium as "the oldest continuously operating nursery in California" - the West End Nursery in San Rafael). The owner is very knowledgeable about many things, although they do not specialize in roses. He recommended "AGRI-FOS, which is a systemic fungicide that can be used as a spray or a drench, and kills many different fungus diseases. You can also use it to soak new plant roots in before planting. He said that anything else that might work is illegal in CA, as they have made most of the chemicals illegal. He laughed and said that they cannot make this one illegal, as it is the only thing that works to prevent sudden oak death! So, we got some and drenched the area. I disconnected the irrigation, which is turned off now anyway. We will see what happens to the little polyantha rose - if it is still OK next Spring I am planning on planting a Reve d"or to replace the GS. Jackie