I had a pretty good spring flush. I did prune them a little shorter this year due to the fact that I did not do this last year and some roses flopped. I am still waiting for a second flush but the weather has been a little goofy with heat/cool etc. My main concern is the new leaves of several bushes are not green but an amber color. Healthy, but an odd color. I fed March 15 with organic rose food (Sweet Earth). Then on May 15 fed with alfalfa pellets. Will feed again next week.

We had a spectacular spring flush, which continued over a long period.
Some of the earliest bloomers zapped by quickly, hit by 100 deg temperatures in mid-April, and again in mid-June. But aside from all that, it was pretty wonderful.
Our Silver Moon had a real flush of bloom for the first time.

But man, we got deadheading chores all OVER the place.

Jeri

I'm also in the midst of the second flush and it's going fine. I don't know whether you fertilize or what you use, but I'm very happy with alfalfa meal, which seems to bring on new growth and bloom very quickly. I can really see a difference between the roses I've used it on and those I had inadvertently left out. I don't know whether you mulch but I do think that's also very important to keep the roots cool and unstressed. Mostly I use dropped leaves from the trees I have in the garden.

Ingrid

Mine was the best ever.

I found it interesting that a couple of the roses pruned really late (mid march) bloomed only about 2 weeks after the ones pruned the first week of January.

{{gwi:234016}}

Thanks for the tip, but I do use alfalfa meal.

So it seems anecdotally that my problem is likely related to
the unusually light pruning I performed this year. I won't
be doing that again!

My climbing roses did really well, but my HT roses just
have not done well this year. My bushes are 6 years old now.
I know some years will be better than others. For instance,
last year my camellias were great and this year they were
also subpar. On the other hand, my cottage garden had its
best year ever.

Crappy! I am heartbroken. This is my first year changing over to 'organic' spraying methods. My roses have been eaten by everything that comes our way. Mostly thrips now. What is the point of growing roses if they look terrible? The buds are distorted and by the time they open, if they open, they are completely disfigured. I am so frustrated. At this point I have 200 really ugly, deformed roses. With a sprinkling of Heaven on Earth, Golden Celebration, and queen of Sweden looking ok. The mildew is awful and I know the rust is on its way. Aaarg!
Thank you for letting me vent. It is awful to watch your babies look terrible in the name of organic farming.

Sorry to hear that tinyrose. Have you seen any beneficial insects in the garden? There is usually a lag between the bad bugs and the good ones, so the roses may improve a lot as the beneficials return.

dimitrig I think you are right about the pruning. Some of my roses look much better hard-pruned, the taller growers especially. Perhaps you could deadhead them a little harder and the next flush may be much better?

Tinyrose, it is going to take about 3 years to make this transition.

It takes time for the roses themselves to "de-tox."
And it takes time for a colony of beneficials to form.

You will find that there are some roses which you cannot grow in this area, without chemical intervention.
Little-by-little, over a period of years, we have cleared such roses from our garden.
MANY roses will grow clean here.
Your adventure lies in finding them.

Jeri

Hi Hoovb,

I haven't seen anything beneficial. I am probably expecting too much. This is a new rose bed with mostly new roses. The weird, and maybe to be expected thing, is that my 7 year old roses that were transplanted along with the new roses look great.

I have 8 Jean Giono roses, three of which have lived here with me for years. They are pristine. No mildew etc. The new five gallon J. Gionos are covered with mildew. They are planted right next to each other. I have never, ever had mildew on J.G. I suppose it is a small root system vs. a large one. Mine have been in 15 gallon containers.

What, if anything, would you do? I have been tempted to cut all the leaves off. Today we are under a Marine layer, and I expect it for most of June. So, mildew is going to be a problem.

Also, what nurseries do you S. Cal people go to? I drive up and down S. Cal to visit family and would love to visit good nurseries. (with lots of roses)

Thanks for the help,
Eileen/tinyrose

Eileen, your newly-acquired roses have been sprayed, and it's going to take them some time to de-tox.
I've observed roses I've bought took maybe a year to do that.

Another thing I have observed is that mature plants have better disease-resistance than immature ones.

Most of the roses we buy come from special occasions, such as the Sacramento City Cemetery Open Garden,or
from nurseries such as Vintage Gardens.
Or Vendors at the Celebration of Old Roses.

Jeri

"Also, what nurseries do you S. Cal people go to? I drive up and down S. Cal to visit family and would love to visit good nurseries. (with lots of roses)"

Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach has lots of roses, very pretty.

and all this in spite of the CRAAAAAZY weather you guys had a few weeks ago. I finally Googled it and saw the tornadoes ect. I spent a bit of time in Moreno Valley in '87. The first house I stayed in was about 3 blocks away from March Air Force Base. Creeeeepy.
Well I am glad to hear Ma Nature didn't get the best (or worst) of your gardens.

Out here at the coast, we didn't get all that.
About the closest we came to it was seeing some truly dramatic thunderheads,
and hearing the static of distant thunder on the radio a couple of times.
Inland folks, tho, they had something to cope with.

Jeri

tinyrose you could try E-Rase fungicide, which works well for me on powdery mildew (but only on powdery mildew). It is OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) listed and can be used for organic production. It is basically just a plant oil which smothers the mildew.

You might try horticultural oil if you have some on hand--it make work also. With any horticultural oil you don't want to spray when it is too hot (which doesn't happen much during JuneGloom).

I love Roger's Garden, and go there a lot. Another neat place is Seaside Gardens which is up in Carpenteria. Not many roses--their speciality is drought-tolerant, but their display garden is wonderful.

I'd hate to jinx myself, but it's actually been a really good year for me too. I've been keeping a gardening journal for 6 years. Usually by now I've had at least one major attack of rose slugs and a bunch of powdery mildew. I'm on the lazy plan, which is that I don't spray unless I see something bad. I haven't sprayed all spring! I better stop talking before a swarm of locusts attack the garden.

Great year...until the massive heat-wave fried the blooms mid-May...just before we had everyone over for my 50th birthday bash. What're ya gonna do? "Looked great last week".

Fortunately everything has rebounded nicely.

Bill

Thanks for the all the advise. I actually have a rose company who sprays weekly, which is the main reason for my tantrum. They are using special organic sprays that cost a fortune and the roses still look terrible. Enough complaining.

I love Seaside nursery. I go there often. Roger's is fabulous as well. Have you not been to Otto and Sons? Acres and acres of roses.

Everywhere I have been I've seen amazing rose bloom..in.my garden, too. Many 'round about this area have commented on it. Guessed it was due to all of our rain during the winter, and some cold days, too, perhaps? I never cut back deeply. Have read it wasn't wanted in our mild climate. Usually just a foot or so off, thin out branches and remove all leaves. Oops, I'd better hush as I am NO expert! As for nurseries, I'd add Laguna Hills Nursery, which is at a temporary location in Lake Forest off the 5. Knowledgeable staff and very healthy plants.