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ingrid_vc

The Ying and Yang of Rose Gardening

It was not so many weeks ago that I was enjoying the most satisfying spring flush that I've ever had in the last four and a half years that I've been gardening on this property. The weather was perfect, which made for an extended period of bloom, the rain had made the roses grow faster than ever before and I was in hog heaven (make that rose heaven). Fast forward to now when of my 86 or so roses only three are so far free of disease, Burgundy Iceberg, The Fawn and Aunt Margy's Rose. Some like Le Vesuve, Coquette des Blanches and Westside Road Cream Tea are doing reasonably well. The remainder have mildew, blackspot, rust or a combination of all three. There are a few young bands that I'm afraid may not withstand this onslaught, La France sadly among them. I don't spray so will just have to see what happens with whatever acceptance I can muster. This is more of a shock to me than it might be to some of you since heretofore I've had very little disease of any kind here. To top it off, after two days of 85-degree weather I came home to see almost every blooming rose fried to a crisp. I have "special" conditions that make 85 seem more like 100, and up to now it's been unseasonably cool so the sun and heat must have shocked the roses more than usual.

I don't mean to whine but just to comment on how ephemeral everything is in a garden. Very few of us seem to have protracted periods of bliss where everything is close to perfection. It rather mirrors life in that way, doesn't it?

Ingrid

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