I yanked all my knockouts out this spring except 2, the original cherry red knockout roses that are growing in partial shade and add a nice punch of color, to make room for roses whose sent is as beautiful as its flowers. Winter kill on them was absolutely horrific, plus the JBs loved the pink knockout roses in my garden. Even my Buck rose "Folksinger" which has weathered much colder winters than this one suffered with winter kill to the ground, but being own root after pruning down to about 4 inches from the ground it is recovering beautifully and sporting buds already. I'll be planting some Austins for their luscious scent and exquisite flowers plus some other less fussy (hopefully) roses like Julia Child, Bolero, Macy's Pride, Zepherine Drouhin, Darlow's Enigma, which is bullet proof and smells so sweet, Cl "Compassion" and The Fairy. I have some Kordes Fairy Tale roses that did well over the winter and "Heritage" came through once again. I have too little yard space that offers the best sunlight for roses and am not willing to give up the space for such a mundane, and yes, overused, rose.

I second Kim regarding the Old Garden Rose list, some are really wimpy as own-roots, such as Paul Neyron and Comte de Chambord ... I have both in partial shade. They bloom when we have non-stop rain and cool temp. If the wimpy OGR's are grafted on Dr. Huey, it would help them better in a hot and dry climate. Khalid from Parkistan in the English Roses Forum raved about how well Abraham Darby can handle 120 degree heat, his roses are grafted of Rosa Centifolia, hardy to zone 4b, and VERY HEAT-TOLERANT. Here's what he wrote best for his 120 degrees heat: "Of course there is a large number of roses that perform better than DA roses. Double Delight is one of those and there are so many others. I have already posted the pics of Caprice de Meilland, Fragrant Cloud, Century II, Pink Iceberg, Cherry Parfait, Marvelle, Whiskey Mac, Helen Naude etc. In addition to these roses, most of the roses from Delbard Painter collection do well here (I have Maurice Utrillo, Guy Savoy, Edgar Degas and Henri Matisse). I also have Scentimental, Snowfire, Night Life, Lavaglut, Fairest Cape, Electron, and Rhapsody in Blue which are doing pretty well." I agree with Kim, the modern roses have thicker petals than some old garden roses. Both Comte de Chambord and Paul Neyron last 3 days max in the vase, but Bewitched, Double Delight, and Firefighter can last 6 days in the vase, with thicker petals that stand up to heat. Conclusion: Rootstock that stand up to heat and dryness like Dr. Huey, plus thick petals that don' fry in the heat, and lasts long in the vase.

I took some pics today since some new things had opened. Queen of Sweden - A really terrific rose; healthy, beautiful flowers and blue/green foliage, floriferous, vigorous, nice fruity myrrh fragrance, etc. These only came from Chamblee's last spring! Pearl d'Or Charles de Mills Belle Isis more Marianne Susan Williams-Ellis - great rose, deserves more attention And Marie Pavie - Also received only last year from Chamblee's. They sell great plants! -Chris

Fily: A question regarding to what you wrote: "I am thinking of mulching twice a year with my homemade compost and oak leaves underneath the weed barrier/lava rocks." I hope weed-barrier doesn't mean landscape fabric. Such weed-barrier blocks out rain water and hurt roses (higher demand for water than other plants). My best result is a few pieces (no more than 4) of red-lava-rock FIRST, then pile up acidic leaves & organics on top. When the leaves decay it releases acid (along with acidic rain) to break down the red-lava-rock (pH 8.2). Plants like neutral pH best. Rain is acidic at pH 5.6, same with decaying alfalfa (pH 5.8), pine bark is too acidic at pH 4, and drops even lower if soaked in rain .. so the red-lava-rocks under a layer of acidity helps to buffer and make it "neutral & safe & plus slow-released nutrients" to roots below. Here's a pic. of my experiment, taken this morning July 10. CAUTION ON GYPSUM: works great for my alkaline clay with pH near 8 ... alkaline clay buffers the acidity of gypsum well, but gypsum was harmful to Jess' acidic-red-clay, and it will be harmful to sandy soil plus acidic rain. Sandy soil doesn't have "buffer, or neutralizing" ability against acid like my alkaline clay. Dolomitic lime raises the pH too fast for Austin roses (prefer slightly acidic). The safest would be red-lava (pH 8.2) for potassium, and pea-gravel which raises the pH much slower, plus supply calcium/magnesium lacking in sandy soil. If tiny pea-gravel is not available, Azomite dust is 2nd best at VERY SMALL amount .. it's sold cheap on Amazon $10 for 5 lbs (supply potassium, calcium, plus a bit of salt). Sandy soil leaches out salt easily, so the 0.1% salt in Azomite is no problems. Re-post today's info. (July 10) in my "experiments in fungal disease" thread: Above is end of experiment, after 24 hours of soaking in ACIDIC RAIN WATER at pH 5.6, plus additives: Vase 1 has pea-gravel, leaves are firm & perky after 24-hours in acidic rain-water. Both blooms are perky. Pea-gravel is slow-released, so it neutralizes the pH slowly, yet supply needed minerals (calcium & copper) to keep leaves firm. Zinc, copper, and calcium are anti-fungal agents. Vase 2 has dolomitic lime (pH near 9) .. that dissolved too fast and made the solution too alkaline. Pink Peace (French Meilland) rose likes alkalinity, bloom looks good & more petals thanks to slower opening. But Mary Magdalene, an Austin rose, can't handle such alkalinity and wilted immediately. Vase 3 has gypsum (acidic with 17% sulfur) ... that dissolved immediately and brought the solution from pH 5.6 (rain-water) to very acidic below pH 5, which resulted in WILTING of Pink Peace, but Austin rose Mary Mag don't mind, bloom still perky. But leaves of both become limp & wilt in this acidic solution. I will keep them soaking until day 3 & day 4. Normally Pink Peace break out in blackspot if soaked in rain-water for more than one day. All leaves are clean, but I don't like how limp & wilted leaves are in the too-alkaline and too-acidic solution. Vase 2 has dolomitic lime, but calcium is NOT available due to tied-up with magnesium at high pH. Vase 3 has readily available calcium (gypsum), but the 17%sulfur component of gypsum is too acidic. Below is pic. of pea-gravel: