Hi Sharon: You benefit me & others with your intelligent questions, which enable me to see what I did wrong with my past experiments. How did I cause rust by throwing POWDER GYPSUM on top? I repost the info: There's a U. of Nebraska research on rust, with the title, "Medium pH and Leaf Nutrient Concentration Influence Rust Pustule diameter on leaves of dry beans." Their conclusion: Plants grown in pH 5.8 medium show significantly larger rust pustules than plants grown in pH 6.5 or pH 7.9. Concentrations of Cl (chloride) and Mn (manganese) were more in high rust. In contrast, concentration of K (potassium) were less in high rust." From Straw: Alabama Agriculture Cotton Research also recommended potassium fertilizer to reduce rust. Info. about gypsum from USAgypsum.com: Elemental Calcium......21.0% Elemental Sulfur (S)....17.0% pH...................................6.8 Kelp4Less sells 5 lbs. of GRANULAR GYPSUM at 18% sulfur for $12.50 .... more than my local feed store, or Menards at $4.49 for 25 lb. bag. There's a quarry nearby that manufactures gypsum, so cheap here in my Chicagoland. I WOULD NOT use Pennington gypsum plus lawn fertilizer, if it's chemical nitrogen (high in salt). What I did wrong was to throw 1 cup of POWDER-gypsum on top ... it's acidic, plus fast release of calcium, which drove down potassium, necessary for rust-prevention. Previous times with 1/8 cup of GRANULAR gypsum, along with sulfate of potash ... no problems whatsoever. I would use even less GRANULAR gypsum, like 1 teaspoon, along with 1 teaspoon sulfate of potash, plus 0.2 cup of Milorganite. The best ratio for veggies is 1 part nitrogen, 1 part potassium, and 1/2 part calcium. Roses have a higher need for calcium, so I use equal amount to potassium. Sulfate of potash NPK is 0-0-50, and Milorganite NPK is 5-2-0. Take 50 divide by 5, you'll get 10. Ten teaspoons of Milorganite is equivalent to 0.2 cup, best with 1 teas. of sulfate of potash, and 1 teas. of gypsum. I would use more sulfate of potash & gypsum with pale own-root like Jude which needs more potassium for blooming, plus more sulfur for leaves to be darker-green. PALE own-root like Duchess de Rohan, W.S. 2000, Jude, Eglantyne, Honey Bouquet, Comte de Chambord can take more gypsum at 17% sulfur, and more sulfate of potash at 23% sulfur. DARK green roses grafted on Dr. Huey, and French roses dislike acidic sulfates. Bone meal has high sulfate at 2000 ppm, and 400 iron & 300 sodium, with the dark-green roses break out in diseases. I put too much bone meal in Gruss an Teplitz hole ... he's the parent of Dr. Huey, it became a BS-fest, and I had to fix the hole. Pennington fish pellets NPK 4-6-6, high phosphorus with fish bone meal. The pale & lighter-green roses LOVE that tea, today tiny Jude broke out in 2nd flush, 3 more buds with that tea, very fast repeat. Austin roses, bred in an acidic & high rain England like that ratio ... The ratio in David Austin Rose food has NPK 9.5 - 7.5 -10 ... a bit higher nitrogen due to high-rain England, which leaches out nitrogen. Acidic sulfates help pale-own-root to bloom better, but sulfates also burns if in direct-contact with roots, best as SOLUBLE. Pennington pellets is best as SOLUBLE tea under hot sun, to spoon-feed wimpy own-roots which can't acid-phosphatase as band-size. Bone meal is OK for pale own-root the planting hole, if mixed-thoroughly and buffered by plenty of soil. Bone meal burns if applied on top. Concentrated amount of sulfates near the stem burn. One person killed his tomato plant by topping with Jobe's Organic tomato fertilizer NPK 2-7-4, high in bone meal. When I mixed that stuff THOROUGHLY in the planting hole, I got bumper-crop tomato. Same with gypsum, at 17% sulfur, and sulfate of potash, at 23% sulfur. Both burns my finger, and burns any root, best used as soluble. If I sprinkle some on top, I flood the basin immediately with water, to dilute that, along with milorganite for nitrogen. Tomato Tone has NPK 3-4-6, neutral pH & less phosphorus ... it didn't burn my tomato plant, so that can be applied at 1/4 cup before a rain. It's finer particle & tend to float, best to let rain work that in. Milorganite is best 0.2 cup with 1 teas. sulfate of potash and 1 teas. of granular gypsum .... spread that on top before a rain, if you are lazy like me. Safe approach would be Milorganite on top, then make soluble out of potassium & calcium per gallon of water. Roses are all different from each other, the pale ones require more sulfates, potassium, and phosphorus via SOLUBLE to bloom. The darker-green leaves like Dr. Huey can secret acids to utilize nutrients from soil, thus breaking out in diseases when too much acid is supplied, like rain-water (pH 5.6 in East coast), or sulfates in bone meal, gypsum, and sulfate of potash .. which are components of Pennington Pellets. Sharon, best wishes with your roses. They all are different from each other ... such as pale Graham Thomas which required an ungodly amount of potassium & phosphorus as soluble to bloom for a Texan. It took me 3 years, and countless failed experiments to learn the above. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 11:19

I used to be a David Austin rose fanatic always buying their new release roses but now I'm starting to loose interest in their newer varieties. Two new roses coming to Australia are: The Lady Gardener and another magenda red rose which I cant recall at the moment are not appealing enough. I think this is a great opportunity for me to try out roses breed by different rose breeders like Tantau, Gilluoits and maybe Kordes. I'm not sure what it was that got me hooked into DA roses and neglect other rose breeders. Their petals drop so quickly and a lot of the blooms gave weak neck and doesn't up straight. My parents say they are too messy and very short-lived. But I guess maybe I was aytracted to them because they remind me of life and how delicate and short life really us. "A rose will bloom, it then will fade. So does youth, so does this fairest maid."

What a lovely row of JA. I like the lavenders in there too. I just got this rose from our local rose society. So glad it is so beautiful!

You have so many on your list that I’m expecting this Spring so I have to say you‘ve got excellent taste. Lol! I’m a newbie this past summer to roses so I can’t comment on overall longevity and health but I did a LOT of research when choosing my roses. I’m, personally, I big fan of Marchesa Boccella/Jacques Cartier and bought her this past late summer. I got two beautiful blooms out of her. They smell incredible and open very quickly. They don’t last a particularly long time though. I’m also a very big fan of Munstead Wood and planted 2 own-root this past summer with a grafted one ordered for Spring. I really wanted Lady Emma Hamilton but all my research turned up that she just doesn’t do all that great in cold zones. Bolero and Earth Angel smell incredible! I’d give Bolero the edge though...she really pumps out blooms. Her form is more along my taste also. Short stems though so maybe not the best for cutting? Earth Angel has the longer stems. I have PCdM and Emily Brontë coming this Spring, as well as (hopefully!) Eustacia Vye. I’m really looking forward to those. PCdM has rave reviews from so many enthusiasts...I can’t imagine anyone would regret planting her. My Bolero, from FGL. She was so tiny when I planted her in late August. Still had large blooms!