Hi, Ken, so glad to welcome a Florida rose gardener!! Yay for us!! I'll probably need your strong shoulders to cry on one day, and you can encourage me about roses growing with a tad too much shade. You have a lovely home. Forget about the value and enjoy it!

First of all, to post a photo left click on the HTML Code that appears under the photo you want to post, right click on copy, and paste it in your message. But you need to reduce the file size first otherwise it will mess up the scrolling of the text in the post because the photo will be so huge (hope that makes sense). I believe you can reduce the size in Photo Bucket. I reduce mine to 'small'. It also saves on loading time for folks who don't have fast internet. I tried to post one of your photos here, but it didn't even fit on my 23" monitor, so...

Hybrid Musks should do well in your dappled shade. They really don't like too much strong sun here. My Cornelia gets 2 or 3 hours of sun and is fine. She's not blooming a whole lot, but hopefully, that's because she's young. They don't care much for higher soil pH though.

I don't use the red mulch. Is that cypress? Since we are plagued with sand in our gardens, I prefer to use pine bark mulch (the mini chips) or pine straw in order to get as much organic matter to the soil as possible. (If you have very acidic soil pH, you might want to use something else, but I don't know what, sorry to say. I have the opposite problem.) The bark doesn't take long to decompose, but that's a plus to me. When I wasn't growing roses, I used the cypress, and I was always afraid it was repelling water, a definite no-no with roses. I think the mini pine bark looks quite attractive, and you can replenish it whenever it starts breaking down. You'll probably get a season out of it, and then it's compost next spring.

Your garden is already looking really good. Welcome to your new home - there and here.

Sherry

Thank you so much for the welcome Sherry! I looked at the list of roses you grow, and I have to say, I am going for alot of the same kind of thing! So I will probably be coming to you for alot of advice, since we are apparently cut from the same rose-growing cloth.
I am considering the pine, at least in the back where the roses will be, because I like the look. Since the two areas are so separate (front and back yard) I may use the red in the front to make the greenery "pop" and give a little more curb appeal. plus I want a more lasting mulch in the front beds. I hope that wont be too tacky...having two different colors of mulch in the same yard. I also am using weed cloth in the both the front and back yard. Is that a no-no with roses? I hope not. If it isn't, can you recommend any types to use? As far as water, I have a micro irrigation system for the back, with individual drip stakes for each rose bush, making sure they get water directly to the roots.
As I said, I am new to this, but eventually, I would love to have a yard full of great roses.

-Ken

Hi, Ken! I think the general consensus is that Austin's recommendation for planting in a tight-knit group works better for areas where roses stay small. I'm wondering since you're in zone 9, whether your roses will get quite large... (probably larger than DA's estimates anyway...)

Oh, yes, Austin's get big here. Just about everything does.

I don't see anything tacky about having different mulches even in the same area. It could be kind of artistic and would define different areas if that's what you wanted. Anyway, I use weed cloth in my pathways. I was going to say it may be personal preference, but I think there are good reasons not to use it in the beds. First, it's hard to be flexible with the cloth there. When you have to move plants around or add your annuals & perennials, you will wish that cloth weren't there. The cloth is basically a permanent thing whereas gardens are not. I mentioned organics earlier. They are crucial to growing roses in Florida sand which has nothing in it to retain water or nutrients, so organics must be continually added at least annually because they disappear through the sand. With weed cloth you are separating the microorganisms that are in the organics that you add on top every spring from the plant roots below. If you are not going to go the organic root...well, I'm not an expert on that. A lot of people use the non-organic feeding, but since we have crappy soil, the plant will be at a disadvantage just growing in sand, and then you will probably have nematodes - the reason own-roots are frowned upon in Florida. Nematodes don't like organic matter or heavy mulches. But even using the non-organic fertilizers I would still think you'd want to use manures and soil conditioners, and the weed cloth gets in the way of that. Alfalfa, cottonseed meal, and lots of other organic things are very good for roses, and they need to be in contact with the soil where the microbes can convert them to forms that the plants can take up. If your worried about weeds, I really don't have much of a problem with them. I get a few that come with the composted horse manure that I get, but not much else, and they're easily pulled out as you walk through the garden. If you prepare your beds well, removing all the extraneous plant life and mulch heavily, you shouldn't have much problem with weeds. Probably others will have something to say on the subject.

I really like the micro sprayers. I like having the whole bed watered. Then there aren't dry areas where the roots will be unhappy.

Sherry

It is true, my Abraham Darby is probably 6.5' tall at this point, and it is only about a year old (at least in my garden). I was just thinking from a fullness standpoint. It may be my novice pruning, but the darn thing doesnt want to fill in. It has 4 good canes, all growing away from the center......WAY away from the center, leaving a kind of hollow looking plant. I was just thinking maybe planting a grouping was the way to give some shrubbiness to the composition. Or maybe I should just learn a better way of pruning LOL.

Abe is still young. It'll be a few years before he's mature and filled out. Young roses have a tendency to look weird and ungainly for a while. I don't grow Abe, but I think patience is warranted. I know for sure it is with teas. Those buggers can really go through some ugly stages.

Sherry

Ken,
Welcome to the forum, glad you're here! I just knew Sherry would welcome you, now she's got a bud, and she has great advice.

I LOVE your house and yard, you have so much to work with; will look forward to seeing pictures.

OGRose

Hi, Ken -
Glad that you are here. Dr. Malcolm Manners is another Florida rose grower who sometimes graces this forum with his presence. He's on the horticulture faculty at Florida Souther College in Lakeland, not far from you. I believe that there are heritage rose meetings there sometimes, and you can also go look at the roses that are grown on campus.

John Starnes grows old roses and many other things in Tampa. I've never met him but am a correspondent of his. He's fond of dumpster diving and is organic all the way, a very unconventional guy, but take a look at his blog.

Obviously, you are not the only old rose lover and grower in Florida, and certainly not the only one on this forum! I'm in California, and manage (as a volunteer) the Historic Rose Garden in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery and grow about 60 roses in my own garden. Sacramento is the same USDA zone as you, but there are many differences in soil, winter chill, and humidity. So, I won't pretend to be able to tell you how to grow your roses, but will be quite happy to cheer you on!
Anita

Here is a link that might be useful: John Starnes blog

Hello Ken, and welcome to the forum. I'm afraid I won't be able to give you much advice since I live in a very dry climate, although we do have heat in common. However, some roses such as the teas seem to do well in both areas, and I'm also fond of the Austins, at least those that do well for me. It's always a pleasure to have someone join the forum who loves the old roses as much as we do, and we look forward to seeing your garden grow ever more beautiful.

Ingrid

I tried the growing three in a group, with limited success. I found out that they have to all be planted at the same time, or the older, larger bushes will shade out the newer, smaller ones.

I grew three Radio Times as suggested by Mr. Austin. They looked nice when they were small, but were a nightmare to prune after about four years. RT is not disease resistant, so I had to prune several times a year. I did not spray because I lived across the street from a nursery and elementary school, and had a new grandbaby in my own home.

Some gardeners, I understand, have been able to grow three different cultivars with similar growth habits as one big bush. I tried that with Golden Celebration, Charles DArwin and Pegasus. GC was spectacular, and the other two hardly grew or bloomed at all.

Hi, Ken and welcome,

Number one, get rid of the weed cloth. Don't need it and it can cause real problems in the future. I don't know anywhere where it might be helpful. Maybe somewhere where they have tundra. The roots of all plants tend to entangle in it and weld it into place.

Where you want to block the weeds, layer it with several pages of newspaper or one or two layers of cardboard. Both are wonderfully effective and they break down and feed the soil. Many Florida Buds use this then pile on the mulch/compost/wood chips/leaves, let it rot for a while and plant directly in it. It is called lasagna gardening. See the GW Florida Forum for more info.

I put cardboard on the ground around my roses and cover it with (Fr*EE) leaves. I just do not like that red mulch color.

Please name your Austins and your OGRs. I want to ooh and aah.

"foundation greenery" Sounds like another place for roses to me. Archduke Charles stays rather small for me.

Austin triplets? I agree with Aimeekitty. Those instructions seem to be for place where they freeze nearly to the ground every year.

As Sherry said, pine bark is great. You can also get very cheap composted yard waste from the Hillsborough County waste site on Faulkenberg Rd. I believe it is $15 for a yard, 9 x 9 x 9. They load and your haul, though you can hire a dump truck, too. That will bring you 3 yards.

You must join the Central Florida Heritage Rose Society. The meetings are in Lakeland and probably about 40 minutes from where you live.

Hope I am not being too bossy with your newbie self!

Veronica, east of you by 20 minutes.

Come see the garden in the fall. It's rather modest and a work in progress, but you can take cuttings.

Thank you all for a gracious welcome! It is so great to find people who share the love of plants, and especially great roses! I find most of my friends don't really understand or care about gardening. Perhaps it is age. Perhaps it is that I grew up in a family of "old southern ladies" with old southern gardens. Nothing is so great as the smell of a tea olive next to the front porch, a vase of blue hydrangeas, or a yard full of roses in spring flush. I really hope it isn't lost on my generation or the generations following.

OGRose- Thank you! I have been working on getting the house in order all summer, It is hard to believe I have been slacking this long. Ive been here nearly two years! I have been through alot of trials and errors trying to get the garden plan correct, but now that I have the lines down I look forward to being able to show pretty pictures in the future.

Anita- Thank you for the link. From his blog he seems like quite a guy. I will have to try getting in touch with him through his blog.

Ingrid- I have had success with teas as well, my B.R. Cant is huge, but it got so rambling that I attached it to the pergola. It still seems very happy though.

Nastarana- I am so glad you said that! I had bought another Abraham Darby to plant next to my current one, but now I will use it elsewhere.

Thanks again guys, I feel like I have found a secret goldmine of info and encouragement.

-Ken

A list of my current roses...All of them...the good, bad, and the HT's
*Disclaimer* I may be wrongly classifying some of these, please correct me if I
am wrong.

HT:
Peace
Double Delight (my mother grew it, I'm sentimental)
Chrysler Imperial (see above)
Pope John Paul II
Tropicana (it was a gift)

Floribunda:
2x Iceberg
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Elina

Austins:
2x Abraham Darby (my favorite. I just love the smell)
Cristopher Marlowe (not great, but adorable blossoms)
Janet (who seems to want to be a ground cover, this girl is unruly at best)

Climbers: ( most of these will probably be shovel pruned and replaced by OGR climbers)
Social Climber
Golden Showers
White Dawn
Don Juan

Finally, my OGR's:

Anna Olivier
Mrs. B. R. Cant
Leveson Gower
Archduke Charles
Vincent Godsiff
Kathleen (an OGR Climber which I simply am enchanted by)

So there we are....some will stay, some will go, and many more will be coming.

Hi Ken;
Welcome to the addiction. And roses are addictive. Your house looks simply marvelous. Is the bay window fronting the diningroom? You sure are going to be having fun setting this up. All the best.
Jeannie

Ken,

Keep the Don Juan. It is a very good rose for Florida, though I wish it bloomed more.

That's a wonderful yard you have. Looks like you will be bathed in winter sun. Just what you want....

Veronica

Jeannie- it most assuredly is an addiction, but one I can regularly get my partner to hand over the wallet for. He has said numerous times if I was not already pursuing my Masters in Architecture I should go into something pertaining to gardens, especially roses, because I enjoy them so much. Yes the bow-front area is the dining room, as are the three windows on the porch. Upstairs is the master bed. I couldn't give up that room....it has the best features in the house!

Veronica- I am all over the idea of the cardboard and newspaper idea. I just so happen to have alot of that lying around. ( I was going to attempt a raised bed lasagna veggie garden) I will not throw out the Don Juan, I like that one, he is at the front porch. I should definitely join the rose society! Do they have a website? Thank you for the invite to the garden, I will have to take you up on that when it isn't 4000 degrees out. I wouldn't know what to do with cuttings, so you would have to instruct me on that. And you are not being too bossy, you're being helpful, and I appreciate it very much.

Welcome to Florida gardening.
Throw out all the books you have that are from other states.
Florida is unique.
What works in Georgia or other southern states,
does not always work in SW Florida.
Get thee to two useful Web sites:
solutionsforyourlife.com and
the Florida Forum of Garden web.
Contact your local Extension Agency for any questions or advice.
They are the experts for your neighborhood and County.

Hillsborough Extension Agency
Brent Broaddus, Interim Director
5339 County Road 579
Seffner, FL 33584
Telephone: (813) 744-5519

I'll bet if you ask, they have OGR experts there.
Research and take your time.
You will soon be beating back the rampant growth like the rest of us!

Welcome Ken. So glad to hear about you embarking on your rose adventure. You have so much to look forward to with a new garden and a growing passion. My climate and soil are very differet from yours so often I won't be able to give you good advice. All my best!

Welcome Ken-----So nice to meet another rose lover.

There are many nice folks on the Forum from your area--I'm sure they will be very helpful.

It will be interesting to watch your garden grow--

Good Luck and keep us posted with your progress

Florence

Masha (here) has a beautiful Janet, but it took a while for her Janet to start to hold it's own. You might want to do a search on Janet and Masha and go see. ;) It's GORGEOUS now, but just like a few months ago, she was complaining about none of the heads holding up, etc.

You have Mrs. BRCANT and Archduke Charles and LEveson Gower! All of those are on my "I really want" list. :) :)
I think the only one that may actually come live with me this year is Archduke Charles. :)

Living in such a different climate, I cannot offer you any advice on roses and their culture, but welcome to the forum.

I will second the advice to get rid of the landscape cloth. It does have a purpose, but not where you are growing plants. If you were on a slope and putting up a retaining wall, you would put in a layer of gravel for drainage, and you would wrap the gravel in landscape cloth to keep it from migrating into the soil. That's the only valid use of landscape cloth I know.

Rosefolly

Hi Ken, Welcome from Crete.
I was a new member to this forum just eighteen months ago.
I have found everybody to be patient, helpful and a fount of knowledge.
I have also had experience of landscape cloth.
It just gets in the way all the time. I would never use it again!!!
Daisy

Hi Ken- Welcome to the Forum.... I'm in St Pete and love roses as well... I have lots of roses grafted on Fortuniana, it is recommended for Fla. because of the nematodes, I get mine mail-order from K & M Roses in Miss. I also have some own-root OGRs also Austins... I try and grow organic, I use all kinds of stuff, Milorganite, Black Cow, Black Hen, Alfalfa pellets, Cottonseed meal, Fish emulsion... and use leaves and grass clippings and compost, thick mulch, the thicker the mulch the better.... the Tampa Rose Society is prob. near you and can help, I belong to the Heritage Rose Society in Lakeland at Fla. Southern, Dr. Manners is there and is a wonderful fountain of information, it's a great group of folks from all over Fla. .... I plant lots of my roses close together and use rebar as plant-stakes, and tie wayward canes to the rebar, to keep a pathway thru' the beds....and I plant companion flowers in front, Victoria Blue perennial Salvia and Pentas , Caladiums, Purslane, Tampa Verbaine - all make good border-plants and are low-growing.... so much fun and so little time !.........sally

Welcome! You will get lots of great advice here.

As to the mulch, I think red in the front and 'plain' in the back would look fine. I have never tried the colored mulch, but DD picked out some black mulch to use in her front yard. It really did make the plants 'pop', and looked great.

Good luck with your roses. :)