Regarding blackspot, in Florida, you need to MAKE time to spray, otherwise you'll keep having naked canes and no flowers.

I used Bayer advanced disease control (availble from most big box stores) and spray once a week. Religiously.

There are other products available online that will work if sprayed every two weeks but it's a lot priceier than the bayer, especially if you only have a few roses. (Under 50)

You can pretty much prune when ever you want. I prune in late July, or early August, simply because my roses are HUGE and I'm afraid of hurricanes coming along and uprooting everything like they did a few years back.

For things that only need pruning once a year I do that in Jan/Feb.

I don't know much about Oranges n Lemons,hopefully another poster will chime in.

Elaine

If you look closely on the tag that came with Oranges & Lemons, they tell you the rose is expected to get 6-8 feet tall. I had a salesperson warn me of that when I bought mine. I would assume it would be even larger in Florida. I'm letting mine be a fairly large free-standing bush but I'm expecting a lot of winter die-back. You might want to try training it on something.

This is my fourth year in Florida and my adivce to you is that if you are getting new roses, please learn from my experience: buy only roses grafted on fortuniana. I did not do that four years ago and all of the first ones I bought (9 in all) have died or are close to dying. But those on fortuniana look so healthy and happy and thrive relatively well in the FLorida summer heat. And yes, one does have to spray here aka black spot hell.
On the other hand you could be selective and buy only black-spot resistant roses (on fortuniana of course)- there's a list somewhere on the garden-web - do a search and see what comes up.
Lots of luch and a hearty welcome!
.

There are some roses that do extremely well in Florida, and will be no-spray and can grow on their own roots here. Most will be the old heritage roses. You can research them on the Antique Roses Forum here on the GardenWeb.

Hybrid teas will need to be on fortuniana and will absolutely need a regular spray program.

Most chinas can be grown own root and do not need to be sprayed. There are some teas (NOT hybrid teas) that can also be grown own root and won't need to be sprayed.

The Bermuda Mystery Roses do extremely well here, even on their own roots.

Many people have sucess with some of the polyanthas and noisettes on their own roots, and many can be grown no-spray.

I've been growing many roses on their own roots and do not spray anymore. I also have some roses on fortuniana. I use organic material to enrich my soil, and use mostly organic based fertilizers. This helps to build up beneficial soil organisms, many of which feed on the destructive ones.

Keep in mind, roses grow large here. A hybrid tea on fortuniana really needs at least 6 ft. spacing.

I remove the disease magnets.

Sandy

We're exact opposites: I'm 29 years in Florida and new to roses last January. Ditto what Sandy, rosarama and Elaine said. I feel like all I should say is Welcome! The summer has really sapped me. In the spring I was ready for a 40-yard dash, but the summer taught me that this is a marathon. And I'm hoping my first fall will reinvigorate me when I see that proverbial "fall flush". I grow mostly old garden roses and a few on fortuniana. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind putting on a hazmat suit and spraying roses in August - make that in May thru October and probably throw in April and November. If they defoliate, they're gone from my yard.

So glad you joined us. We need more rose growers in Florida. And don't give up!
Sherry

Welcome to growing roses in Fl. I know quite a few folks that grow great roses in the Jacksonville area. Contact the Jacksonville rose society and they can help you with personel hands on help. As far as growing roses in Fl goes, it will ALL depend on you and what kind of roses you want to grow and what you are willing to put back into them. I grow about 80 bushs of all types (HT,OGR,Florabundas, Shrubs, Climbers, Mini-floras, Minis). Have been growing roses in Fl since mid 1970's. I enjoy bouquets in the house and to give away. Growing roses is my HOBBY!!! Not a life and death situation. Like I said, it all depends on you and what you want to put into it. I put about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs of work per week into the garden. The rest of the time I just putter around. By the way, I still work for a living. I put in 48 to 56 hrs every week. Yet I still find time to enjoy my hobby.

Im a newbie to Florida and loved this thread and read every single entry. I love hybrid teas and austins so Im going to have a time. We are buying a house in Port Saint Lucie and thats about 4 hours south of Jax. Id love any input!
Angela

The David Austin website has a listing of their English roses that do well in our zone. I have tried most of them and find they perform nicely, but you will have to spray them on a regular basis. There are only three that you can get away without spraying, and that is Jude The Obscure, The Prince, and Sharifa Asma. They get a slight amount of blackspot, but not enough to bother me. The others will go naked if you don't spray. Ditto for most hybrid teas.

Sandy

Welcome to Florida!

I believe that the prior posts here have covered a lot of what I consider common sense in growing roses in Florida. With that said, here are my two cents:

Don't throw your money away with buying roses on anything other than roses grafted on Fortuniana. I have seen hundreds of dollars worth of roses from everything from Wal-Mart to Jackson and Perkins go down the trash can until I tried Fortuniana. I always bulked at buying Fort. roses because they cost twice to three times as much than other bargain variety roses, but once I noted the difference I kicked myself for ever wasting my money.

Spraying is a must here in Florida, even with roses on Fortuniana (the difference is that even after losing all your leaves to BS the bush often comes back since it's roots don't die as well). I alternate between Banner Max (expensive at first but economical in the long run), Mancozeb/Dithane, the Ortho Products (smelly bu time proven), and the Bayer (I think this stuff makes my leaves turn yellow and fall off) spray products. Occationaly I use Messenger just for fun and pay close attention to any changes in plant growth or vigor (so far I can't determine if the growth I've noted has been due to Messenger or just plain old natural rain water).

Picking the right variety for our location is a must. Some of the most impressive roses in my garden have been equally impressive in other gardens. Some include OGRs like the Cracker Rose while others include Belinda's Dream, Elina, Double Delight, Big Ben, and (of course) Knockouts. For some reason (disease suseptability in the genes maybe) purple roses don't fare well at all in our climate. Just the same I have a few that do okay like Melody Parfume and Fragrant Plum (Hot Princess does very well for me, but some on this forum would argue that she isn't purple).

Lastly, remember that our growing season is year round and that we are the reverse of the rest of the country in so much that our best blooms come in the winter and our worst is during the grueling summer heat. When pruning I find that it is best to only cut back the dead growth and dead head whent he temps are in the mid 80s and up, as doing otherwise often shocks your rose bush and leaves you with a stick ghost of your rose bush's former self.

On the topic of Oranges and Lemons:

I'm currently growing this rose and it grows more like a climber than a pillar for me. I will say that it is very vigorous and prefers growing like a climber than like a Floribunda or HT.

Again, welcome to Florida and good luck!

Adrian.

Angela----Welcome to Port St. Lucie. Send me an e-mail. We might be close neighbors. I've been in Port St Lucie since 1999. Have watched it grow from a little spot to a bunch of people.