My low is the same. Thrip damage on almost all of my roses, April till now. Most are clear now, but a few still suffer.

My high was when my three year old Ambridge Rose really came into her own, gorgeous blooms (no thrip damage,) lovely scent and positioned right where I can gaze at it while I sit on the couch. I also aquired several new Austins this year.

Oh, and my hubby bought me a label maker, great markers (thanks for the idea Buford) and something I've wanted for ages, a miner's cap, so I can play at night.
Nancy

low: extreme drought and watering ban. High? Most of my roses proved to be champs and survived this weather. Better than me.

My low was discovering the existence of RRD in my garden. I lost 4 roses to this scourge; just found last week that Queen Elizabeth had a RRD infested cane which I promptly removed. We'll see if she can recover. I have the tools to combat BS, mildew, and insects, but how do I fight RRD? I hate losing roses and wonder if it makes sense to add more and then be heartbroken if they become sick.

My highs were planting 14 new Buck roses. I have high hopes that these own-root babies will make it through my Zone 5 Illinois winters. The blooms this summer were very pretty; my favorites were Golden Princess and Honey Sweet. I'm hopelessly addicted.

Ironically, my high and low in the rose garden was the same thing! The low was when I discovered that voles had girdled a whole bed of roses, so I ended up having to prune them almost to the ground. The high was that the extreme pruning stimulated lots of new basal breaks, and I had some of the best roses I've ever had! That must be the cloud's silver lining?

The lows: The Easter Freeze, three nights of temps to 18F, with one day of below freezing, just as blooms were starting.
After that, drought. Drought becoming extreme drought. Extreme drought followed by exceptional drought. Exceptional drought continues.
Rose Rosette this fall on my James Galway.

The low was drought, drought, drought, which, along with beetles in May, went a long way to spoiling the entire year's flowering. High point? Not really one, just a lot of small and good moments, and satisfaction that most of the plants in the ground made it through the summer. I hope next year will prove more rewarding.

Melissa

I would have to say the low (on a non-rose note) was a very measly harvest in my veggie garden this year. We had cool nights and not enough heat and I had issues with my veggies I have never had before. I really wanted to pull my hair out and stomp my foot like a child on several occasions. Frustrating.

The high would be learning that my husband has a major weakness when it comes to roses. I mean I knew he liked them but it is proving to be nearly impossible for him to say no to the purchase of new roses. Scary but true that I have more self control in that department than he does! In that same vein he proved himself very open to creating new beds next year to accommodate the spring purchase of several roses. Based on what I have planned for next year we need to both get a lot of rest this winter.

Finally this year we really reduced our use of chemicals in the yard/garden to the barest of minimums. To that end we were awash with birds, bees, frogs and there was the constant twitter of life out there. It was great. I really learned a lot this year about how to make it without reaching for the pesticides and chemicals on impulse.

Kate

Thanks for that question Devon,

There's been something on my mind that has really been bothering me as I look back and reminisce about this summer's rose growing season.

I'm in a quandary right now as to weather or not I will continue growing roses. I'm so tired of the losing battle against the Japanese Beatles situation here where I live. It is very disheartening to purchase, plant and grow a beautiful rose yet never have the opportunity to enjoy the blooms since they are chewed up if not completely devoured.

I have to honestly say that I am losing my love of roses. For me roses = JB's.

I do not have a very positive outlook right now, I know, but I'm SICK & TIRED of dealing w/ those bugs.

On a lighter note, I am finding other beautiful plants that are not harassed and attacked so violently by the JB's.

Maybe I'm just a tired gardener, maybe I need a hiatus from the back breaking labor involved in my gardening, who knows... Hopefully once those rose catalogs start arriving at my door step I'll have a different outlook, hopefully!

Deep down I love my roses, to me, they are almost like a faithful pet. Do you believe that my Pat Austin gave me one beautiful last bloom this cold and dreary weekend? LOL, maybe I'm just tired...

Betty

Betty I know how you feel. We have them bad here too. I have been having some success spraying daily (or twice daily) with Bayer Rose & Flower Insect Spray. I spray every beetle I see directly. They die and don't attract further beetles. The hard part is if I skip a day or two, a few beetles attract more, then more. etc. etc. It isn't easy as I have to be vigilant and not plan on being away from home for more than a day.

I hate to spray but it looks like I will also have to be vigilant with blackspot. That was my low in my garden this year. I went 5+ years with hardly any spots, and those that did appear didn't come til the end of the summer. But this year I didn't spray preventatively like I have been the past 2 years (was really wondering if I needed to, as my roses were so healthy) and boy did I get the blackspot. It was probably a combination of not spraying and just having more than twice as many roses as I've ever had. Our weather wasn't particularly condusive to black spot this year, so I guess it has just caught up with me. Next year I will be spraying fungicide AND beetle killer. I don't want to and sometimes feel like Betty.

My high was first flush at the end of June. I was on a garden tour 2nd week of June, and the roses were late to bloom this year. The tour went well, and when that was over, I got to look forward to peak bloom. It was gorgeous, and I can't believe how well my new rose garden has filled in. It was just installed last spring. Some of the perennials look big enough to divide. Granted, I did move a few mature roses and large clumps of perennials from the previous garden, but so much of the stuff that was planted last year was new and tiny.

BETTY, do not give up hope. You know you love roses. I
really hope that a solution is found, for your Japanese Beetle
problem, by some gardening company soon. I wonder if the
roses we're sprayed with hot pepper solution, if that would
help. O.K. so maybe, I'm naive. It's probably been tried.

One could always try spring-time blooming roses. They may
only bloom in spring, but they make a spectacular show.

Luckily, California does not have them. And hopefully never.
But I understand your frustration. It has to be a hard thing
to deal with, when there are so many JB's attacking.

Pat Austin is like a message for you to stay strong for
your roses. Good luck, Betty.

Temperatures.....still in the 90's down here. Had 30+ days of 110+ temps. Hard freeze in January was weird. Not much rain this year, even with an average annual of 7inches. Getting tired of gardening in an oven. Guess my highs and lows are interchangeable, lol.

Low was definitely the Easter Freeze. I had so many roses loaded with buds (especially my tempermental QE Climber)that were zapped, and it was almost June before I had roses.

High was any time Comte de Chamboard blooms. I love that rose. Also when I thought I killed Mlle Kruger and she came back.

Dear Betty - I too sympathize; I have a steep slope that I want to Roundup and mulch and then plant with roses so DH doens't have to mow anymore. But....if I lose any more roses to RRD, is it worth it? Last year was the first year I had JBs, and they lasted from July thru Sept. So, do I forget the roses, which I truly adore, and just plant perennials and grasses? I am feeling beat down by Mother Nature and the deer herd that have also been grazing my hostas as their salad bar. Both you and I have such a short growing season and it gets discouraging when it is spent battling bugs and diseases and not enjoying the blooms.

The high for me was coming home from a weeklong vacation during 4th of July, to the most amazing flush ever! I went out and bought a camera to capture the glory.

The low was the massive chili thrip infestation that happens through August. Lots of spraying, pruning, hoping and waiting.

Elaine

The high for me was starting a small second rose garden and it doing well with Nearly Black, Candystripe, Paradise and my favorite and only White rose. I do not know the name of it but it blooms flowers as big as a coffee cup saucer. My low was having Thrips for the first time on that very same White rose. I have never had Thrips before. Betty, I agree with everyone else, PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP. The roses would miss you!

The highs for me have been the beautiful blooms I've had on so many of my newer roses. And getting more of them planted in the ground. After yrs of most of the roses being in various sizes of pots, the ones that have been in them the longest have just taken off like weeds once they got in the ground! That's a Major high! However, one of the lows was when I lost one of my favorite roses after I did get it in the ground. REMEMBER ME had been in a black 5-gal nursery "can" for about 8-9 yrs, and was huge. It went into a horrific shock being set free. I had to order a new one! Bummer.

Another low was the same as yours Devon... the thrips. I actually have never had them this bad before. Had waaaay less B/S and P/M, but those dang thrips were almost all season-long! I don't spray, but if this happens next yr, I may well start doing so!! I also hate those brown edges!

Betty, I am so sorry for you and all the others who have to deal with those infernal JB's! I would give up on roses if I had to deal with them. You guys have a shorter growing season than we do here in CA, and to have to put up with those little devil-bugs for half that season would drive me nuts!! I don't think it would be worth the effort. Have you (or anybody else out there) ever considered trying diatomaceous earth, either in the powdered form, or dissolved in water and sprayed? I wonder if it would do anything? It's supposed to be "killer" on any bug with a hard-shell exo-skelton. Seems it might be worth a try.

This is a heretical thought, especially on the rose forum, but could it be that some areas aren't conducive to raising roses and gardeners should find other plants to grow and love? I speak as a great fan of roses. I would hate to see a person give up gardening because of a constant battle to grow a given, beloved plant. Perhaps it would be a relief to grow plants that, although they're not roses, are beautiful and easy to grow. Roses are easy here (I have about three hundred of them) but I also have a great variety of other plants that are important in the garden. It might be an interesting exercise for discouraged rose gardeners to consider how they might put together a garden that didn't have any roses in it. I tend to believe in gardens that aren't a constant battle against nature.

Melissa

Highs:
=====
-Phalaenopsis orchid flowering again.
-Received Bare-rooted roses via mail. The feeling reminded me of someone sending me a penpal mail.
-Purchased my first clematis - Snow Queen.
- Seeing Daffodils blooming. It's been a while since I grew daffodils.

Lows:
=====
-Buds rotting,
-Thrips, thrips and MORE THRIPS!!! arrghhh!
- Have to wake up 6:00AM to water my roses every SUNDAY. Due to water restrictions, we can only water roses on Sunday and on Wednesday b/w 6-8am, using a bucket. Imagine having to carry a bucket in and out of the house can be very exhausting.
- Chances are I may need to buy bigger pots for my roses.

For those of you who many not know this:

Thrips is my #1 pain in the A$#%. Of all worriers of roses, Thrips always took the cake. It is so hard to see them, let alone getting rid of them. They love to attack my white roses. Fra Karl Druschki and Margaret Merrill are always hit the hardest in my garden.

My rose club last year decided to try a new Bayer product out. It's a 3-1 systemic, liquid that needs measured and can be gotten, so far, at Lowe's. It feeds, protects against black spot and insects. It works very well as you can see with my trophy winning photo "Best of Whites", Margaret Merrill.

{{gwi:339798}}

My problem with this product is the expense and the measuring of the liquid. To get it right, it must be measured accurately and the cost is astronomical if you have more than 30 roses. I have approximately 200. If it would be in a granular form, I'd be more apt to use it. You need to apply it every 6 weeks for it to be effective. But even if you apply just three applications, you will see a huge difference with your roses. Last year the price was about $20/per bottle and each bottle treated about 16 roses. X's that by 200 and I simply can't afford that.

Next year I might afford just one bottle and treat just my white roses. Margaret Merrill is a wonderful rose and when it's on, it's gorgeous. But most of the time thrips will destroy the flush before it has a chance. The last time I had Margaret looking like this, I was selling my house 6 years ago and put this rose with the Julia's rose as a center table display to show. Margaret's fragrance wafted throughout the house. I sold that house in three days and got more comments about the bouquet on the dining room table than anything else.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening and Other Stuff

My high was getting into roses this year. The poring over websites, reading advise (thanks forum members!) and finally taking the plunge and buying own-roots from clear across the country. Then there was the potting and blooming and planting. Nothing beats discovering a bloom (this is true of any plant in my gardens).

The low was that for some reason the JB's loved Night Owl and it wasn't until recently that I actually got to see a whole bloom. But, that in itself was a high - so I guess they even out, sorta.

I'm sure next year's low will be finding out what didn't make it thru the winter, but I have a bunch of roses on order, so will be able to immediatly jump into the high of potting, discovering blooms and planting!

Julie, I use the 3-1 but it doesn't seem to help with the thrips. I believe because they are in the petals and I'm not sure enough of the systematic gets into the petals to make a difference.

I'm still going to use it, but only twice a year. I like the idea of a systematic for disease and insect control, but like you, I feel it's too expensive and time consuming to use exclusively.

I did use alfalfa pellets this year and I like doing that, still a lot of work, but a lot less $$$. And I am going to use more organic stuff, like composted manure this winter and fertilizers such as rose tone.

For thirps, I've had some success with spraying insecticide into the buds as soon as they are open a bit. I have one rose (Comte de Chambord) that STILL has thrips. But if I force the blooms open, they seem to go away......

My low this year was trying to rid my garden of this one weed. It spreads undergroung and it is viny. I had noticed it before but have let it get out of control the last two years because I was pregnant one summer and a newborn the next. I have spent so much time I hope it is under control. I am trying a ground cover rose there next year White Miediland and would hate to have to weed too much with the thorns, but there are always rose golves.

My highlight this summer was having the climber Ramblin' Red bloom all summer!!! This is my first climber to do this. Thank you Bill Radler.
Another highlight not related totaly to roses, but the backyard, was the discovery of solid stain at the hardware store. We have stripped, primed and painted our back stairs and then the paint starts to come of so soon. So this spring we tried this stain; restripping and then staining. This stuff looks like paint but it has kept up all summer! Looks like we painted yesteday. I have started on my fence (with forest green) that has not been touched up in years since the previous owners painted/stained it red. Looking soooo much better. Of course this fence is done with the view of a better backdrop for all the roses!

Amy

Low: big Easter Freeze. Did quite a number on my garden, and although the roses recovered eventually, they didn't seem to thrive, in some cases, for the rest of the summer.

High: My neighbor cleaned out the jungle growing between his garage and my driveway. Surprise--I can plant roses there! And I thought I was out of space.

Kate

Highs:
:: Finally getting the wall in at the base of my hill--I have wanted to do that since I moved in
:: Discovering that Country Dancer never stops blooming.
:: Purchasing Double Delight off a clearance table knowing it was a BS magnet and then enjoying blooms all summer with no BS ever on the plant. I still have 2 huge blooms in a vase in the house that I cut a few days ago. I know I may have been lucky with DD this year, but it was worth it!! (I dont spray)

Lows:
:: Losing all my Koi when a friend, who was trying to help me by topping off the water in the pond, left the hose running in my pond all day. My Koi were as much pets to me as my dog is. I was heartbroken.
:: Not having any roses until mid-June because of the late freeze
:: Losing my new Niles Cochet and Molineux to the drought.

Ronda

Almost forgot the biggest low for me this year. Discovering that my Fairy rose standard had rose gall. I cried the entire time I was digging her up.
{{gwi:284457}}

Ronda

The highs were sky high this year. First of all my daughter Holly who turns 23 today fell in love with the garden this year and started one of her own. For the first time she really understood it all. How happy this made me!
Secondly I received major honors and ego boosting that I'm almost embarrassed to list. Having my garden in Rosa Mundi was a thrill. I was also honored by visits from Anne Bird, Pres. Royal National Rose Soc. and Marilyn Whellan, past Pre. of the ARS. Also Kaye and Carrie from GW and friends. The summer was cool and beautiful and the roses bloomed.
The low was invasion by spider mites. But I can handle them.

It seems like THRIPS are enemy #1! It really is disappointing,
to wait for the buds to open, so you can see the beautiful rose
in it's full form, just awaiting to smell the fragrance, only to see
brown edges all around the flower. And then to have not one,
but a whole bush of roses damaged. Jeepers, that is so totally
annoying. But I shall fight on!

PAMELA, I'm glad Holly and you can share a love of gardens.
It's always a blessing to share a love of nature. I wish you and
your family, many happy days in the garden.

And congratulations on all the accolades and attention, you
are receiving for you garden. It is much deserved. You have
put so much effort into it and it seems to have been a labor
of great love, for you. God bless and keep posting photo's
of all your creativity in the garden. We love, love, love, to
keep up with Red Rose Ridge.

buford, I've never had any luck using sprays, even just spraying the buds, for Thrips. The systemics seem to work better since the plant takes it up through the roots. At least that's how it seems to do better for me. I've had full flushes this year on my Amy Grant, Fair Hope, Lovely Lorrie, Margaret Merrill and Fra Karl Druschki. This is also the first year I've used this for my roses. Normally I'll lose my entire spring flush to Thrips on all these roses and others.

I will say, the mixture formulation they recommend is great for the minis. But I will doubled the formula for the larger roses. A quart just didn't seem enough for the larger roses. I do have to admit, my minis seemed to benefit from this better than the larger roses. But at least I had full spring flushes this year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening and Other Stuff

Elaine, a wonderful flush in July in Florida. I can certainly see why that was a high. Good for you.
TerryJean, Honey Sweet always catches my eye, but it's hard to find Bucks on fortuniana.
Karen, what a nice silver lining. I have one that needs some new basal breaks and nothing has worked. I might try that.
Melissa, I ask myself that. Here it is so easy to grow tropicals, but a garden without roses... well really what is the point? I'll do the work and get kicked in the head by the thrips, blackspot, etc. because it's like the love of a child, it's not easy, but worth it.
Regarding thrips, nothing has worked for me, no matter how expensive, no matter how often I use them.
Nancy

Bummers:
Late spring frost
B/S from Hades (my fault!)

So cools:
Armide was a bloom monster this year. I won some nice hardware.
We had a very nice fall flush with many cuttings of good quality flowers. Still no killing frost for roses as of 11-07-07.

Where would we be without our friends the Jap beetles. I knock down the first wave with Sevin, spraying the north & south gardens a week apart. I take my little ice cream plastic bucket, like Little Red Riding Hood, filled with a couple of inches of soapy water. I tap the canes on my evening perambulations, the bugs fall in and die. Die! Die! DIE! Excuse me, I got caried away.