First off, don't necessarily give up hope on all the roses. Some might start growing late. Different roses can have different growing rates. Secondly, if there is growth near the base, prune back to where there is healthy growth. Then water and feed as usual. Right now--unless you are in some extremely northern zone where there is still freezing weather forcasted. (What gardening zone are you in? It would help us direct more specific advice for your roses.) Let us know in about one month how things are going. I'll bet you will have good things to report. Kate

thanks for the link although I confess to hating watching video news and waiting thru the advertisements. But for roses...yes. Rose Valley in Bulgaria seems very low tech for what is purportedly the largest producer of rose oil in the world. No mechanized harvesting of the lavender? The rose harvest wasn't shown. The real competition for real rose essence is it's chemically created fake. Perfumes aren't required to list their actual ingredients and I suspect that most if not all use chemicals rather than using the real thing. Denise

I suspect you're right, Jeri - the General seems to love water. Last year an emitter on the drip irrigation system blew off next to him, so he was treated to a flood of water. He responded by blooming and growing heavier and faster than any other rose I've seen. I'm not sure it would have been good for him in the long run, and I'm glad I eventually noticed the waste of water, but it was interesting to see his reaction to it. His petals are also thick enough to stand up to our cool temperatures and heavy rains in the spring and fall. And for those of you who have a smaller garden - like me - I can attest that he bounces back quickly (and with good form) after heavy pruning. I can't post without sharing pictures, but I apologize for my phone's inability to capture all of the subtle colors in his blooms.

Editing can be done to a post's title and contents up until the first comment to that post appears. After that, the edit tab disappears. I should have proof read my post carefully before hitting submit. Editing or deleting personal comments can be done at any time. Moses