As you said, I LOVE cardboard under my mulch. If I don't have cardboard, I put layers of newspaper. The idea is to smother whatever is dormant under the mulch, if possible, for the first season. After that, there should be less sprouting through since the dormant seeds in the soil won't have had any sunlight to activate them. Grass will still creep in from the edges and try to grow over top of the mulch if you're not looking. For those of you who aren't adverse to chemicals, my best defense against grass (Bermuda and crabgrass) is a selective herbicide called Ornamec. It's labeled to be safe for over-the-top application in rose beds, and only kills grass. I have also been known to carefully use Round-up in beds in areas away from the roses. For broadleaf weeds around the roses themselves, I water thoroughly one day and pull the weeds the next day. Like catsrose said ... zen. BTW, I'm really glad your roses are doing so well. I was afraid the ones you bought here were the ones you mentioned in the thread about roses being mowed. Whew. Connie

Yes Cass I do realize that the weather is very different over there! Cold winters and more windy than here. And it is way more hot May-September than here (90F is a sweltering heatwave here and about as hot as it ever gets). I really need to choose hardy roses (No teas and chinas will survive those winters!!) And HTs will struggle, but are possible in sheltered areas and with winter protection. On the other hand there is so much more sunlight than here (latitude of Davenport, IA is the same as Rome or Cote D Azur in Southern Europe (only the winters are cold inland climate!). I have always wondered why roses get so much bigger in FX Chicago (I see 5-6 feet tall bushy HTs and Floribundas. (Temps are often 12F higher in urban areas, so zone 5 is not just zone 5) But it must be the higher amount of sunlight. If I look at a map and compare latitude to here We get the same amount of sunlight they get 750 miles north of Chicago. (In the Manitoba province of Canada). (We are however blessed with the mild climate because of the Gulfstream and the surrounding sea, but high pressure sends Russian extremely cold temps our way and the temps often drops below -15F. One thing I always take advantage of is the micro climate when choosing roses. Roses near house walls will suffer less frost damage than roses further away from the house. A patio like that on the picture makes it possible to grow roses that are hardy to zone higher than recommended, because of the heat reflection. So I know I have to choose roses for zone 4-5 (and 6 in protected sheltered areas. Devon, It sure would be nice to move to California. But real estate prices there are out of our league! I spotted a beautiful "Prairie Flower" "A Hawkeye Belle...in Iowa ... that is the attraction there.... No I did not "Create" the informal gardens in the pictures. They are just pictures of the style I like and I keep in my collection of gardens that inspire me and the clients I work for. The blue structure in the background of the first picture is a patio deck. It takes time for a garden to mature and most of the gardens I have done lately will take a few years before I will go take pictures of them, since it is important to have pictures of my work. I already have a lot of work maintaining some of the gardens I have done.

Shirely, you are welcome to come by sometime. Do you want me to email you my phone #? CMK, They are almost triple amaryllis and yes they are perennials here. The rose does smell good. It was one scraggly stem when I bought this house. Rita, Maeve is the "funnest" dog I have ever had. Hard to believe she is already 17 months old and full grown...all 6.5 lbs of her. She also climbs on a pot, thinking she can catch the squirrel that 1 ft. higher. You "gotta" get you one. LOL Kathy

I am curious to hear if anyone has wisdom here. I have had a terrible time with the squirrels here this year! Eating buds as well as blooming flowers.