Rules of thumb: Kill the grubs--by hand if there aren't too many. A handful of bonemeal is fine for a mini. Don't over-fertilize--a handful of organic fertilzer at planting time, another every few months until you get a feel for your soil. Don't plant invasive plants too close to the roses. Read the labels of all plants for size and sun/shade and believe them. Don't water rose leaves (unless you are hosing off aphids). Roses don't like to go to bed with their feet wet. Don't over water--no more than twice a week.

While it should be possible to bud to either of your choices, the Gloire des Rosomanes would likely be the better choice. I don't know if the Tea and Californica would be genetically compatible. There can arise an incompatibility issue where the buds simply won't knit because they are genetically unsuitable for each other. Judge Henry Fonda who operated a small nursery in his retirement in Mar Vista, CA, by Santa Monica, tried unsuccessfully for many years to use his huge Cl. Cecile Brunner for standard stocks. The thing refused every scion he tried on it. He was skilled at budding, but Cecile was more obstinate than he was skilled, leading him to theorize she was just genetically incompatible with anything slid under her skin. You don't have to have "young" stocks for budding. I have successfully budded to three year old stocks this summer. Ones I had intended to use for other ideas, but never got around to them, so they sat there, waiting for the need. As long as it's possible to easily slice into the bark to expose the cambium, it's possible to use. When they become so "barky" you can't easily work them, that might possibly be too old. Another reason you probably don't want to mess with the Californica is it suckers MADLY, all over. Rose producers in very cold climates tried Rugosa stocks for cold hardy standards decades ago. They worked, but they also colonized the gardens in which they were unleashed. Ragged Robin won't do that...or won't anywhere nearly as as badly. You'll want to de bud your Glorie des Rosomanes cuttings, all but the top one or two growth buds. You may leave the growth tip on them as one of the upper buds. You want the stock to continue pushing foliage on top to keep the sap flowing and feed the plant. After that, it's a simple matter of inserting the buds and tying them in. If you're using Parafilm, you may want to wrap it over the bud several times to keep it tightly in contact with the cambium of the stock. Sealing the bud in with the Parafilm also can help prevent it from drying out as quickly until it knits and begins absorbing sap from the stock. Parafilm will split as the bud swells, so you don't have to worry about it girdling the stock or strangling the bud. A couple of hints about bud selection...you can use almost any bud you wish, but selecting those closer to actually growing will often result in faster growth. This is probably the most elegant job of budding I have ever accomplished, but the danged bud is dormant and will probably take until next season to mature sufficiently to grow. Notice how flat it is against the shield (the portion of wood sliced from the bud stick or plant stem). It will work, but it isn't going to push any new growth this year. Selecting buds which are closer to growth, such as these, will result in much faster response after you cut the top of the stock off above the bud or buds. You can even use them about to this stage of development, but they are more likely to fail due to water stress because of the developing leaves. As long as the growth is still tightly contained within the bud, water stress isn't as easy to encounter. Once they start forming thin foliage tissue, they can dry out quite quickly as there is thinner tissue and greater surface area to transpire water from. It takes about three weeks for the buds to knit to the stocks. Keep them well watered all that time to keep forcing sap up the stocks to keep the buds irrigated and the growth pushing. From more swollen buds as I've shown above, you could easily see them begin to push out like this... as early as about the time you "head them back", cut off the top of the stock above the bud. This image is of a bud I inserted on July 1 and cut back a week or so ago. It was when I was posting about not being able to stop the stocks from 'bleeding'. This one wouldn't stop with the Elmer's Glue, so it is sealed with a cool melt candle dripped over the wound. Pruning sealer or grafting wax will probably work, too. From July 1 to August 13 is all it's taken from a bud stick to this amount of growth. Good luck and have a ball with them! Kim

Simone Witham, they won't necessarily start germinating in the fridge after 3 mos. They *can* but they don't necessarily... If they've been moist the whole time, and they aren't rotten, then you might sow them in Jiffy strips or small containers with seed starting mix and, in my experience, keep them moist at about room temperature (high 60s). They can also be left to germinate in the fridge. While I haven't done it in paper towels, I have gotten great germination in the fridge in seed starting mix by just waiting a while. It's never been a problem to wait too long either. They've been just fine even after they're an inch or two long.

I love species roses! I have numerous CA native species and have seen others elsewhere. R. gymnocarpa at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden near me I've never seen get over 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall. Short and bushy. Not a climbing habit. I didn't notice it suckering. I grow R. pinetorum 'Beatrice Howett' from RSABG. It is also a small rose. I haven't had it all that many years in my garden, but it hasn't suckered. However at RSABG it is well-established and suckering happily. It's more a lax grower there and doesn't look big enough to climb a fence unless it was a very short one. RSABG grows selections of R. californica from different parts of the state, and they do indeed have a variety of habits, from short and sparse to bushy to climbing, some even completely thornless. All of them I've seen sucker from moderately to A LOT. The one I grow that is capable of climbing (with support) is R. californica 'First Dawn'. Canes are long and pliable, it has only moderate thorns, and is in the moderately suckering category. It has the best rebloom of any R. californica I have yet seen. RSABG also has R. nutkana. It suckers pretty wildly, and the ones I've seen have gotten maybe 5 feet tall. Then there is R. minutifolia. At RSABG it has been growing for decades and it spreads rather than pops up in entirely new spots like the suckering champions do. I have numerous R. minutifolias in my yard. Two of which I am training to climb up Monterey Cypress 'Citriodora'. I decided to have fun and experiment since I like this rose so much, give it a challenge. It seems to be working with one of the plants already reaching around 6 feet up. Minutifolia tends to be an arching grower (but some plants are very shrubby), building big mounds that kind of spread like a fungus.;) R. minutifolia can become unhappy and die in areas with too much rainfall. RSABG also has R. spithamea. It is kind of short and bushy there (2 to 2 1/2 feet), but that plant hasn't been growing on the grounds very long so I don't know if it will end up getting much taller. I wonder though because they planted it right in front of a big educational sign and I would think they wouldn't if it was going to get huge. I haven't noticed it suckering, but it is probably too soon to say.