Since you are new to growing roses, and to gardening in general, I recommend you talk to a consulting rosarian in your area. There is really no substitute for in-person advice and experience from a local rose grower. There is never a charge for talking to a CR, and many of us make housecalls ... in fact, we love to meet and help new rose gardeners to try to keep them on the right track. The link to the CR directory for the Penn Jersey District is below. (A consulting rosarian is just a volunteer who has taken training and is sanctioned by the American Rose Society to offer advice on their behalf. We're out there to help ... that's why we became CRs in the first place.) As far as pruning, don't do it on these roses in the winter. Wait until March. Blooming forsythia is the usual cue that it's time to prune ... but pruning isn't always necessary. That's where the CR advice comes into play, again. A quick hands-on lesson, whether it's at your place or a rose society pruning workshop (most local rose societies do this in the spring) will get you off to a great start. Connie Here is a link that might be useful: Penn Jersey District Consulting Rosarians

I've been using my first and middle names for something like 14 years. I found it's easiest to just be me and helps people remember who I am better. Maybe I'm getting old but I have a hard time keeping the association between user name and real name straight. I do dog rescue and people need to be able to remember who I am. As for the comment about not hiding that is very true. They just did a study recently and found that if people felt they could hide behind a username they were more outspoken if not downright cruel than if they used their own name. It doesn't happen here, but I see it in far too many other forums. This forum is like a garden -- a safe haven where names show interests and loves and are not cloaks of anonymity. So many of you have pretty names its easy to see where your love lies. :) Peace, Jane and the Hole in the Wall Gang Here is a link that might be useful: Hole in the Wall Rescue Photos

Nvsravank if you are a newbie I would really suggest visiting the Rose Organics forum. But I really truly believe that MichaelG is like the total expert! when it comes to both organic and synthetic fungicides and insecticides. He has knowledge of both. Perhaps you can email him if you get stuck on specifics? Also the internet is a very powerful tool in terms of looking up toxicity reports. About organic fungicides (potassium bicarbonates), they are much! safer than synthetics in terms of application timing. You have to wear overalls gloves goggles and other protective gear when applying synthetic fungicides. Mancozeb is safe to bees, but you have to wear protective gear when applying. Bayer Rose and Ornamental Spray is toxic to bees upon application according to the instructions: Bayer fungicide and the bees The organic Neem oil does not! work as a fungicide. It is an insecticide. It will kill bees if you accidentally spray a bee. It is very! safe for humans but when the bee brings too much contaminated pollen to the hive, it can make them sluggish and very disoriented. This is not a good thing. If you decide to use Neem oil, I would urge you to only spray in the late evening when the sun has gone down; bees are very hard workers and will be there at crack of dawn. Neem oil requires a drying time of 4 hours to be "safe" for the bees. I think there are better alternatives to Neem but unlike most people, I am content to live with a bunch of holes in my rose leaves so long as I still get huge lovely blooms! I just let the spideys do all the hard work for me and spray my blooms with hot wax pepper spray to protect against thrips. Next year I'm going to use Milky Spore as a preventative against Japanese Beetles thanks to this forum's input. I don't have JBs yet, but I do know that JeffAurora in New Jersey has a battle with a few JBs. He has drop-dead GORGEOUS roses. This is JEFF'S Julia Child which you are choosing. The huge downer news is that organic fungicides can't battle BS in rainy climates and where you don't get as much sunlight. I hear that New Jersey is Blackspot territory. I use Greencure fungicide and spray like a maniac with the Greencure even before the first spring leaf unfolds, but Greencure can only keep the roses exposed to blazing sunlight clear from the blackspot. My shade-growing roses are a disaster zone. Blackspot loves! the shade. Be sure your roses get full open sunlight, it will make your battle against BS less maddening! Karl Bapst and Jim1961 also use sea tea as a foliage spray/ buffer against blackspot. Jim's roses have not gotten any yet, Lucky Jim, unlike his blackspot ridden neighbors! He uses DrammaticK. His roses get both East and West sun (full exposure) and the DrammaticK (which uses unprocessed pure fish oils) so I am thinking that those 2 factors are really helping him out. Besides the organics/fungicide consideration, there are a few things you will need to do-- a soil analysis on the content of your soil. Then you need to amend your soil with goodies like compost, nursery manure, etc. Healthy soil means healthy roses that can survive insect and fungus attacks. And as Karl, my likewise favorite expert, says-- hybrid teas are HEAVY FEEDERS!!!! Mvrasank, you will be very! happy with Double Delight and Fragrant Cloud in terms of hardiness, easy-to-care, and great fragrance. Plus they are prolific! bloomers. I have FC and love its health! You have made excellent choices for those 2. I love my Tiffany too. It is supposed to be "disease-resistant". So far it's living up to the "healthy" classification. I love her perfume but my favorite of all fragrances is Mr. Lincoln--in my opinion he beats all the Austins at my local nursery and all the hybrid teas I've smelled and the floribundas, but sadly, he gets a bum rap from tons of people here because he is too tall and lanky. Tall you can't control, but you can! have fat bushy Lincolns--I feed mine with Gardenville Sea Tea to make them fat!

I finally made it out to Cicconi's and it was only a half hour drive from my father's in Colts Neck. I spent 3 hours wandering greenhouses and kept forgetting where I'd left my cart. I had 3 things I needed from their availability list but ended up with more than 3 plants! In one of the back houses was where I found the Hakone Beni Kaze grass whose internet photo grabbed me but the mail order prices for a 3-5 inch pot didn't. It's still a visible plug inside the quart but I'm leaving it in the container sunk in the garden to grow on and baby for the next year. I'm hoping I have it good light condition to achieve the burgundy, red & pink coloration in Fall but with enough shade so it doesn't shrivel up. Cicconi's prices for gallon perennials were almost on par with some other places but they had a great selection and people were extremely patient and helpful. The prices for good size plants compared to mail order, tops-lopped-off little starters were great and you get to actually see a plant in its natural state when you buy and growing the first year. Got more Asclepias Incarnata (they were out of Tuberosa-the Monarchs will have to deal with it), NY Ironweed, Heuchera Amethyst Mist, Pink Jewel Fleabane (after I saw a Spring Azure testing the nectar right in front of me), a huge Sedum Vera Jameson (funky succulent, not like its photos but a facinating stunner) and some Sweet Basil since my little seedlings won't be "Pesto sufficient" for a LONG time. The 2 Lamium Purple Dragon I got from Gasko's are fading quickly without growth or flowers while another $3. Lamium 3 times their size I got at a roadside plant seller on northbound side of Rt. 35 (south of the light at Costco in Hazlet) is flourishing and blooming its head off. I always saw this roadside place too late in zipping traffic to stop in but was keeping an eye out for it last trip up that way to Lowe's & Dearborn. I also got a Eupatorium Rugosum Chocolate (terrific burgundy tinged foliage & can't wait for fall white blooms), Buddleia Red Knight (in huge shrub pot since nowhere really to put 5'x5' plant in full sun), Salvia May Night, unknown electric blue/purple Salvia, Curly Parsley for Swallowtails and a few six packs of annuals for mostly shaded garden. Total only $36. for all that and they're doing very well. I didn't have to make a stop at Dearborn for anything and they wouldn't have any plants I got at roadside plant seller anyway except for Salvia May Night most likely. Early Saturday morning before food shopping I stopped in at Colonial Nursery on West Front Street just east of Middletown-Lincroft Rd. in Middletown. I never knew they existed until finding them listed as retail vendor for some national supplier. They had 2 year old Dwarf Goatsbeard for $9.95 that was 3 times the size of mail order gallon I got last fall and more than a foot tall/wide Astilbe Fanal that was a nicer shade of burgundy/raspberry than I perceived from online photos. It's not a huge place buy neat and clean with a good selection of plants not everyone carries in such pristine shape. The Fanal looked washed out and rangy at Cicconi's and price was the same. Next year I'll have to make it out to Cicconi's earlier in the season to look around when things haven't gone through a withering heat wave. I probably don't "need" much more to fill in what I can at my father's but there's always a chance I'll see some perennial between now and next year for which I could find a place to plant. Used quite a few annuals to fill in where I was too confused or rushed to decide on perennials to fill out a few new beds. Particularly short on spring bloomers. Maybe next year after a full year in the ground I'll have more time to enjoy all these beauties when I don't have to baby them until they get established. I was never so happy to hear thunder and lightening as last night thinking "Yippee...I don't have to worry about watering at 5 AM" expecially before getting started on cooking/straightening house for Father's Day celebration. All in all, I've maxed out on plants for my first year's attempt at gardening. I dread having to transplant the last few containers of annual seedlings I started myself. What was I thinking listening to people who said "It's a snap!" compared to being stretched out on the ground trying to tease apart tiny roots and then getting them placed just right in ground soil...to say nothing of watering with droplets so they don't dissolve into the ground? What a riot but good learning experience. Boy, do I feel lucky to live in Jersey!