And in the weather we have had this doesn't surprise you at all, right?

I like to use a baking soda spray--1 tsp. baking soda to one quart of water, with just a tiny bit of dish soap added as a spreader-sticker.

If the baking soda spray doesn't do it, there is a fairly new biological called Serenade that is moderately effective on fungi. I found it at Wal-Mart last year and the year before.

Some people spray one week with a baking soda spray and the next week with a lime-sulfur spray (a commercial product). I don't usually do much for black spot.

For me, black spot will appear in early, cool, wet springs. It seems to run its course. The leaves drop off. New leaves come out and the black spot doesn't come back on the new foliage. It is almost like it is a seasonal thing we just have to outlast. I haven't seen any on my roses, yet, but then I haven't been looking for it either.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn. I just hate the thought of all my leaves dropping early in the season. And the frosts have damaged my blooms so badly on some of the lighter colored roses. Like my gorgeous Abraham Darby...sigh.
I love my Graham Thomas best of all and he is the one I first found black spot on. I have some spray I have used before...can't recall what it is. But thought some of you all might have some better ideas for what to use.
Does the baking soda get rid of the black spot or just keep it from spreading? I suppose there is no way to prevent the early leaf drop?
If not I will be sad all summer.

G.M.

G. M.,

Well, now that you have mentioned the name of a rose that I have, I have to drop everything and run outside to check on Graham. Hold on. I'll be right back.....running down the stairs...across the porch.....down the steps....around to the south side of the house....I'm there.

OK. I'm back. Abraham Darby has it the worst. Graham Thomas has a medium case. Gertrude Jekyll has the lightest case. On all three of mine it is just a few black spots. No yellowing yet. They are in bloom and are so gorgeous in spite of what the weather has thrown at them these last few days.

You don't have to be sad all summer. Won't yours bounce back like mine do after the first inital burst of blackspot? And if it is really, really distressing you, use a commercial fungicide labeled specifically for roses. I garden organically but will be the first to admit that organic fungicides are nowhere near as effective as chemical ones. I don't think the baking soda spray makes it go away. I just think it keeps it from spreading.

The way I understand it, the black leafspot fungus gets inside the leaf and infects it from the inside out. That is why it is so hard to get rid of it. It is also my understanding that the only way to potentially avoid blackspot is to begin spraying leaves with a fungicide as soon as the leaves emerge, and continue to spray them at 7-10 day intervals throughout the growing season.

I always have a little of it early in the season. It is much worse on some old climbing roses I have in my butterfly bed. I just ignore them as no one usually sees much of them but me, due to their location. The David Austin roses must have some resistance because it hasn't been a major problem with them. A minor one, yes, but they always appear to bounce back.

Dawn

As to bouncing back...I just don't know since I have never had black spot on these bushes at all. They have been totally disease free up to now. This is their 4th season.
My Graham Thomas seems to have it the worst of all. It is the biggest one.

I had black spot badly on William Shakespear last year and it lost all it's leaves and they never really came back all season. I thought the entire plant was going to die. I could not understand why it had and none of the other roses did. It probably gets the least amouont of sun exposure compared to the others ones so I just thought that was why. He seems fine this year....no black spot either on him...but now most of the others do.

I am so careful to never get the leaves wet myself or let DH get the sprinklers too close to them.

My Abraham Darby blooms look bad....I supposed it was the weather but i have other light colored roses and they look fine.
The blooms on Abraham Darby look brown on all the edges of the petals. Any ideas what that might be caused from or what it is? Is your blooms not looking like that at all?

I was just looking at Irish Hope, they start out yellowy cream and turn off white but they look good. Bonica is going to be a sight this spring as she is just LOADED with blooms.
Some bushes have more black spot than others.
I may just go ahead and spray with my Rose Pride...by Ortho....don't want to take chances. I love my old roses from Heirloom Roses. And I will never plant another hybrid tea rose.....nothing but trouble. I only have one and I don't know how much longer it will last in my yard...until it finds a new home more than likely...hahaha.

I have been out planting. got all the tomatoes and peppers back in the garden. Still have other planting to do later on or tomorrow but I am needed elsewhere this afternoon. sigh. And I was on a roll too...lol. Oh well.

Gotta run.
G.M.

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My Abraham Darby ALWAYS blooms first and the first few flowers always exhibit brown edges. I think it is caused by thrips. You know how I am....I just ignore it, and it goes away without me really doing anything. I am assuming some predator bug comes along and gets the thrips, but I don't know that for a fact.

I guess if the problem persisted for a while, I would get motivated to do something....but so far that hasn't happened.

It sounds like you have so many roses! I only have a few. I would like to have more, but the veggies suck up all my time and energy. :)

I'm glad you got your toms and peppers in the ground. Now, let's have some of that nice weather again.

I need to do a lot in the garden, but won't get to it until Tuesday. My 'to do' list for tomorrow is long, and does not include gardening.

Today I mowed the acreage where we grew winter rye grass. It was a lovely day for it and I needed to get it cut. It has been growing like crazy.

Talk to you later,
Dawn

Are you only doing organic methods? If you are interested in a chemical, there is a Bayer product called All In One that is a drench. I usually use it at the beginning of the season. It's supposed to be good for 6 weeks.

I don't use a lot of chemicals, so if I use them I like them to be targeted.

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Like you, I don't use a lot of chemicals, and I agree that a targeted approach has the least adverse affect on areas other than whatever you are targeting. When I do resort to a chemical, it is only as a last resort and I don't do it often. Maybe once every two or three years some 'unsolvable' problem will push me to use a chemical.

Thanks for the tip on All in One. I'll keep it filed away in my mind in case the rose problems don't respond to the organic approach.

Dawn

Lisa, Thank you for the tip on the Bayer All in One. I will have to check if I have any of that. I am pretty sure I do have the Rose Pride by Ortho for the roses.
I rarely use chemicals anymore. I used to use them all the time for everything. I am not sure my gardens or plants did any better when I used chemicals. Since i have learned how bad they are I don't use them much. but my roses are special...I may spray them and try to see if I can get rid of this black spot before it gets any worse.

G.M.

G.M.,

I meant to tell you that I read somewhere that the rose foliage has to stay wet seven consecutive hours or more for the fungus that causes blackspot to get going. So, all we have to do is run outside with paper towels and dry off all the foliage every few hours. (giggling)

OK, I guess that would not be possible here, especially this year with all the days of light drizzle we have had. I wonder how in the world people in the Pacific Northwest can grow roses at all with their almost-daily drizzle, rain, and fog.

Dawn

Dawn
As much as love my roses and don't want them to have disease if drying the foliage by hand were the only way to keep them healthy I am afraid they would be at high risk....lol lol.

As to how the roses do in Pacific NW I truly do not know. I wonder if the temperature has anything to do with the formation of black spot and rust or if it is mostly water related? It seems to rain a lot in some areas of the deep south and it is SO HUMID...but I can't remember anything in particular about the roses during the time I spent over there. Guess I was not so 'into' them back then. I got disgusted with roses and quit planting any until I found out about the old roses,antiques and the English ones. Finally decided to try again. So far I am happy with them. But like I said I think this will only be my fourth season of having them.

Still have not sprayed as I was gone most of the day yesterday so with today's wetness who knows? They will be okay I am sure. And we needed some more rain.

G.M.

G.M.,

After the drought we have experienced these last couple of years, and after all those horrible wildfires last year, I promised myself I would appreciate any rain that fell and would not whine and complain about it. So I won't. BUT, I would greatly appreciate and enjoy a sunny, bright day.

The first of my red poppies bloomed this morning, and there is a bloom on the white water lily that should open tomorrow.

Did you know that blackspot is most likely to infect your rose leaves when they are 'new' and still expanding in size in the springtime? And the ideal conditions are air temps around 75 degrees and high humidity? No wonder our roses have it right now--they have had almost ideal conditions for it to grow these last 3 or 4 weeks.

It's always something, isn't it?

Dawn

Hi, so far "knock on wood" only black spot I have found is on my mini roses and I think it is because they are not in full sun anymore due to growth of other plants. I will probably do a little transplanting again this week-end.

My Mr. Lincoln and Chicago Peace have huge buds on them and look like any minute I will have blossoms. I can not wait.

Someone told me the Bayer was good stuff and they used it last season and it did a really good job. I will hold off until I just absolutely have to use it. I am putting in a tree rose this weekend and I would like it to stay healthy as much as possible. So I will be babying it all the time.

Steffie

Steffie,

Glad the dreaded blackspot hasn't found the regular roses yet, and hope that moving the miniatures helps them!

I just love it when the roses start blooming. I love to cut some to fill a vase on the breakfast room table. Sometimes roses can be such a challenge, but the flowers are so lovely that I think they are worth it!

Dawn

I enjoy them and you do what I do, cut them and bring them in the house. Exception, my white climbing roses "New Dawn" which I love the draping on and over the fence with hundreds of white blossoms. They are so pretty where they are I can not bear to cut and bring in-----they just look to good. Late in the evening after a long day, love to sit in the back and just look at them. White flowers in the evening, one of my favs.

I think by Saturday I will have roses for the inside. They are almost ready! I hate black spot but I will fight it just to have the roses. Besides, my homegrown smell way better than florist roses. Oh yeah, florist roses have no odor : )

I will move the minis this Saturday, noticed rain all week next week. Okay, now I can worry about root rot in the lower level beds. Is this not one of the greatest challenges, gardening that is, you have ever had------maybe that is why we love it.

Chat more later. Steffie

Steffie,

I'm hoping for rain next week because we haven't had much this month and the trees need it. OF course, before that rain falls I have a lot of stuff to get into the ground, so I hope it doesn't get here too quickly!

I have been meaning to plant a New Dawn rose ever since we moved here, and think I have finally found the place I want to put one. Might have to go rose shopping soon! And, I agree, the fragrance from the florist's roses can't hold a candle to the fragrance from the roses in our gardens. I use scent as part of the criteria when selecting a rose. If it doesn't smell good, I don't want it!

It HAS been a depressing week, first with the Virginia Tech shootings, then the anniversary of the OKC bombing, and, of course, the anniversary also of the Waco/Branch Davidian tragedy and the anniversary today of Columbine. I think this is the hardest week of the year, because the news stories are always full of remembrance of these tragedies.

I have mostly left my TV turned off and retreated to my lawn and garden this week where it is generally peaceful and serene. My family says I am in "my own little world" when I am out in the garden. They are correct, and I love it there!

Dawn

Hi everyone. Looks like we could get a little rain today. I know we need it and I won't be mad if we do but my roses are so pretty right now I hate for them to get rained on.

Dawn...since I couldn't do anything yesterday I spent literally hours absorbing a catalog from Heirloom roses....haha. Did you know that a couple of years ago they created a New Dawn climbing rose? I just thought I would mention it since you said you wanted one. A lot of my roses are climbers and are sure needing to be trained. I can't believe how fast they have all grown.

I managed to hobble outside and pick a large bowl of roses. Took some from all the bushes so have a variety of colors...they are so pretty. The Abraham Darby roses do not hold together well however. I found a huge pile of petals beside the bowl this morning. It is amazing how many petals those roses have isn't it? Dawn did you say that you have Abraham Darby?

I certainly agree that our gardens are our refuge from this crazy world we live in. Yes I have tried my best to create my "own little world". I still wish for all sorts of things to make it better but I am happy with what I do have.

Everyone have a blessed Sunday, Okay?
G.M.

Hi G.M.,

Yes, I do have Abraham Darby. The petal count is amazing. Right now, Abraham Darby has the most flowers open in my rose bed, Gertrude Jekyll is slightly behind it. Graham Thomas just opened a couple of flowers yesterday but has dozens of blooms ready to open in 3 or 4 days. The other two rosebushes are not David Austin roses and are farther behind, with no blooms, but with some buds.

I would love to have a huge, long, raised bed of heirloom roses, but can't imagine having the time to build, plant or maintain one more thing beyond what I already have.

Hope you are feeling better today.

I try to avoid catalogs and retail websites because it makes me want one of everything they have. lol

Dawn