Hi Seaweed: Your Chicago Peace has amazing colors .. so much deeper than Cantigny park nearby. Chicago Peace rose was first discovered at Cantigny Park.

I love the color and form of your Austin Tess rose. Your Annie's bloom is so big !! I got this garden-scoop from Menards, it's great to scoop fertilizer, holds up to 1 1/2 cups. I use it to make a basin around roses, to collect water. Due to its large scoop, scooping up soil is fast. See picture below of my garden scoop (less than $5), from Menards, next to Mirandy rose ... very disease-resistant, zero BS after wet June and humid July.

Chicago peace does look very nice Seaweed!
Both Tess's look amazing too! Very nice roses you have in your garden!

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) is worth buying. I first learned about gypsum's role in promoting root growth from hydroponics YouTube experiments. There are plenty of studies to confirm calcium's role in root growth, see link below, "Gypsum Improves Subsoil Rooth Growth".

I forgot to put gypsum inside my 5 pots this year. BIG MISTAKE! They were wimpy, with thin leaves that were susceptible to diseases. I later put gritty lime (during month-long rain), then gypsum on top, but it's too late. I planted the rose from pot into the ground, the root-growth is 1/2 the size of previous years with gypsum added to the potting soil.

Gypsum pH is 6.8, with 21% calcium, and 17% sulfur ... best MIXED well in the planting hole to buffer the 17% sulfur. When I spread gypsum on top, it gunk up near the stem, and its fast release made a few roses wilted. Spreading gritty lime with 100% calcium on top is safer, the acidic rain broke that down.

Some roses that prefer acidic like Annie L. McDowell loves gypsum ... I put lots of that in the planting hole, and it was VERY vigorous as band-size, see below picture. Since it got too large for that spot, I removed that, and put in Comte de Chambord. Comte hates acidic, and breaks out in black spots. Yesterday I dug up that spot to make it more alkaline with my clay at pH 7.7.

Roses are DIFFERENT from each other, some has higher iron need (Double Delight and Oklahoma), some has higher copper need (Comte de Chambord), and some has higher need for sulfur & calcium ... best with gypsum in the planting hole. La Reine is another that likes gypsum .. it has lots of petals & deep cup that balled in the rain. I put gypsum in the planting hole, and that solved the problem.

Before is my 2nd Annie L. McDowell, very vigorous as band-size with gypsum in the planting hole:

Here is a link that might be useful: Gypsum improves subsoil rooth growth

Brought up this thread to check for Heirloom roses sale, this year 2015 probably will be much later. I hope to get a 2nd Sharifa Asma from Heirloom sale ... the best scent ever. One bloom of Sharifa makes my kitchen smells like heaven. I grabbed a $6.59 gallon of "Lavender rose" at Meijers last Sunday July 19. The root was huge, filled up the entire pot, grafted on Dr. Huey, but very healthy:

The bloom is bigger than my hand, at least 5" across:

I planted "Lavender Rose" 4" below ground level, to make sure that it survives my zone 5a winter. The soil is on a slope, so I can't pile up stuff to protect it during the winter. No choice but to plant deep:

** Nursery owner Frank Gatto in PNW recommends 1/2 cup of organic meal every 3 week. Here's a comparison between organic meals:

I'm testing Dr. Earth-Flower girl with NPK 4-10-7, sold for $11 per 4 lbs. at HomeDepot. It has Kelp, so the green-up is good. I aim for a higher ratio, and use less to save money. I also add blood meal NPK 12-0-0 since it's cheap, at $6 per big bag.

Last year I use Tomato Tone with NPK 3-4-6, rather than Rose Tone at NPK 4-3-2. Tomato Tone has 3 times the potassium (expensive green sand) than Rose Tone. Tomato Tone is sold on Amazon at $14.79 for 4 lbs.

A better bargain is Pennington Alaska Fish pellets with kelp, NPK 4-6-6, 3 lbs. for $7.97. I get deeper bloom-color with that stuff, thanks to the kelp. I always add blood meal NPK 12-0-0 to increase the nitrogen, depending on how much rain I get. For Gatto's recommendation of chemical fertilizer with NPK 15-15-15 every 3 weeks .... I skip that part for my heavy clay & will test Azomite & rock dust to see if that can save money on fertilizer plus less salt than chemicals.

Pennington fish & kelp NPK 4-6-6

It almost looks like my Neptune, Straw, could you take a picture of a long stem so I can see thorns and also leaf structure?

I like that Lavender Rose Straw! :-)

Here's close up of the thorns & leaf of Lavender rose which I got from Meijers for $6.59 per gallon. The thorns are very few, and tiny.

Per Jess' recommendation, hubby got me Just Joey today from Menards for $7, the stems are huge (grafted on Dr. Huey). Menards have such sale before Mother's Day, last year was even cheaper with blooming Francis Meilland for $7 in a pot, and Blue For You with lots of buds. This year roses in pots, with buds are sold for $10 at Menards, still a great bargain.

Local stores like Walmart, HomeDepot, and Lowe's usually have plants sale starting August. One summer in August, I saw Belinda's Dream (lots of blooms) and a Kordes beige rose for $5 each at HomeDepot. Sniffed Belinda's Dream and that Kordes rose .. not much scent, so I didn't buy. Then I went to Meijers, lots of roses in pots for $7 each like Kordes Zaire, and Perfume Delight.

Lowe's also have landscape roses for 1/2 off in September. Menards is my favorite place to shop for roses, tomato, and annuals. A pack of 6 tomato sell for $1.88 at Menards for Mother's Day, great bargain.

Brought this thread up for Jim, who asked about Carefree Celebration previously. It's on sale this past Memorial Day at Home Depot for $8.88. There are lots of them left still as of today, June 3. But the attractive bushes like a few Rugosas, Miracle on the Hudson, and Tequila Supreme were gone within a few days. They were all in big pots (at least 2-gallon), and lots of flowers .. great bargain for $8.88 at HomeDepot.

For Krikit: HomeDepot and Walmart both have bare-root Rugosa early spring (late March of early April, depending on your zone). But HomeDepot has Rugosas on sale (grafted on Dr. Huey) in huge pots with blooms for $8.88 a few days before Memorial Weekend. It's sold out by the time I came back on Memorial weekend.

The only time I saw roses that big with many buds were at Sam's Club on Mother's Day: big pots for less than $8, it's a fragrant collection of Double Delight, Angel Face, Oklahoma, Pristine, etc.

Roses Unlimited 1/2 sale is coming soon in a few days, usually 2nd, 3rd, or 4th week of June depending on the year. It's $10 per gallon, their own-roots are quite big .. I always plant theirs directly into heavy clay, no need to baby them in pots like tiny bands.

My favorite sale for Austin roses is Heirloom Roses. One year I got Sharifa Asma and Jude the Obscure for $17 each, free shipping. Their sale is end of July.

The only sale I missed NOT buying was Lowe's 1/2 sale in August/Sept, saw Kordes FlowerCarpet Amber (yellowish-orange) with glossy foliage, sold for less than $10. I should had grabbed that.

Burlington Nursery in CA sells own-root roses cheap all year round, but I have to place my order way in advance. The minimum wage increase in CA will UP her low prices (I used to get own-root from her for $11 per big rose, and $7.50 per mini-rose). Burling's shipping cost is cheap. This week I asked for a bunch of roses, she wrote back: "I can ship 6 roses in a med. flat box for 13.45 and 8 roses in a large flat rate box @ 18.75 (roses need to be trimmed to fit inside box)."

For those who are willing to baby tiny-own-roots in pots 1st, Burlington nursery has a vast collection over 600 varieties from thornless to very fragrant Old garden roses. You can see her plants for sale by googling "HMF and Burlington".

Thank you for sharing. I prefer own root as roses grafted on huey end up coming up huey after a few years for me! I just went down to Sam Kedems in Hastings to pick up Crown Princess-he thought he had own root. It was grafted but a nice big, healthy plant so I am hoping if I plant it deep enough, huey will die and it will develope it's own roots. See my creamy white Windermere with all the red buds? Dr. Huey trying to take over...

Kelly: your Windermere has very healthy leaves. Crown Princess Magareta roots herself easily in my garden .. I killed one of her babies (grew from a branch crawling on my clay).

Khalid in his warm zone 9a remarked that his own-roots bloomed earlier than grafted. Same with my cold zone 5a, own-roots bloomed a few weeks earlier than grafted ... Dr. Huey-rootstock is hardy to zone 6b, while some own-roots are hardy to zone 4.

Own-root is prettier as a bush: fuller & more blooms. I have both Pink Peace as own-root and Pink Peace as grafted ... can never take a good pic. of the grafted, despite its 100% healthy. Same with Comte de Chambord: I have 2 own-roots, and one-grafted on multiflora. The 2 own-roots are fuller & bushier & more blooms.

Some pics. of own-root roses got from Burlington or Roses Unlimited, also Chamblee nursery in Texas. All were taken last week, end of May:

Hi Nicole_GA: I just saw your post. Litchfield is so pretty and healthy .. will look that up in HMF. My Lady of Shalott is a tiny baby .. can't wait until she's big and blooming like yours.

One year I received gallon-size roses at $8 each from Roses Unlimited 1/2 sale, it was 1st week of July, and the temp. was over 90. There were a few yellowish leaves in the mail, but no problems .. all 3 of them are in my 5th year: healthy & many blooms.

Thank you strawchicago. :) I absolutely LOVE Roses Unlimited! I made the trek (around 1 1/2 hour drive one way) in late april and picked up some new babies that I can't wait to see how they do! It was a wonderful day trip to see all of her greenhouses overflowing with beautiful roses. I think you are right about the mail order thing: Roses Unlimited does pack with care and I would probably be fine. A few yellow leaves is no big deal! I have hit my rose budget for the year and I am trying to exercise restraint.... you know how that goes. So far the new roses for me this year include a few austins: Evelyn, Munstead Wood, Molineux, the new Olivia Rose that is grafted unfortunately (a sweet gift from my love) and many others that I observed in trial gardens locally that I liked that performed well in our climate like Bolero, some Kordes roses (lions fairy tale, savannah, dark desire, polar express, winter sun) and a repeat old reliable pink pet/caldwell pink for the inferno strip in the front yard next to the sidewalk. I love, love, love my austins but I am looking forward to seeing how these Kordes roses perform in my garden. Here is a pic of the new Olivia rose. These pics were a few weeks ago when those first blooms were opening. Now she is setting new buds for blooms in a few weeks.

Nicole_GA: Thank you for posting such gorgeous Olivia rose ... yours is the best pics. I had seen of that rose ... even better than Austin Catalog .. since you show the entire bush-shot, perfect growth and blooms.

I also enjoy hearing about the roses you acquired. Please update me on your Kordes. I have a few Kordes: FlowerCarpet with shiny leaves .. love my alkaline clay. Poisedon is vigorous with shiny leaves. Evelyn likes it alkaline, I actually have to lime it despite my soil pH near 8 ... we get tons of acidic rain. I also lime Bolero .. that likes alkaline.

My roses are own-roots, and they have their preference: the dark green & glossy foliage like Bolero and Evelyn require more lime (calcium), and the pale leaves like Austin Charles Darwin, Jude the Obscure, Eglantyne, and W.S. 2000 like it more acidic .. these do well with alfalfa tea (slightly acidic). Olivia is a great gift that you received !!

Hi Nicole,

I got a delivery from Heirloom about 2 weeks ago and it was in transit for 5 days. The new growth definitely took a hit, it was bleached almost to white. I'm sure that in the long run the roses will do well, but it did make me wonder if it would not be more prudent to wait until cooler temps to order any more roses.

As for another good deal in roses you might want to check out Rose Petals Nursery. They specialize in "own root" antique roses and at $15 for a gallon they are a bargain.

Hi Straw, I am interested in knowing about why you think that certain roses prefer alkaline soil, all the information that I have read says that roses need slightly acid soil so that the nutrients in the soil will be available to them.

Thank you strawchicago again for those compliments, however I have only had her since the end of march (the top picture is the beginning of April as the buds are opening and the last picture is a few weeks ago) and I don't feel I can take credit for her looking so great because I received her looking like this when my love gave her to me as a gift one afternoon when we were over there. I felt the pressure to keep her looking gorgeous and I have been extra diligent with her ever since.* The nursery is called Goodness Grows and their website is below:

http://goodnessgrows.com

My Marc knows how much I love roses, especially the David Austins, so he listened and took note when I showed him the cover of the new catalog with Olivia on the front. He asked Rick (the owner and quite a horticultural genius!) to take me to the roses and we rode on Rick's golf cart through the growing fields of the nursery and I picked her out of the group (all Austins, all grafted, all from David Austin Texas nursery) Rick was growing up for sale in his display.

Rick has been in business a very long time and uses his own potting soil he makes from pine bark fines, sand, lime, and he adds slow release fertilizer prills. He uses this on almost every single plant he sells from almost all of the perennials, shuts, trees, bulbs, etc. He also sells his soil to folks who come over to the nursery and I use it for my potted roses. Rick is a bit of a legend around here and nurseries, landscape designers, growers, etc. shop from him and resell his plants in their businesses. Most of my roses are in the ground but I am experimenting with some in containers this year. This rose will stay in a pot (I repotted her into a larger pot with Rick's soil) because she is grafted (I think she is too new to the market to be available as own root, I guess. Just my guess.)

As far as how she is cared for since she came to me: I fertilize once a week with Mills Easy Feed and I alternate with Natures Source occasionally. I follow the label instructions (1 TB per gallon) for both, but each rose in a pot gets probably a fourth of a gallon I guess? Once or twice I have used fish emulsion. I watered her daily in that pot until I repotted her last week- now every 3 days until she fills out the new container. In the pot in the photo she would droop if she didn't get watered daily! And that was after a very good watering. We have had some very warm weather here for a while. (Rick's potting soil is VERY well draining stuff and you really can't overwater plants but you can definitely Underwater if you aren't careful).

*Now, about a month ago my due diligence wasn't what is should have been because I didn't detect the sawflies that came and their larvae feasted on her leaves a little. Subsequently she had some swiss cheese leaves for a bit until I got it under control. I don't think this harmed her in the slightest, but some of those uppermost leaves were ridden with holes. She has outgrown that some and we have some new buds forming. I can't wait for the next flush although I don't think it will be as awesome as that first flush.

Yes, I will update as I know more about the Kordes. They are really something because from what I have seen at our local trial gardens they have really tolerated the black spot pressure and the heat and humidity like champs. I choose rose varieties based on their performance in our climate. Evelyn, Claire Austin, Sophys Rose, Crown Princess Margareta and Tess are some of best performing Austins I have seen in our area. Btw- I just remembered that I acquired own root Claire Austin and Teasing Georgia this year. LOL! too many roses on the brain!

Lastly, you mention pH quite a bit and I am impressed with your scientific approach. I have not paid enough attention to this in my yard- only testing the soil once and adjusting accordingly. My yard runs acidic where the roses are.

Val: I already wrote the answer to that question in the thread "Mildew on Munstead Wood", posted by a large rose-grower (130+ roses) in WA, zone 5a. You were in that thread, saw my answer, but kept harassing me with the same questions again, and again.

Val, why do you keep hassling me with questions which I already took a great deal of time to answer in detail? What's the motive behind it besides to control and to dominate with your nursery experience?

That's the reason why I quit Organic Rose, same with many others who had been posting here daily for 4 years. No one want to be controlled and to be fit into what another person believes or read about. All gardens are different from each other, and very different from a nursery in Florida.

Val, are you trying to fit my cold-zone garden into your nursery-box of thinking? I'm NOT here to debate, that's for control-freaks and ego-freaks in Rose forum. I'm here to honestly share about my garden, and post pictures of my garden like Nicole_GA.

It's sad that I feel harassed in my own thread. Val, some people mind when you promote your nursery, but I simply don't want any nit-picking questions to dominate and control? There's a difference between sharing one's garden, versus imposing one standard, and picking on what someone else shared. I'm here to share what works, and what doesn't work in MY OWN garden, rather than stupid debate on theories .. that's for Rose forum.

Hi Straw, I am sorry that you feel that when I ask questions in a polite way, you take it as harassment. I feel that purpose of the forums is for a free exchange of ideas and to offer advice to those who ask for it.

I do own a nursery but I have not ever promoted it on this forum. The roses that I grow in my nursery are either used in my landscape business or offered to a few select retail outlets, any roses that I have left, I donate to worthy causes. I absolutely do not sell retail.

I think that there are many ways of being successful in growing roses, and different methods may suit different individuals and all may have good results. I thought that the open discussion of ones experience was the purpose of an open forum .

I am truly interested in soil ph. It is not something that I have a lot of experience with. I am sorry that I did not understand your explanation the first time through. My background in chemistry is not extensive like yours.

Val: I'm glad you clear things up since I felt harrased to the max to the point of quitting the forum after 4 years of daily posting. Sometimes people with good intentions can be taken wrongly. and misunderstanding can occur with written words.

The difference in pH requirement? Take YOUNG own-roots in a nursery setting, watered with alkaline tap water (pH over 7.5). Young own-roots are wimpy, haven't secret acid yet, thus need an acidic medium like pine fines (pH 4) to make minerals soluble in water to feed their tiny roots.

Folks who grow roses in cold zone get tons of acidic rain plus snow, and need to lime roses per many inches of rain, if that rose is grafted on aggressive root-stock that secret acid. Dr. Huey-rootstock can go through rock-hard clay better than my shovel through its ability to secret acid.

The pH requirement of roses change .. when they are young own-roots are like alfalfa sprouts, they can't secret acid, thus need an acidic medium. But as they get older and roots become more solid and woody, such as 3rd year on, that solid wood secrets plenty of acid, just like solid trees' roots going through rock-hard clay.

I bought an organic, very acidic SOLUBLE fertilizer, got some on my skin and it burned. I used the dose as recommended, it has acidic soy bean, kelp, and sulfate of potash .. my galllon-size own root roses love it !! Leaves became dark-green, but that acidic solution fried the leaves of 4th-year own-root Sweet Promise (with shiny & glossy and dark-green foliage).

Roses grafted on multiflora rootstock, or have multiflora parentage dislike alkaline soil (become pale), thus these roses need an acidic soil to have darker leaves. In contrast, roses grafted on Dr. Huey, or have French Meilland or China parentage are healthier with higher pH.

Old Garden roses were bred in the Old days, without high-pH tap water, just acidic rain at pH 5.6, thus prefer acidic soil. Modern roses are bred with alkaline-tap-water, and the most vigorous and dark-green tend to prefer such medium that they were bred, with pH over 7.5 like alkaline tap water.

Intrigue hybrid tea is an example, 100% healthy in a pot, grafted on Dr. Huey, tons of buds, with alkaline tap-water pH near 9 (baking soda pH is 8.3). That was for $5 at Walmart. I didn't buy it, since I already saw Intrigue in spring time at the rose park with tons of acidic rain: it was a blackspot fest, and stingy too. But in hot & dry summer, Intrigue bloomed great with alkaline tap water at the rose park. Intrigue has dark-green leaves. Same with Perfume Delight, BS-fest with acidic rain, also dark-green leaves.

To have dark-green leaves, roots must secret enough acid to get iron and manganese for dark-color .. such dark-green leaves roses secret more acid to utilize the minerals to make their leaves deep green. As the pH drops, less calcium and potassium are available, thus leaves are more susceptible to fungal diseases unless alkaline minerals is given.

Glossy leaves are biggest water-hog ever, that would take another post to explain.

Valrose wrote:

"Hi Straw, I am interested in knowing about why you think that certain roses prefer alkaline soil, all the information that I have read says that roses need slightly acid soil so that the nutrients in the soil will be available to them."

Valrose: I also lived with the same impression for many years as most article on the web as well as books on the subject say the same. However, thanks to guidance by Straw who has the guts to challenge the age old beliefs on the basis of her practical experience and experiments.

It so happened that many of my roses, despite all care, were suffering from mildew this year. I had decided not to use any synthetic fungicides and commonly practiced organic methods weren't working well. My roses were suffering big time for sure, during this time.

I discussed the issue with Straw and she asked me to test the pH level which was found quite on the acidic side. She advised me to raise the pH level to neutral or slightly basic. I did that using wood ash and magnesium oxide. Within 7-10 days, all my affected roses were absolutely fine and there wasn't a hint of mildew. The roses included Chippendale, Paul Neyron, Augusta Luise, Winchester Cathedral, Gold Medal, French Lace, Burgundy Iceberg, Condesa de Sastago, Double Delight, Doris Tysterman, Just Joey and a few more that I don't recall at the moment. Till today, those roses are doing just fine in a pH that is in the range of neutral to slightly basic (like 7.75 the max).

Now, while I do not disagree generally with the statement that roses do well in acidic soil, based on my personal experience I am absolutely sure that there are roses that do better in neutral or slightly alkaline pH and if grown in acidic pH, their growth is retarded and they are vulnerable to diseases. Similarly, I have also seen that there are many roses that do well in a slightly acidic pH (6-6.5). So one can't give a blanket statement that all roses do well in acidic soil or all roses do well in basic soil. Perhaps it differs from cultivar to cultivar. I believe this very important information / knowledge must be shared on forums with honesty, sincerity and without any hidden motive and that is where people like Straw become so important as they posses knowledge based on personal experience / experimentation and are willing to share it without a hidden motive. At the end, it is up to us to take it or leave it.

best regards

Straw, thank you for your detailed answer. It gives me a lot to process. When it comes to soil chemistry, I have a lot to learn. I some times have a rose bush that refuses to "green up" no matter what put on it. As a last resort I use a slow release fertilizer and that almost always fixes the problem, but it doesn't answer the question of why the problem occurred in the first place.

Thank you, Khalid, for taking the time to write what works, and what doesn't work for your hot climate and roses grafted on Centifolia rootstock. Yes, I have one own-root Centifolia, very aggressive in secreting acid, and send suckers through my rock-hard clay.

Thank you, Nicole_GA, for what you write as best performer in Georgia: "Evelyn, Munstead Wood, Molineux, the new Olivia Rose that is grafted and many others that I observed in trial gardens locally that I liked that performed well in our climate like Bolero, some Kordes roses (lions fairy tale, savannah, dark desire, polar express, winter sun) and a repeat old reliable pink pet/caldwell pink for the inferno strip in the front yard next to the sidewalk. Evelyn, Claire Austin, Sophys Rose, Crown Princess Margareta and Tess are some of best performing Austins I have seen in our area."

Nicole: I wonder if GA has high rain fall, and besides being acidic, what type of soil do you have: rock-hard clay, soft clay, or loamy soil. Thank you. My soil is rock hard clay, pH near 8, with tap water near 9, and most year annual rainfall near 40".

I wish people would write about what type of soil they have (sandy, loamy, or clay), and pH-level (alkaline, neutral, or acidic) and annual rainfall in HMF, besides planting zone to help others choose right roses for their soil/climate. Dave and Deb Boyd do such HMF, and I followed their example for my garden profile in HMF.

For info. on what type of roses like sandy, vs. what type of roses like wet clay, see Khalid's zone 9b thread: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3943535/my-roses-in-burning-heat-zone-9b?n=19

Hi Khalid, Thank you for your answer. I appreciate both the information and the advice. I think based on the information given here, I will try adding some lime to my soil.

You are welcome Valrose. What I have learnt from you all knowledgeable people here and confirmed it through my personal experience as well is that no two rose cultivars behave exactly the same way if the soil (growing medium), climate and ingredients are changed. Every cultivar has its own peculiarities, likes and dislikes. How a cultivar may perform in my zone 9b climate may be absolutely different from what the same cultivar does in zone 5b, for example. It's a difficult thing to keep a track of the likes / dislikes of so many rose cultivars in varying soils, climates, however, the best way is to share our experiences sincerely and truthfully with other fellow members. You may like to see performance of my roses in hot summers when temps in Islamabad are ranging between 105 to 115*F in my thread " My Roses in Burning Heat - Zone 9b "

best regards

I believe this very important information / knowledge must be shared on forums with honesty, sincerity and without any hidden motive and that is where people like Straw become so important as they posses knowledge based on personal experience / experimentation and are willing to share it without a hidden motive. At the end, it is up to us to take it or leave it.

thanks Khalid yes I couldn't agree more. Roses are so much like us - each rose differs in her needs for nutrients, pH of soil, acidic versus alkaline soil, full sun versus part shade.

Without this knowledge we will be stuck to the old system of trying to control nature by force, using more and more poisons and chemicals.

Straw, how often should fresh alfalfa pellets be added during the growing season? (in a dry area with little or no rain)

Jess, I would make alfalfa tea instead of throwing pellets on top, see the link below:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3939379/timing-of-alfalfa-pellets?n=10

Also one time you suggested to put mint greens in a blender to make a "green shake" for plants. That's a fantastic idea. Green shake is fantastic as energy drink for breakfast, except it taste lousy !! So giving plants green shake will give them instant vitamins & magnesium & potassium. Same with alfalfa tea ... it's a green shake for roses.

Plants need vitamins just as much as humans. Some greens are high in vitamin C (essential for plant growth) ... that's why compost is much better than fertilizer. Compost has vitamins C, B-complex, iron, and many trace elements from plants.

That is such a wonderful idea thank you Straw...

:-)

Roses Unlimited sale started today Wed., June 8. 2016 .. only $10 per gallon own-root roses. This is the first time in 5 years that they have lots of Austin roses (hardy for my zone 5a) on sale, see link below which I list their roses on sale this year.

Best to e-mail them for what you want at RosesUnLMT@aol.com , their phone will be jammed. Last year I missed out on top choices, since I kept calling them (phone always busy). This year I e-mailed them, and got a reply within 5 min. to get my 10 roses.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3108859/get-ready-for-roses-unlimited-1-2-price-sale-in-june?n=66

Thanks Straw, I have been watching all day and finally gave up for today. I emailed them my wish list and am not sure if I should hope they have everything or hope they are out of some of them, lol. I did request your two recommendations...

Kelly: If you are still up until 10:30 pm tonight to look over Roses Unlimited 1/2 price sale, Wed. June 8, there are 2 hardy hybrid teas for our cold zone: Strike it Rich (hardy to zone 5b), and Neil Diamond (hardy to zone 4b). Lots of cold-zoners like them. I changed my order to sub for Bronze Star (died last winter) and Grand Dame (die in a zone 6b !!).

Kelly, you'll get Betty White and Stephen Big Purple, those are very vigorous, and Roses Unlimited has many of them. Betty White smells heaven, but don't give her too much potassium like I did, then the edges get brown, and the scent go away. UP the potassium will push phosphorus down, and phosphorus is essential for fragrance.

I did request Neil Diamond! Strike it Rich looks nice. Thanks for the info. I'm tempted to add Antique 89 as well. I have been looking at several varieties on helpmefind.

Antique 89 has really nice blooms. Laguna is a Kordes, disease-resistant climber worth buying for cold zone. Saw that at Meijers less than $10 .. there's more blooms than leaves, and wonderful spicy fragrance. Plus Laguna's leaves are 100% healthy & glossy, while hybrid teas nearby are blackspot fests. I didn't buy that since it's thorny and the blooms are not as perfect as Stephen Big Purple. Laguna's blooms are floppy and messy, can't be exhibition rose, but very impressive as landscape rose with tons of blooms.

I'm leaning toward climbers like Crown Princess Magareta .. gives me 10 times more blooms than small roses that die down to my ankle after a harsh winter.

I'm done with short roses for my cold zone 5a, it's either super tall hybrid tea & grandiflora or climber that's vigorous enough to shoot up despite winter-kill.

Well they had almost everything. even had Kordes Quick silver, even though it is not on sale...14 more roses to find places...

Kelly: I got 10 roses from them, exactly what I want early this Thursday morning & sent them a check. Did you get everything you want?

Darcey Bussell Pat Austin (have one in my garden already)

St. Cecilia William Morris Veteran's Honor

Dee-lish (have one in my garden already)

Louise Estes Bohemian Rhapsody

Strike It Rich Neil Diamond

I really wanted Star of the Nile, mystic beauty or souvenir de la malmaison and Souvenir du dr Jermain but they were out. However I did get fairytale Queen of Hearts which I tried to order in the spring but they were out at that point. Honeymoon and Quicksilver I got (not part of the sale), Neil Diamond, madam figaro, william morris, st. Cecilia, Pat austin, tamora, Harlekin, Rosarium uetersen, Betty white, Stephens big purple and francois rabelais.

Kelly, Star of the Nile is wimpy even for warm CA alkaline clay (died after a few years). Madam Figaro is really wimpy for cold zone (died over zone 5b winter).

Dames de Chenonceau is a far better choice and more hardy. No one make any comment in HMF regarding Madam Figaro, since it's not a robust rose. Lots of people put nice comments in for Dames de Chenonceau, including Pat (owner of RU) ... she recommended Dames in the past. Since Dames is robust, it will be available to switch with Madam Figaro.

Fracois Rabelais is a Meilland floribunda, which has a better chance of winter survival than hybrid tea. I was sloppy in my 1st list, choosing Bronze Star (died on my last winter), and Grand Dame (died in a zone 6b winter) .. and I e-mailed Pat the next day, asking for hardier roses: Strike it Rich and Neil Diamond.

Strike it Rich died in a Colorado Springs (zone 5a) winter, but my mother-in-law lives there, it's a very dry region. The orange and yellow roses require wetness, even in the winter. Strike it Rich did great for zone 4 person, with snow, plus wet straw as winter-protection.

Thanks Straw. I ordered two Dames de Chenonceau this spring and they are beautiful. I'll see if it's too late to switch. ..

Kelly: Pat informed me yesterday about Kordes Laguna Climber and Kordes Above All Climber still available. I saw Laguna in a pot at Meijers: more blooms than leaves, I could not even see the leaves, just an explosion of blooms, and smells fantastic !! I'm tempted to add that to my 10 roses to make it 11 roses. The climbers root easily, so Pat has many of them. Below pic. belongs to Chris2486.

chris2486

I keep seeing Laguna being grown without a trellis. It is a vigorous climber and I think you will be disappointed trying to grow it as a shrub. Below is an image of a plant which started as a band pot 3 years ago. We have had to start trimming it at the eave height so it will not over grow the situation.

I have been tempted to add that one too but read that the blooms are relatively small- around 2"

Thank God you pointed that to me .. I am so enthralled with its fragrance that I forgot its smaller blooms and quite thorny. This Roses Unlimited sale has the best collection in 5 years .. the last time Pat offered that many Austin roses & new releases for $10 per pot was in 2011. Her husband passed away last Oct.

That's a stunning climber Straw. Noted. If the fragrance is good I would love to have it but haven't seen it anywhere in Islamabad.

oh what a stunning rose climber I love that color and so healthy thanks for sharing that with us Straw..(and of course...not available here)...

I also love the way you trained the rose...and I'm taking mental notes :-)

also adore the Petunias...it really creates a beautiful color statement...

Swapped out Madame figaro for Pink Traviata....So many, it's hard to chose- Pat recommend th at one so we'll see!! Anyone else purchase roses that have to find places to put them?

Pink Traviata does fantastic at nearby rose park .. that one is a beast in alkaline clay, hardy for the past 10 years. I'm putting MULCH FILM (black plastic) to kill grass for a new garden next year, but it takes 6 months to completely kill the grass, to be ready for next spring. Our cold zone zaps roses so small, it's so easy to fit into the garden. My La Reine is 1 foot by 0.5 foot, lots of blooms. My Barcelona (very hardy) is even smaller, like a mini-rose.

The blooms of own-root are small too, but they get big after 4 years, if the soil is made loamy. When I first got William Shakespeare 2000, it was so small, and the bloom was 1 inch. !! Now in its 5th year, the bush is much bigger, and the bloom is at least 4 inch, I put tons of gypsum in its planting hole, which helps with zillion petals & also sulfate of potash for potassium.

Oh, good. I saw some places rate pink traviata hardy to zone 5 and others to zone 7. The blooms on my new bolero are only around one inch-good to know they will get bigger! !

Kelly, how has Quick Silver done for you?