Thanks for adding to remove the overly soft, sappy material as it is sure to die off. I suggest stipping the LEAVES and cutting nothing other than that soft, sappy stuff off. If you're mounding or hilling the plant under damp soil or damp mulch, the only parts which might get sun burned are the few inches poking out of the soil. Personally, if your conditions are like what we're getting here around Los Angeles, (RELENTLESS, blazing sun, triple digits, enough humidity to make you wonder what the heck you're doing here), don't use anything sprayed on the plant except water. Cloud Cover, Wilt Pruf and other anti transpirants, have burned the foliage off roses here (yes, used strictly per label directions and no water stress involved) as easily and efficiently as Ultra Fine has. I don't know if the stuff works as suggested in higher humidity, air with more water/dust/whatever in it to filter it some so it isn't as laser beam or what. In this sun, even water can result in some burn, but it's a whole lot better than dried out plants. The anti transpirants work to seal the moisture in the plant so it doesn't "sweat" it out. Add this heat and sun intensity and you have pressure cooked or micro waved vegetables. Just keep the plant mounded in damp, cool, dark soil, appropriately watered with nothing but water until you see new growth emerging from the branch tips. At that time, you may begin gradually removing the soil cover, as you would with a new bare root, to harden it off to the more severe conditions out in the open. If you're lucky, but the time the plant revives, it will be raining for a while (HA!) when you can simply remove all the mound and let the rain harden it off for you. Good luck! Kim

Thanks, Lee. It's always nice to find out that someone finds value in the things we write. One would assume a nursery wouldn't over water their plants. In most cases, plants in nuresries WON'T be over-watered for a couple of reasons. One of those is that they are good at noticing signs that illustrate a group of plants need fopr water, or for just establishing an appropriate schedule on which to water. The second reason has to do with the fact that the plants often rest on the ground. When the pot is in direct contact with the ground, or if roots grow from the pot into the ground or through a ground cover cloth under the pots, the earth acts as a giant wick to pull excess water from the soil. If you use a soil that is capable of supporting 3-4" of perched water and you set it directly on dry ground, the perched water will disappear within minutes due to the wicking action of the earth. .... to clarify. Water when the skewer/dowel comes out free of dirt/dry looking? Yes, that's right. If you were checking daily or twice daily to get a 'feel' for how often to water, the ideal time to water would be the first time the tell comes out dry. IOW, you want to wait until just before the plant might experience drought stress before you water. With some species of ficus (like benjamina), you can clearly see or feel when the youngest leaves are just starting to lose turgidity. If you wait until then and pay attention to the interval since last watering, you can often establish an appropriate rhythm that should keep you out of trouble re over-watering. Do you have to use a new dowel every time? If you're actually using a dowel, you can cut a 4' piece in half & sharpen all 4 ends. If you're using a skewer, they're cheap, so why not use a fresh one after each moist pot you discover. Or, if you wipe the end off with a rag and wave it in the air between tests, it usually dries down enough that you can test a lot of plants with just the 4 ends from the single rod you cut in half. How much water do I flush it with? I usually suggest at least 10x the volume of the pot the plant is in; and if you err, it's better to err on the generous side and use more than 10x. How often do you do it? I use a soil that I can flush at will, and I DO flush every time I water. If you're limited to supplying small amounts of water to prevent soils from staying soggy for long periods, a thorough flush every 4-6 weeks is good. What do I use as the wick? Anything cotton? Cotton rots quickly. I prefer strands of rayon. You can buy a rayon mop head and pull it apart, or buy a man made rayon chamois and cut it in strips. Too, the nylon string ties used to tie onion or citrus bags closed very often work very well for drainage wicks (but not watering wicks). I have some of those that are 12-15 years old & still working great. Not all are created equal though, so discard those that don't work well. And do you tape it on the side of the planter out of the effluent. I meant to talk to you about the effluent. Your pot should be raised so it's above the effluent that collects in the saucer, or via other means, the effluent should have no pathway back into the soil. Reason: It doesn't make sense to flush salts from the soil only to leave a pathway right back to where they came from because the pot is sitting in the effluent. Here's how I do wicks: That covers how I do it before the planting is established. If the pot supports an established planting, I simply fold the wick over the end of a straight slot screwdriver and push it into the soil far enough that the short end is all the way into the soil. That holds it pretty securely initially and as roots grow around and into the wick, even more so. Is foliage pro 9-3-6 still your go to fertilizer? Yes. I might add a little extra K for some plants (tomato and hibiscus), but I basically use it for everything. I completely avoid any high-P fertilizers in containers. I consider a fertilizer to be high in P if the middle number (P) is equal to or larger than the first number (N). ..... it seems I will loose a bunch of leaves off the bottom. Is it ever possible to get that growth back? Yes. Once a leaf is shed, no new leaf will form in its place, but above the scar where a shed leaf was attached, there are dormant buds that can be stimulated to grow. The methods of activating these latent buds could easily fill a chapter in a book, so I won't elaborate. Back-budding will naturally occur if you can get the plant outdoors in full sun and plenty of air movement, fertilize it in what's called the luxury range, and make sure the root system is healthy and has plenty of room to run. You can artificially stimulate back-budding low on the trunk by notching or pruning the plant back hard. The hard pruning is especially effective when working with healthy plants at the peak of their food-making/photosynthesizing ability, which, where you live would be in June. Father's Day or the summer solstice are the easiest markers to remember. You mentioned the kids and learning. When I was a youngster, I went to a 1-room little red brick schoolhouse that had K-8 in the one room. Obviously, it was hard for the teacher to spend as much time with each student as they needed, so most of the time I read World Book Encyclopedia and anything I could get my hands on about animals or science. I only wish that the world of plant science would have got its hooks into me at a very young age. I hope your kids find something they love to do, no matter what it is, and have the opportunity to follow that calling. Al

Colby, is the one cane black? It kind of looks that way to me.... if it is black then you will want to cut it down to where it is green. You won't need to cut the other one. I would also take off all of the dead foliage off the green cane. I would also take all of the dead foliage that is dropped in the pot. Is there a way you could take a picture of the dying foliage that is still on the plant? Can you look at it very very closely and see if you have teeny tiny bugs on it..... Instead of sunburn, I thought it might me spider mites... they will normally be on the underside of the leaves.... if you have spider mites you will need to get something to spray them with to get rid of them..... I use Avid.... though you can use neem oil.... there are other things that you can use too.... if you spray make sure you follow the directions on the label of the spray that you use...... this time of year, make sure you spray VERY VERY early.... so that the spray has a chance to dry.... and I would also move the rose into the shade after you spray it for a day. Next, make sure that your rose isn't sitting in wet soil. You want it moist, but NOT overly wet. The roots will rot if they sit in water... Instead of planting it right away if it has a dead cane on it that needs to be cut off, I would NOT plant it right away. Because if you cut a cane it will spend time pushing new growth instead of developing roots..... but if the cane is dead it needs to come off. Have you fertilizer it lately? If not, I would get two things to use while it is in the pot. I would get Superthrive and I would also get a fish fertilizer. Superthirve is really good for stressed out plants. So I would follow the directions and give it some IF THE SOIL isn't soggy. Then I would wait a week and give it the fish fertilizer. Instead of following the directions you want to see how much is recommended for a potted plant your size, but I would give it only a half strength because of the plant being stressed.... keep checking the soil DAILY to make sure the rose doesn't need water.... if it dose give it some so long as it doesn't get soggy (you should see a theme of NOT over watering), When the week is up, give it another half dose of fish fertilizer.... You will want to fertilize weakly WEEKLY as long as you keep it in the pot. The rose should put out some new green growth.... after you have quite a bit of good top growth, then I would plant it in the ground where you would like it..... normally where it will get morning sun.... has good drainage.... and space to grow..... Once you plant it in the ground give it another dose of Superthrive following directions. Also look up the thread on this rose forum that talks about alfalfa tea. One week after transplanting I would give a WEAK solution of the alfalfa tea.... the next week I would give it the weak solution of the fish fertilizer. I also recommend spraying your roses for blackspot... you probably want to rotate the fungicide..... http://rosemania.com/Rosemania%20Recomm%20Spray%20program%202012_Press.pdf If you have only the one rose bush you may want to try Bondie Fungal Disease Control, Mancozeb Flowagle with Zinc Fungicide or Bayer..... I would follow the directions to prevent black spot disease..... then once your rose has bloomed take some good pictures and post them on the forum and maybe some can help identify the rose for you to determine if you need to keep spraying for BS..... you might have something that is resistant.... but if you don't know what it is, spraying for BS should not hurt it..... Good luck on growing your roses By the way I like your name. My father's name was Colby.... you don't see many people with that name..... I wish I could get the rose called Colby School, but it dose not seem to be grown in the US Sharon

Peonies require at least 5 hours of sun in well drained soil. To me you plant looks like it’s receiving too much sun. It also looks very young. Generally peonies are purchased at 3 years or more. My first one, was a three year old plant. I waited 4 years before it bloomed. Now it blooms prolifically. When I purchased the plant, I was told that it was an easy care plant, takes care of itself, not to worry too much about water, once established of course. Yours looks young and burned out. Pesticide use would only make the situation worse. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 👍🏽