Might you have any idea which roses you're growing in the desert? Perhaps they still have the metal tags identifying them? It's possible they are more miniature or smaller floribunda types and aren't ones which produce the larger flower types you might be expecting. Usually, the soil in that area is quite sandy. Are the roses mulched or simply planted in the sandy soil? Are they potted or in the ground? How close are they to a fence, wall, house wall, side walk, driveway? As you are well aware, there is tremendous heat reflection/radiation from masonary surfaces, particulalry in the low desert and that cooks the plants VERY efficiently. Anything which prevents them from maintaining a steady water supply or takes that supply away from them is going to stress the growth and ability to flower. Higher temperatures commonly reduce the flower size. Combine that with any increased heat from a wall or other concrete surface; reduced water retention due to sandy soil; wind; etc. and you may be lucky you have flowers at all. What you might consider trying is don't let them flower for a few months. You're approaching the hot weather there and flowering in that weather isn't great in the first place. Instead of cutting them, removing leaves, pinch off the flower buds as they develop, leaving every leaf on the plants. Force them to produce wood and leaves, saving that energy they are going to push into flowers to make the plants fuller, stronger and potentially more productive. That tremendous heat and intense sun require more shade protection. A huskier, fuller plant is going to naturally provide its wood more shade from increased foliage canopy. Cut back on the Miracle Gro, or any fertilizer and let the excess salts in the soil begin to flush out. It isn't a good idea to use any kind of fertilizer in extreme heat. Fertilizer is salt. Your soil and water are salty. Salt pulls water out of the plant and replaces it with salt. So, keep the leaves and wood, but pinch off the new flower buds to make the plants grow larger until fall (at least), then let them begin flowering in the cooler weather. Stop fertilizing them. Keep the water flowing, the plants growing, but stop the flowering and maintain them with the water to push growth and keep them feeding themselves. Only fertilize during the cooler months when your roses are flowering more normally and naturally. High heat stresses the plants tremendously and any native in your area which doesn't receive irrigation during the intense heat, shuts down, goes summer dormant. Your rose flowers are going to fry in a few hours anyway. Save the resources and don't let them waste them. Wash the salts through the soil and help the plants shed excess salt by keeping them watered as normal. When you prune, prune lightly. You want full, large plants where their leaves shade the wood. The denser foliage will also help to keep the plant cooler, better hydrated by their transipration of water (sweating). More leaves equals more food through photosynthesis. That should translate to larger flowers when heat is lower and they are more able to produce them. In florist research back in the eighties, one 'discovery' was that on average, it took 35 perfect leaves to make one perfect bloom. Contrast that with what you are trying to force your roses to do. They want to grow and are genetically programmed to flower (ovulate) in an effort to reproduce (set seed) to perpetuate the species. The extreme heat stresses the plants, inhibiting their ability to grow at all. The salts from the fertilizer stresses them further. Insufficient foliage cover permits the wood to overheat, inhibiting them from doing their "job" efficiently. Try what I've suggested and see if you don't start having the type of blooms you desire. Good luck! Kim

Aha - I looked around - and the list is long - and they all look the same - sunscald, drafty window, too cold, cold water used for watering, cold water drops on the leaves - and there is one I didn't hear before - zinc deficiency. Anyway - I have a plant - Santpaulia confusa - that grows like a moppy weed it is, blooms all the time - annd always develops yellow spots with yellow veins. What it wants - I do not know - and it doesn't pass this spotting t the neighbours. You have your plant for several months - and leaves live for a year - so if there were some unlucky curcumstances to damage the leaves - the plant will grow out of it. I.

Pool noodle cut into 1"-1.5" sections, punch a hole in the middle with a screwdriver, make a cut with sharp scissors from the outside edge to the hole so you can open the disk to get the plant stem in. The noodles here are around 67mm diameter, the holes in the system lid want to be 54mm so the noodle gets a good grip. Rain will dilute the res but i`d be more worried about the plants (and system) being blown away :) If you have any toms in soil you can take cuttings from you`ll save yourself a bit of time. The cuttings will root in around 4-5 days in a glass of water. This post was edited by hex2006 on Fri, Jul 18, 14 at 15:29

I think I may know what you are doing wrong. The lip of the cording is not made of the same material and is sewen on, and therefore both sides are not the same. If you look closely you will see the one side (sewn side) sits flat on the cord. When you sew it on, sew on the the other side and you have to kind of pull it to the left as you sew to get it as close as possible. I hope this makes sense. Bonnie