I use 'Sluggo' which contains as an active ingredient:iron. For snails and slugs I water the garden heavily, or wait until a heavy rain, and c. 2-3 hours later go through the garden and pick up the snails and slugs that have hidden during the rain and now come out to feed. Then I go snail and slug hunting. I keep a half-gallon paper milk carton by my front porch filled with a saline solution so I always have a quick-kill method and means nearby. I put a plastic bag in it, that I have cut several small holes in the bottom of the bag, this serves as a snail sieve. then I push the bag so it covers the inside of the carton, and tape the handles to the outside of the carton. This way I just pull the bag out and it drains and leaves the dead snails and slugs within for easy disposal. I fill the carton a little less than 3/4ths full with warm water -and add 1 cup of salt. each carton kills c. 30-40 snails and slugs depending on their size. I toss the snails and slugs in it and stir with a stick, hoping they have a quick death. When the carton is full of dead snails and slugs, I pull the bag out and let it drain over the weeds that come up through cracks in my sidewalk and parking lot. salted earth will stop any thing from growing. The ancient Romans salted the fields at Carthage, which inspired me to use this method, instead of Round-up. I only pour the salted water where I want nothing to grow, ever. I keep a carton handy all the time so I never pass by a snail and think "I'll get to you later", because snails breed rapidly and prolifically where I live. They also can move faster than I would think possible, I've set aside four snails, and I went to get the carton and when I came back they had already scampered to the border for asylum, or somewhere. Good luck getting rid of the rose slugs. I killed nearly 500 snails and slugs in March, after they ate my entire Romano bean seedling crop. c. 300 snails and slugs in April, and in May fewer than 200, when I finally dared to plant Romano bean seeds again. I'm gaining on them. Luxrosa

Welcome, and congratulations! Listen, not EVERY rose requires dis budding to mature. Some are perfectly vigorous enough to flower and still grow. However, some definitely are NOT. Many own root Teas, Climbing Teas and particularly yellow Tea-Noisettes and some Chinas can take forever to develop and mature into the plants you expect them to be. Permitting them to flower only slows their development. Weak, stingy growers such as Austin's Dove; many of the earlier gray, brown and green roses; many of the Tea-like earlier HTs can also drag their feet, producing begrudging inches of growth. Permitting them to flower will slow them down greatly, too. Then, you have some more modern climbers, such as Kordes' Rosarium Uetersen, Renae and my Annie Laurie McDowell which will sit and flower like a blooming weed while refusing to climb. If you want to push these to climb, you pinch off the buds, forcing that energy into pushing elongated canes from the plants in their efforts to bloom again. Budding these particular types will speed up their development quite a bit, but they still benefit from dis budding to push growth. Own root versions of them are significantly slower to develop. It's with these that dis budding provides the greatest benefit. It is quite possible your roses won't require dis budding to develop into the plants you desire, in the time frame you have in mind. Whether they will or not, they very likely will mature into what you hope for faster if you don't let them flower. Whether you permit flowering as they desire; permit only some of the flowers to mature and open or simply continue dis budding them until they are the size you want them to be is up to you. Enjoy whatever flowers you want to, but keep in mind that if they are taking longer than you hoped to develop into the plants you expected or desired, removing the flowers to force growth should help you get what you want, closer to when you want it. Kim

Hi Sophia, I can give little input on repetition. I don't pay attention to that here in non-winter land. Poor Abraham Darby got suckers from his Dr. Huey root stock after 4 yrs. and I thought they were the octopus canes I'd read about. By the time I figured it out they had taken over. I battle them every year (difficult access). Poor Abe is now only 3 feet high but in my climate grows easily to 6 feet +. Dr Huey is stealing nutrients and water. Large petal packed wafting uber fragrant blooms. Some blackspot in a non-spray garden. Evelyn is in the path of the wind. She has a lovely spring flush (no winds) and sporadic bloom thereafter (regular winds). No blackspot this year on either as yet. Disease wise I'd say they're equal here (very little). Evelyn's blooms are probably the same diameter as Abe's but not as deep. I keep her under 5 feet with pruning. A 7 ft. arching cane appeared after 6 or 8 years. Colors - Abe is usually a pink fully infused with peach-yellow-mango. Full bodied oomphy color. Lasts no more than 3 days in a bouquet. In Sept. mine changes to a warm medium pink, not as peachy as spring but never bluey-pink. A boring everyday color. In Nov. it is back to a prettier peachy pink. Evelyn, ah Evelyn. The pink dawn touched by sunlight? Not pink, not peach, but a sophisticated blend on gossamer satin petals. I think it is the delicate iridescence that captivates. If I could only have one rose bloom a year it would be her. So you see I am terribly prejudiced and pay little attention to the bush.

@seasiderooftop Thanks! I think they complement each other well, too. Sometimes the original rose puts out pale pink flowers, so I think they’ll look nice as they grow together. @Kristine LeGault 8a pnw I have’t named it; i just think of it as the ”baby”. How neat to have two new roses from Soul Sister! Do they look like her?