I'm with you. SVB has been my biggest problem and I am looking for an organic way to handle them. I have put hoops over the squash bed with summer weight row covers over it. When the plants begin to blossom, I am going to go to the trouble to hand pollinate and keep the plants covered. This is feasible since I only have two hills of squash. In a huge bed, maybe not so much. FYI, the borers will also lay eggs in the soil, which can overwinter and have babies waiting for next year's crop. Be sure to rotate your squash bed! Also, there are varieties of squash that are immune to these borers: moschata being one. The trouble is, the squash we like best are also the moth's favorites. This is the method I have chosen for this year, based on what I have read on the internet and, most importantly, in this forum. I will post to let you know how it works.

Thank you, Ingrid. It really is an adorable little rose, so often overlooked by people going on about their lives. Around here it is considered something of a 'weed' because it grows in fields and along roadsides and most people never even notice it. The blooms are petite but very frilly and charming. I also love the buds with their elongated sepals. I agree with belmont....in the garden it isn't invasive. It does sucker, but it is very 'polite' about it and doesn't overtake the garden. There is a small thicket of it down the road from here along the roadside that gets mowed down each summer but keeps bouncing back. The road salt that gets thrown down all winter long doesn't faze it either. Here's another photo to illustrate the lovely little buds.... Celeste

Rose stem borer damage occurs primarily on Rugosas. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/6594-07.html Rose stem borer damage occurred primarily on Hybrid Rugosa cultivars and R. rugosa species. The occurrence of the rose stem borer was, however, more widespread than this evaluation shows. Because the borer was not diagnosed until late in the study, early observations of borer symptoms were pooled with other unexplained symptoms. Although the occurrence of the rose stem borer was highest among Hybrid Rugosa cultivars, they were also found on cultivars in other rose classes. They have been observed on ÂLillian GibsonÂ, ÂPrairie DawnÂ, and ÂAlba semi-plena since the end of the evaluation.

Max - They attempted to grow R. laevigata at the National Arboretum in DC in the 80's and I made some cuttings at the time. I think I saw it bloom once down there before they stopped trying. It never bloomed for me out here in 6b. It was almost always killed to the ground in both there and here. We did have more severe winters then and it may get through the winter now. Like the teas, it also may have been a function of proper preparation for winter and plant age. I did admire the Arboretum's R. bracteata and R. fortuniana, both of which grew an bloomed well there. R.fortuniana grows and blooms modestly here in a protected location, but I did not have success with R. bracteata which is a beautiful, repeat, single white with intriguing boxwoodlike foliage- again possibly because of plant age and lack of proper winterization. My sense is that borderline hardy roses may in fact survive reasonably well in locations where they perish as young plants. For those situations, I guessing that adequate protection in the first couple of years may yield a plant more adaptable to the border zone situation. After thinking through this, I may try R. bracteata again! Best, Nick