I'd love to try one of their roses, though I'm a little ways (ha) from SoFL--though I think it's hotter here than there right now (breaking 100 today probably--yech). So, I guess it's a little too hot for bare roots. Do they ever ship roses? Diane

I'm headed to Apopka/Orlando this weekend to visit Nelson's Roses. I need to leave room in my budget to visit the Cool Roses during the hot summer. Is their sale going on at the nursery?

Yes at their home/nursery. Maybe I'll see you there :)

Have you been to Hardin's Nursery in Tampa? They have a great selection as well, all on Fortuniana. Might be worth a stop if you're in the area.

Is the sale just at the nursery or online too?

Its just at the nursery I think. :(

SoFL: We'll have to synchronize our visit, lol. I've never heard of Hardin's. I'll have to check them out.

SoFL: I just looked up Hardin's Nursery. It appears that all of their roses come from Nelson's Roses. Do you remember what you paid for roses when you bought from them?

They were not cheap. $25 each i think

Hmm...I'll have to call them after I'm done with Nelson's Roses to see if they have any of the stripes I'm looking for. Thanks for the heads up!

I went to this event. The owners were so very very nice. The only problem I had was my eyes were bigger than my checkbook. But I ended up with several plants. I am so very excited.... Thanks for posting about Cool Roses. I did not even know the existed. Thank you.

Hi Sharon. I believe we met briefly today. I wish we could have chatted a bit more. I too had to restrain myself. Lol

I had a set budget and stuck to it pretty well considering the temptation. Geoff and Debbie are great and rose growing is somewhat of a dying art so it's important to keep it going. Glad you were able to enjoy the sale! :)

Denise, it was great being able to put a name to the online name and a face to the name, lol. I had a great time chatting with you, Debbie, and Geoff. Every time I visit Cool Roses I always get the best advice (sometimes, unmentionable advice, lol).

You picked out a great group of roses. Elina will impress you with her classic hybrid tea form and crazy growth. Fragrant Cloud is one of the smelliest roses I've ever owned. One bloom is enough to give you a headache if you put a flower at your desk.

I had to restrain myself too! I knew what my budget was and I spent it to the penny. Now I'm looking forward to growing these little darlings into monster bushes. I spent the afternoon bumping all the one gallon roses into three gallon pots.

Here's what I got:

- Crescendo

- Anna's Promise

- Sedona

- Bewitched

- Honor

- Pearly Gates

- Moonstone

- Gary Grant

- Veteran's Honor

- Stainless Steel

- Francis Meilland

- Grand Dame

- Happy Go Lucky (Took a chance on this one since I know nothing about it)

- Mardi Gras

- Pumpkin Patch

- Neil Diamond X2

- Rio Samba

- Maverick

That's the last of my 2015 purchases. Now time to get them to grow.

BTW - Debbie and Geoff offered to help when we start to explore starting a rose society for Broward County.

Wow, what a great bunch of roses you guys got!

Wow you got so many great roses! I can't believe you found crescendo. I was just thinking this morning how I would have loved to find it on fortuniana, but I didn't see it.

I have veterans honor (got it from them last year) and it's amazing. It's my favorite red rose. It's only fault is week necks. But it has the most perfect form. And it lasts forever in the vase. Like no other rose I grow. You're going to enjoy it.

I ended up leaving Sedona because it was so small and there were so many good choices. But maybe next year I'll get it. Let me know how it does for you. It looked like such a great rose. I've heard great things about maverick too. It's supposed to be a great performer for SoFL. Moonstone is the best. I wouldn't be without her. And I just heard good things about pearly gates. Man! I wish I had more room. I want more roses!!! I keep wracking my head to try and figure out how to make more room. Lol I think I'm going to have to cut down some trees or something. Heehee

I really want to start the rose society down here. I'll do some research and let's get it going! I bet city hall here in Pembroke Pines could provide a place for us to meet.

Great roses. I was lucky to get two from Cool Roses and the DSD meeting in January. Tradescant is on Fortuniana (replacing the one I had that died) and Mrs BR Cant, own root, which is doing great. I also have 3 other roses on fort I bought from K&M at the same event, Magnificent, Randy Scott and a mini. So far the fort roses are doing great, even in this horrible heatwave. I also had my first fortuniana sucker! It was a lot more easy to recognize than a Dr. Huey sucker.

Yes the fortuniana suckers are very easy to identify with its characteristic pointed leaves so that's a great advantage. I find it funny that people consider fortuniana to be less likely to throw out suckers because mine do like to do that. But, I've yet to ever see a doc sucker in my garden. It must. E. Excuse of the weather here. Doc doesn't do that well here so it doesn't try to take over I guess.

I guess I'm lucky because all root stock does very well here. I have Dr. Huey, Fortuniana and Multiflora. The Dr does sucker here, but I've found that if bury the graft completely, it's less likely too sucker.

Yes SoFL I think we met briefly. I wish we had a chance to speak.... but somehow I guess we were both busy picking out our roses. I was a little overwhelmed. I had gone to Cool Rose website before I went and kind of picked out what I wanted, but they were out of some. Unfortunately for me I did not know they carried roses that was not on their online catalog. Since, I am kind of new I was trying to go from memory of other roses I would be interested in. I too got Outta the Blue mixed up with Wild Blue Yonder, but I think will really like my selection from what I see on helpme find.

Also, it seemed to me that a lot of people knew each other ate the sale. I would like to have met you guys... All of my neighbors think I'm crazy. They are into bouganvillea (sp) - its pretty but doesn't smell.

Hi Sharon! Well I'm glad we met even if we didn't get the chance to talk much. I know EXACTLY what you mean about being overwhelmed. I go to this sale every year and once I get there I don't know what to do with myself. The selection is just so HUGE and its hard to decide what you want. Especially since some varieties may not be actively blooming. Then you don't even remember that you want it, because you didn't see it. LOL

I think Kublan faired the best. He seemed to know exactly what he wanted, and although i know he picked up a few that were not on his list, he got some really good ones that I would have chosen had I had the patience to sit there and look at all the tags of the roses that were not in bloom.

I am however in his debt because he recommended that I get fragrant cloud and so far, I am absolutely in LOVE with it. I think its my new favorite rose and I don't think I would have gotten it had it not been at his suggestion.

I really wish they would do the open house more often than once a year, but if you call them ahead of time they usually have days (when they are preparing for a sale at a rose show for example) where they allow you to come by and shop.

Its probably a good thing that they are not open all the time or I'd be there every weekend. LOL

I know what you mean about your neighbors thinking you are crazy. Its uncanny how many people believe that you "can't grow roses in florida". My rose garden begs to differ. Its true we face some challenges because of our never ending growing season, and we simply HAVE to have them on Fortuniana (if they are going to be in the ground). But as you saw planted in Geoff and Debbie's yard are a variety of roses that have been there for a very long time and they are huge and blooming away.

I was reading this article from the rose society the other day, and I think it explains it very well. It basically explains that until pretty recently you really could not grow roses in Florida, until people started to grow them on Fortuniana. And although grafted roses on Fort had been around since the 1900's or so, it wasn't until the University of Florida started to study it that it became apparent that they would thrive here on (and only on) Fortuniana. Its a good read:

http://www.rose.org/rose-care-articles/rootstock-for-florida-roses/

So that really lifted my spirits because essentially it explains why people always though you couldn't grow roses here. Because until somewhat recently, you couldn't. But now we can. And we will!!!

Let us know what roses you picked up at the sale. I'd love to know.

PS it also states here the roses on Dr. Huey have a lifespan of about 2 years, which is exactly what I've found. Mine always die at about 2.5 years (on Dr. Huey) so I grow them as "annuals" and still enjoy them even if its only for a few years. Geoff Coolidge says that if you prune them very hard in Jan or Feb, it significantly expands their lifespan. I had luck doing this just once with a Kordes Perfecta that I cut down to about 3inches and now seems to be rejuvenated as if it were a new bush. But not all of my doc Huey roses reacted the same way and some still died (Chicago Peace, Wildeve) I'll keep trying this method only because roses on Dr. Huey are so much easier to come by. But for my garden bed they must all be grafted. (And some varieties still do better than others)

I am glad to know that I am not the only person who has had to treat roses as annuals. I was in the 'closet' and probably would have not told anybody except you said you did this. I had seen a rose at home depot that was on Fortuniana and it was $50.00. So naively I thought most of the fortuniana root roses would be this amount. Someone else on this board told me differently and I started searching for places to purchase. I never came across Cool Roses. Which now I will be going to.... but instead I decided to try own root roses. Thinking it would be better then Dr. Huey. and also thinking if I treated it as an annual, I would at least have a lovely rose until it died. I have been keeping most of them in little black containers, but I know they will have to go in the ground - and of course they probably won't make it once I do this..... but at least when I start to replace them I now know where to go :)
Fragrant Cloud is my husband's favorite rose. I got him at Sam's club two years ago and he will probably expire soon. I think he has crown gall. I will replace him with a Fortuniana version when he goes. I never have the heart to take one out of the ground and kill it... especially when I kill them without trying.

also do you use a fungicide here in the summer. Can you recommend one that I can use in the "heat". I was at Ace the other day... I bought one that is copper based and one that is sulpher (sp) based. But I am afraid to use them - not getting it on me- but killing the roses.
Thanks for any info.

PS

One of my new favorite roses is Francis Dubreuil which I picked up at Cool Roses. Not only is his color and form great, I actually smelled him a table away. I kept going up and down the roses trying to find which one I was smelling. I thought red roses didn't have that much smell, but again I was wrong. It's nice to learn new things.

Oh YOU were the one that grabbed Francis D? I saw it separated in a pile that I knew belonged to someone and I fell in love with it. But I couldn't find another and I had too many already so I had to go without it. But I'm so glad you got it. I think I may have to get one next year. Debbie recommended it and said it was great. I hope it does well for you.

Some red roses have amazing scent. But scent for some reason comes in roses of every color and sometimes not at all. Everyone says Veteran's Honor has an nice scent, but I don't smell it at all. Mr. Lincoln and Oklahoma are two red and very fragrant roses. Oklahoma has such a strong heady scent its unsurpassed by any other rose in my garden. Even more so than Fragrant Cloud, but it turns almost black in the sun so I'm not a huge fan.

In terms of fungicide, I use two different ones (its good to alternate so that the fungus does not become resistant to the fungicide. I use Bayer disease control for roses and flowering shrubs. This is sold at Home Depot/Lowes. Its a liquid that you mix into a sprayer. I actually got a hose end sprayer because the pump ones were always clogging and I got tired of lugging around the heavy tank. It doesn't spray a fine mist which is preferable, but its much easier and you don't have to pre mix it (allowing for less contact with the undiluted spray which is more harmful than the spray once its diluted). Just pour it in the bottle and set the dialer to the correct dilution rate. There is also the added benefit that it disperses larger droplets that are less likely to be inhaled or drift too much in the wind. And it covers your rose bushs extremely quickly making it much faster chore.

The other one I use is Banner Maxx. This is probably the number one fungicide used by rosarians. Its expensive (i think i paid $55 for a small bottle) but it lats a very long time as its like half a teaspoon per gallon or something like that. I've had it for years and its still full so in reality its less expensive in the long run.

I alternate between the two, like I said, but the Bayer one (be sure to get the Disease Control liquid that you spray, not the granules or liquid "drench" that doesn't work on BS, even though it says it does) is inexpensive and readily available. You can use it every two weeks or as often as once a week if needed (once every two weeks is fine unless you have a really bad infestation of BS). Immunox is also a good one, but that one doesn't last as long and you have to spray it once a week, which in my option is too much maintenance.

Banner maxx is also 2x a month like the Bayer.

Neither spray will harm your plants if you spray early in the morning or in the evening, but I recommend you spray them in the evening so it has all night to dry and remains wet for a good long time before evaporating.

Never spray anything that is an oil (neem oil for example) in the summer as it will burn your leaves. These two sprays have never harmed either of my plants even when I have sprayed at less desirable times (high heat/sunny). But again, just to be on the SUPER safe side, evening is best.

I am sure the sulfur spray you have will most likely work, but it would have to be applied every week or so. The Bayer/Banner is a systemic fungicide, meaning it is absorbed by the leaf and will protect that leaf for a good amount of time. The sulfur may wash off in the rain and make it essentially useless although its better than nothing at all. I have never sprayed sulfur or copper fungicides so I cannot give any kind of advice on them. But if you'd like to use them just because you already purchased them, be sure to follow the directions and spray in the evening and I'm sure you'll be ok. (And maybe test it first on a few leaves before spraying the entire garden/rose bed). Again, its still better than nothing at all, even if you need to apply it more often.

Luckily/unluckily we've had a very dry summer (for S.FL) so black spot has been kept at bay, but even without rain the morning dew is enough to cause severe BS (again, we have not had this problem yet, but certainly it will come once the summer rains arrive). I (because of laziness really) only spray once I sense the humidity in the air. Otherwise I let them get a little BS and go on my merry way. In the summer/humid season however, its almost impossible to get away with not spraying in S.Fl (unless you only grow disease resistant roses, and even then they are only disease resistant. Not disease proof).

NExt time I will try and find Banner. I already use the Bayer. Unfortunately, after shipping at Cool's and purchasing both the Sulfur and the Copper. But now after reading up more I am still confused. The sulfur I purchhased is Hi-Yiled. When trying to follow the directions on the label it says it can be used either wet or dry.... duh. It doesn't say which is best for roses. It tells me how much to use, but not which is best.... so then I searched on line, and I see all this stuff about not putting sulfur on leafed out roses. But in Florida our Roses are leafed out all the time. So now I am even more confused. ANd the copper fungicide talks about being toxic to some roses. I'm thing great now I going to kill my roses trying to help them.

I saw Mr. Lincoln at Cool Roses, but it looked pinkish to me... but it certainly smelled good. It was a beautiful rose. I guess red has warm tones and cool tones, too.


Thanks for you input

Mr. Lincoln really is pinkish here. Mine has never been red. More of a magenta color at best. Its funny how its described as red online but its pink here in South Fl. You are right about that.

Im really not sure about the fungicides (copper/sulfur) maybe you can start a thread and ask around here. South Florida is so different from the rest of the country in terms of roses, its hard to say how your plants will react. :(

If we keep this up we'll end up starting a Florida Rosarian Thread, lol.

Sharon, you're far from crazy. Most people have just given up on roses because the industry has made growing roses successfully next to impossible. Like most industries, they tend to aim for the middle ground customer base in order to minimize costs. The result is roses that could grow here in Florida if the plants were on the correct root stock. I will point out that people have been growing roses in Florida for generations, but only with a handful of varieties. Louis Phillip will grow well on its own roots as will several other OGRs. Hybrid Teas on the other hand are a rose of another color, lol.

I would NOT use sulfur and copper spray. They are as dangerous as more efficient and economical chemicals on the market. Both copper and sulfur act as contact fungicides. If you want long term success you need a systemic. I rotate between two very easily obtainable chemicals and three that have to be ordered online. My suggestions (and for the devout non-sprayers, please note that I'm aware of the counterarguments for non-spraying, but without these chemicals I would not be able to enjoy the same varieties that northerner's take for granted):

Spray cyle #1

Bayer Advanced three in one (I use the hose end sprayer: http://www.bayeradvanced.com/find-a-product/tree-shrub-care/3-in-1-insect-disease-mite-control

Spray cycle #2

Honor Guard (cheaper than Banner Maxx and basically the same thing): http://www.amazon.com/Propiconazole-Honor-Guard-Spectrum-Fungicide/dp/B004GTOHZU

&

DITHANE (contact fungicide):

http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Ag-Dithane-Disease-Control/dp/B00IIXA7EU/ref=sr_1_11?&ie=UTF8&qid=1434995137&sr=8-11&keywords=MANCOZEB+FUNGICIDE

&

Conseve SC (This is the only thing that works well on Chili Thirps):

http://www.amazon.com/Conserve-Insecticide-Spinosad-Biologically-Derived/dp/B006Q4T9RO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434995221&sr=8-1&keywords=conserve+sc

Spray cycle #3

Ortho:

https://www.ortho.com/smg/goprod/ortho-rose-flower-insect-disease-control-concentrate/prod10730004

Spray cycle #4 is the same as #2 but without the Conserve SC

Thank you for the information. I will not use the sulfur or the copper. They kind of scared me that I could kill the rose. I know I have treated them as annuals, but only because they died of natural causes. I will try and save up and get these other fungicides that were mentioned.

So very much appreciative of the information.

Thank you

Oh of course, I forgot to mention that Honor Guard is Banner Maxx. I actually use Honor Guard, not banner maxx. Its way cheaper.