Well, the deed is done, and it's nothing like I originally envisioned. I want to thank this forum for making me slow down and LOOK and think before jumping in with both feet. The landscapers sheared off the tops so the roses looked like a hedge -- we're talking flat top here. So I got a ladder, and "shaped" the top, taking the time to cut according to the location of the buds, and now it has what seems to me a much more natural appearance. I didn't remove even a quarter of the growth. I did remove some dead wood -- trimmed inch by inch down to the "creamy" center. That took one cane down to the base, but only one. I did remove an old cane because the canes looked "crowded" and now the canes have the same "density" throughout the bush. The rose seemed to want that. And now I have to go to work on the REAL problem. The real problem is the soil. The lady who planted these roses sold this house 7 years ago to two lawyers who turned the landscaping over to a landscaping company. And no, the landscaping company doesn't use compost or any kind of fertilizer. They expect the owners to do that, and the former owners didn't. (They didn't take care of a lot of things!) The soil is in bad shape. It needs to be brought up to snuff or it won't grow a healthy rose. That's the bottom line. These roses need to be brought back to health before I can think about doing a lot of pruning. Unhealthy plants won't grow good canes. I'm going to replace what soil I can (being very careful not to disturb the roots), plus compost, plus organic fertilizer. I was thinking of using that Bayer Liquid Fertilizer as the first application, only because as a liquid, it will reach all of the roots (at least in theory). I know "more is not better" when it comes to fertilizer, so I can't just dump a bunch on and expect it to work. The organic stuff will have to work its way down, and thank heaven I at least have worms! Any other suggestions on how to gently enrich the soil and feed my starving roses? Many Thanks! MacThayer

I have 18 roses in containers. My climber is in a 15 gallon plastic container and the rest are hybrid tea roses in 5 and 6 gallon containers (5 gallon plastic and what I am calling 6 gallon are terra cotta pots that are bigger than 5 gallons but not by much - they could be 7 gallons). My roses started bare root (with 2 exceptions - 1 pulled from the ground and 1 purchased already potted) 6 years ago. Obviously it's better to have a bigger pot, but I haven't had major problems with this size pot. I have changed the soil once so far just to keep it fresh. I fertilize every other week at 1/2 strength with liquid fertilizer similar to Miracle Gro and once per month I fertilize with fish emulsion and an organic slow-acting fertilizer like alfalfa meal, blood meal, or Grow More. I never apply all of this on the same day, so that usually means a schedule similar to: Wednesday Week 1 Organic granular fertilizer Saturday Week 1 Weak liquid fertilizer Saturday Week 2 Weak liquid fertilizer Wednesday Week 2 Spray fungicide Saturday Week 3 Weak liquid fertilizer Wednesday Week 3 Fish emulsion Saturday Week 4 Weak liquid fertilizer Wednesday Week 4 Spray fungicide (I try to do the nasty things like spray chemicals and smelly fish emulsion during the week so that my neighbors and I don't have to deal with it when we are BBQing and the like on the weekends.) I spray for insects when they become a problem, except that I do proactively spray all of my buds with spinosad because thrips are the bane of my existence. For instance, I don't think I sprayed an insecticide at all last year. Most years I end up spraying maybe twice. I don't want to kill the praying mantis and hover flies that I get. Fungicide is a different story and I spray every other week (the week I do not fertilize). I use Immunox alternated with Mancozeb/Banner Maxx. When I do use an insecticide I use one mixed with yet a different fungicide just to switch it up. That's about it. Here in CA I usually prune in January, although I pruned in February this year. We usually get 3 flushes per year, although I had 4 this year with the mild weather. The biggest challenge I face growing roses in containers is keeping them watered. A rose in the ground can withstand even the fiercest heat for a few days between waterings. My container roses need to be watered every day when the temperature is above 90 degrees and when it's 100+ sometimes I water them twice if they look sad when I get home from work. If I miss a day the roses don't die, but the new growth gets crispy and the flowers I work so hard for burn up. Luckily, this is usually just for a couple of weeks in July or August. Otherwise, I water 2-3x per week. Right now with the rain I am watering just 1x to supplement Mother Nature.

I live in Sarasota. In my area, jatrophas don't stop blooming during the year and don't have to have any pruning. For the last two months, the rondeletias (panama rose) have been blooming beautifully with not so much as a wince from the cold this year. They can get large, but look good at any size. Epidendrum orchids look great in beds and have started blooming since last month through July. My gardenias are just getting buds(late this year) so will be blooming late March and into April. Landscape begonias are just starting to bloom (late also), and will bloom through late April or May. The foliage looks good year round. Foliage plants can be just as pretty as flowers, so try to be open to those also. Their rewards are usually year-round. You did not tell us anything about your conditions, so you will get a mixed bag of suggestions. More details and pics would mean better information for you. Enjoy our paradise, if even for a few months! Anna

Good luck raising elderberry for fruit, though I am a bit curious as to why you would want to. They have always seemed a bit tasteless to me. :>) In my garden the fruit gets eaten by the birds as soon as it starts to ripen. You will have to net them if you want fruit or create a tall cage of PVC or metal pipe, electrical conduit, wood, etc that you can cover with either wire or plastic mesh. IME the cage works better than just a net draped over the plant. Spirea can also be cut down to the ground and it will resprout into a much nicer looking plant than previously, denser and without the dead twiggy matter that tends to form over time. For both the RofS or the spirea, if you don't want them they can be removed by cutting to ground level and painting the surface of the cuts where the bark meets the inner wood with undiluted glyphosate. If it's sunny, the base of the slope where you will be planting the vinca might be a good spot for berry bushes.