Roses & Stuff #6 (2015)
Starting a new thread...lol
First off a question for Straw: Do these grass plants have bigger roots? Would the roots crowd out other plants? I need to decide whether to let them there next year or not...
I wanted to take out our Morning Glories at the side of house and plant zinnias there next year but wife said NO! lol... And since I have no Veto power I'm screwed...lol
I just cut grass because my wife just went to get our grandson and he will be staying here until Sunday. SO I probably will not be able to get on much... So have fun everyone! lol
Comments (119)
strawchicago z5
8 years agoCoral Flower Carpet gets the least sun (4-hours), and most neglected, yet give me the most beauty for the past decade. Pic. taken today. I never water that one.
msdorkgirl
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoWhoa, Amazingly Beautiful Prairie Harvest Straw, capital A B P ... I love the many petals! And Coral floral carpet is dainty pink, I enjoy that.
Sam, Wilbur is very adorable.
I don't know difference between regular flower thrips versus chili thrips ... my rose society says that what we have is chili thrips here in Hawaii (and it was identified by Baldo V)The only thing that works for us with heavy chili thrip issues is spinosad used sparingly so the insects don't develop tolerance for it.
chili thrip damage on Grande Dame bud
also attacks the top leaves ... makes leaves deformed
Related Discussions
Roses & Stuff #3 (2015)
Comments (168)Looks really good, Jim. How do you make your home-made compost? I make mine in the shade, just dump stuff on the ground ... it's NOT stinky. I'm going to get all the leaves I can this fall from the neighbors. Chicago Botanical Gardens' roses are ridiculously healthy, they use leaf-compost. When I took that soil-chemistry test, it stated the highest content of leaves is made out of carbon. Carbon (brown stuff) is good for the compost pile, a bit of nitrogen (green stuff) is good to speed up the decomposition. My most-blooms were when I used EarthGro Organic humus & manure ($1.26 for a 40 lb. bag from Walmart) to winter-protect, and in the spring there's zillions of buds ... way better than chicken manure. Here's a review on Walmart website for EarthGro bagged Humus & manure: 5.0 stars 4/1/2012 by oklahomagirl1989 "I made a flowerbed last year and planted 2 tiny roses into it...the flowerbed consisted of nothing BUT Humus and Manure Mix from Wal Mart.....my Roses have exploded with blooms during last years brutally hot summer when everything else died.....and since then, they have at least quadruplet in size....I couldn't be more happier about this product, in fact, I recommend it to all of my customers, since I work in the Garden Center and I always get asked about which soil is the best. Right now we are sold out of it and I am a bit upset myself because I want to buy lots more of it.....I would recommend this product to ANYONE at ALL TIMES!!!!! Here are the buds on Sweet Promise in spring when I winter-protected with EarthGro humus & manure (sold at HomeDepot and Walmart). Yay to the power of humus !! More spring buds on Francis Blaise when I used bagged humus & manure to winter-protect. Well-rotted horse manure is good too, but it's a real pain to scoop that into my car. I didn't winter-protect last year, since my kid's 6th-grade gifted-program was stressful for me. Growing healthy roses is easier than feeding a picky kid. I put money in her lunch-account, but she refuses to buy lunch from school, so I pack her lunch everyday. How do you pack lunch for a kid who doesn't like cheese, and is allergic to peanuts? Any ideas? Thanks....See MoreRoses & Stuff #7 (2015)
Comments (98)That compost looks good, 3 yards for $60 is great bargain. Here the cypress mulch is $40 per yard, that's years ago. Thanks, Sam, for the pics of flowers in your garden. I don't have Heritage nor MayFlower so I enjoy seeing them. I love the deep colors of your cosmos. I used to have cosmos but the colors were faded pink in my alkaline clay, and I'm allergic to them (cosmos is related to ragweed). Wilbur is a delight to see, I wish I have a miniature stuffed-animal that looks like Wilbur to enjoy. My kid is into cats so I will have buy her a stuffed cat. We gave away her BIG stuffed-cat, but I'll get her a tiny one for her upcoming birthday. Your Mayflower is so big & lots of petals on that one. "Greasy" is good stuff. Salmon bits is greasy (high in Omega-3 fatty acids), but that gave 120+ blooms per flush on Bailey's Young Lycidas. To get shiny & glossy foliage, the fatty acids in cracked corn really helped with the shine on the leaves. To make such BIG blooms with zillion petals, more energy is required. What gives energy? Chemicals alone? No, I can't imagine sending someone to work with a drink laced with chemicals. I would send something substantial: fats & protein & fiber keep a person full, and it helps to give energy for roses too. Alfalfa is high in protein, fiber, plus some fat. Fish meal is high in protein, high in fat. Cracked corn is very good in producing zillion petals: that's high in protein, fat, fiber, and minerals. Red-lava-rock is solid, if there's acidic rain to break down, same with pea-gravel: solid minerals, if there's rain to break down. Fish meal is fast to break down, that works great for alkaline-tap for Bailey in LA. Fish-emulsion is even faster, since it has acid added. Acidic Cracked corn and alfalfa pellets broke down too fast in acidic rain, and gave my roses black spots, due to the release of acids. For acidic rain, I use ALKALINE & slower-released like red-lava-rock for potassium, and pea-gravel for a vast array of minerals. Below is Excellenz Von Schubert that Seaweed in CA grew In full-sun, fertilized with fish emulsion. Seaweed uses Gardner & Bloom organic potting soil for EVS rose, it blooms lots for her, despite her low annual rainfall of 11" per year:...See MoreRoses & Stuff #13 (2015)
Comments (70)Carol: you have snow? Wow!! I admire your growing roses in a cold zone. Thanks to the river nearby, we are blessed with warm weather until today, Oct. 3 where it gets to the 50's, but it will be up to 70's again in a few days. Today is the 1st time that I didn't go out to work in the garden, nor walk with my kid, I went shopping instead. I really like shopping early at 8 am in the morning, much less people, so I can get the best stuff. If there's only 2 or 3 items left, it's good stuff. Like 2 Nutella jar left .. my kid eats graham cracker and Nutella for her lunch at school, plus a turkey sandwich EVERYDAY. Kids are funny, they don't like variety, they like the same old thing. I asked my daughter what she wants for dinner, she said, "don't make anything new." She doesn't like it when I try new recipe. We once went with my nephew to Old Country Buffet when he was 8 years old. There were at least 6 different main-dish, plus 3 different soups, plus so many stuff in the salad-bar. He ate nothing but macaroni and cheese. My sister was mad, she said, "I could make you mac and cheese for 50 cents at home, why do I need to pay $10 just for that here?" Sam & Jim: you two crack me up ... that's funny !! I pray for Heather & your wife Sue .. having a virus doesn't feel good. Which reminds me to make brewer's yeast & honey & milk for my kid. Epicor is an extract from Brewer's yeast which is clinically proven to boost immune system & lessen one's chance of catching colds with its high B vitamins. Those Epicor pills are sold $30 per bottle on Amazon, while $10 of Brewer's Yeast last me for 4 months. If I mix it with milk, plus buckwheat honey, it's really yummy. http://www.livestrong.com/article/287160-what-are-the-dangers-of-epicor/ " EpiCor's beginnings go back to the Diamond V Mills company in Iowa, which for decades has made a special yeast culture animal-feed additive that helped increase production in dairy cows. Over time, an insurance company noted that certain employees — the ones exposed to the yeast product — rarely reported illnesses. The company tested its fermented yeast in the lab and found the product had more antioxidants than blueberries." Pink Peace, one of the 2 roses in my garden which is grafted on Dr. Huey .. really likes pea gravel: more petals & larger. Pic. Taken Sept. 30, when the temp. was over 75 & warm night....See MoreRoses & Stuff #14 (Oct Madness 2015)
Comments (69)Jim: your compost gave Prairie Harvest great colors !! My 2 PH blooms in the pot had boring light yellow. High phosphorus shift blooms to the red-zone, that's why Cantigny rose park's Carding Mill is pink, while mine is light apricot. The rose park uses a high-phosphorus fertilizer, which gave red-splotchy dots on their Double-Delight. Jim: Time for a new thread, I switched to Windows 10, and it's easier to see with shorter thread. thanks....See Morestrawchicago z5
8 years agoAnother clump. Each branch holds a big cluster like that. See how icky the phlox leaves are, yet Flower-carpet is dark-green:
Perfect glossy foliage, despite high humidity. Back is red knock-out, less vigorous & less blooms.
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoFirst off love the dog pics sam... Beware of the Claw...lol
You mentioned your roses did not bloom that much this year Sam. If you had a rose midge problem I can see why....I hope you get that straightened up!
Wow straw that Prairie Harvest bloom pic is very nice!
I think chili thrips are worse than regular flower thrips. We do not have chili thrips here...
What size are flower carpet blooms Straw?
Unlike Western Flower Thrips that cause unsightly browning of rose petals, chilli thrips feed on leaves and stems and have the ability to decimate a plant. They have rasping, cutting mouthparts that work like little saws, splitting open green plant tissue so that they can suck the juice out of the leaves. Their favorite feeding sites are the tender maroon-colored new growths and where leaflets attach to the stem. In these tight locations, they feed until there is no more juice in the plant tissue and then move on to another spot on the plant. As the leaf continues to develop, scars form at the feeding site and depending on the level of feeding leaves may be distorted or not look like a leaf at all.
I read where flower thrips like it dry and we have been in a drought lately...
strawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agomsdorkgirl
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI went outside to see what form Earthsongs bloom would have this morning... 69 degrees at 9am... Bloom was still more closed...
Funny thing about this bloom is it seems to cast a neon appearance... "Hey look at me it says" When I had blooms on our first Earthsong and people came to visit Earthsong was the first rose they noticed and commented on... People around here mostly only grow Knockout or other smaller bloomed roses so I think the color along with the bloom being a much bigger size than people see around here really appeals to them...
This D. KO bloom is approx 3 days old... still holding the darker red color here... Yesterday was even 95 degrees. This rose bush gets direct sun from 12 noon until sunset...
Some Morning Glory Madness!
Morning Glory creeping up our front porch steps...
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8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoEarth song has a nice glowing-neon color. Zinnias beat morning glory by far. I look over the list of Jim's friend-best-roses. It looks like he has LESS alkaline clay than mine, since Grandma's Blessing gave me hell ... I had to give it sulfur before it bloomed tons. Jim's soil is even loamier than his friend: easier for a variety of roses.
Heavy clay like mine is more suitable to zillion-petals which demand solid minerals for their solid-petals. Heavy clay is also suitable for aggressive roots that can acid-phosphatase: Dr. Huey-rootstock, Flower-Carpet, and French Meilland Romantica roses. But heavy clay is NOT suitable for roses that do LESS acid-phosphatase (Home Run).
The problem with Thomas Affleck? I grew his parent Basyes Blueberry, that's the most solid & slender root ever: it's like a NARROW single strand of rope, going straight down. For such a localized root, the soil must be rich-in-minerals for that spot below. The aggressive & spreading roots can get its nutrients from the surface. BB's root just go straight down, like a rope. It's a lazy-root, doesn't want to spread out to get nutrients. I have to spoon-feed it SOLUBLE sulfate of potash & gypsum to achieve blooms, and that's just single petals.
The woody-root (Dr. Huey) consumes a large amount of calcium & magnesium, so dolomitic & heavy clay is best. The cluster-root (multiflora parentage), such as Grandmas' Blessing is best suited for loamy & fluffier soil. If the root is woody like a tree, heavy clay is best. If the root is like alfalfa sprout, sandy or loamy soil is best. Some multiflora parentage traits: spreading & cluster roots, small leaves, disease-resistant, purple/blue color, and preference for acidic & loamy soil.
Annie L. McDowell has multiflora parentage: small leaves, disease-resistant, lavender hue. I had to give it tons of sulfur to make the soil loamy. Plus sulfate of potash & gypsum for its zillion petals. Below pic: in front is Annie's bush (smallest leaves). Behind is Marie Pavie (polyantha likes heavy clay). Right is Frederic Mistral (French Romantica likes clay), and behind Fred is Mary Magdalene:
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoSo if Thomas Affleck roots go straight down maybe I should replant him next year in a more fluffier soil area and fertilize him with a routine???? Something I really do not want to do though...lol
Yes I like Zinnias better also but my wife whats to keep those Morning Glories there in that location... I did have plans of digging out that soil and replacing it with native soil from the backyard then plant Zinnias. But wife said NO GO! lol
Thomas Affleck foilage seems to stay very nice but sadly the blooms look rough 24 hours after opening that is what I do not care for... Last year it did the same thing in its other location which had fluffier soil and more sun...
If the blooms were not like this I'd be much more excited about this rose bush... (Excluding thrip damage as Thomas can't help that...lol)
Some of these blooms last year have only been on the bush for less than 48 hours and look how rough they look..
strawchicago z5
8 years agoBelow pic. shows zillion-petals in Annie which are best with SOLUBLE sulfate of potash & gypsum. Note the lavender hue in Annie. Most blue roses have that multiflora parentage .. not best for heavy clay, unless grafted on Dr. Huey. Yellow is Golden Celebration.
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoGreat looking bouquet Straw!
You know area to area things can be so different. Read articles and they say Rose Slugs are only around for awhile and there gone and the same with aphids... And yes that's probably true for some areas but not all...
We have rose slugs and aphids the entire season here... I do not bother with aphids nor the rose slugs any longer...
But I feel blessed only having these certain critters around here as insects like Rose Midge, Chilli Thrips, can be much more frustrating to deal with...
I plant the Marigolds and that's about it... Now soon I will be planting GARLIC bulbs around some roses to experiment. I will plant GARLIC soon and leave it in the ground until next fall...
But anyhow just snapped this pic of the D. Ko up beside Earthsong/Prairie Harvest...(Pic shows Aphids)
msdorkgirl
8 years agomsdorkgirl
8 years agoHehe, now I have read the full thread and can comment more definitively:
Jim --- jeez, your double knockout puts some of my hybrids to shame :P I love that morning glory invading your steps!Straw --- your garden is also very organized and clean looking ... mine truly does look like a mismatch, pot slum with no real order to it.
Sam --- would love if you could post some of your plants, roses or not!
Blooms for work (sometimes it would be great to wake up early enough to actually pick good blooms instead of whatever I can find):
7 BLOOMS (1st pic: Secret, Summer Love, Secret, Queen of Lakes, 2nd pic bottom 3: Claire Austin, Coretta Scott King, Mystery Red Rose, 3rd pic: Coretta and Mystery Red Rose )
strawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoSam: I love your natural setting. Your Viking Queen is awesome. All your colors are deep & vibrant, that's the advantage of acidic soil.
Msgirl: Mystery Red rose is beautiful ... so many petals... how's the scent on that one? I love the color-combo of all 3 pics. The last pic. is very nice, it has all the colors. Wow! $50 shipping charge, so the 6 roses better be worthy.
Among Burlington's roses: For great scents & thornless: Annie L. McDowell (3 to 4 days in the vase), Duchess de Rohan (need shade), and Reines des Violettes (purple) are worth getting. Mary Daly is also thornless but it's to perfume your garden, rather than to cut for the vase.
For beauty and best-scents: La Reine (vase-worthy & good bloomer), Oklahoma (dark red, at least 4 days in the vase), Double Delight (last long in the vase), Gruss an Coburg (peach), Comte de Chambord (3 days vase life, small bush). Sutter's Gold (orange, only 2 days vase-life). For beauty & compactness & nice scent: Blue mist (can't cut for vase), Sweet Arlene (a mini, great cut-flower), Sweet Chariot (a mini), Prospero (Austin rose. good cut flower).
Jim: I took a picture of my Coral-Flower-Carpet, bloom is about 2 inch. I'm pretty sure my neighbor's Sweet-Drift is bigger, since hers have more petals.
strawchicago z5
8 years agoSince Msgirl asked for a bush-shot of Bronze Star, I'll post it. I pinched off 5 buds after the 1st bloom. Winter-hardiness is iffy, so I have to pinch off buds to encourage deep root-growth. It's an own-root I got for $10 from Roses Unlimited end-of-june-sale. Pic. taken yesterday August 17, very humid & rainy weather.
strawchicago z5
8 years agoHere's my cheap lavender rose, bought for $6.59 from Meijers recently. It has 6 buds .. it's grafted-on-Dr. Huey, so you can see the blackspots. Grafted roses can't be healthy as own-root:
strawchicago z5
8 years agoAzomite is keeping some roses 100% clean: La Reine used to be a BS-fest with cow-manure, now it's the front-runner in healthiness, 80% humidity. it's short since I kept moving it around to fix the icky-blackspots. Finally solved the problem with gypsum & cracked corn in the planting hole, plus watered with Azomite. Pic. taken August 17, very humid & rainy weather.
strawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoSharifa Asma got 2 doses of Azomite, very healthy despite extremely humid weather. I haven't taken a walk outside for 1 week, it's like a sauna .. hot & humid & rainy outside. Sharifa has 3 buds, it's a good-bloomer, mulched with alfalfa hay & red-lava-rock & gypsum. Taken today, August 18.
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoIf anyone ever wondered why the two end Double Ko's were smaller than the others it's because both of them were transplanted because I messed the spacing up (twice)...lol. One D. Ko was moved August 2014 and one was moved May 2015. These two roses were purchased the exact same time as the others from the same vendor. They are just slow to start growing again after being transplanted for whatever reason... I expect by the end of next year they will be as big as the others...
Just took the 2 below pics:
Shot of Earthsong bush:
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agoUser
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoStraw you might get a kick out of these pics... 2012 I visited my son in Dekalb ILLinois...
I found this picture of myself "the small town man" lost in Chicago...lol...Outside Chicago train station... I remember weighing myself at my sons house at 247 pounds back then. I have lost weight over the years I'm down to 228 pounds right now...Took me years to lose just that much weight...lol
Shot of the bean
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoWe are suppose to get alittle rain today and maybe some tomorrow.
I've decided to just let Thomas Affleck out front and see what he does in the future. Maybe he will surprise me next year...lol... He has been growing real well... He should be quite a large bush by next summer... Even in zone 5 he can be quite cane hardy. So I do not expect much winterkill on Thomas...
strawchicago z5
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoThanks for the tip Sam! I'll move TA next Spring while he is still dormant best time I've discovered...
I found this old vase pic of Mister Lincolns blooms from 2010...
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8 years agomsdorkgirl
8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years agoUser
8 years agostrawchicago z5
8 years agojim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
8 years ago
msdorkgirl