Alkalinity is a measure of a waterâÂÂs capacity to neutralize acids. It is the concentration of soluble alkalis in a solution. It should not be confused with pH. If your water is high in alkalinity (usually measured in ppm of CaCO3), it will require more acid to lower the pH. I had to study up a lot on this during the growing season for my container pawpaw production. Pawpaws are much like blueberries--they like low pH--close to 5.0. I am not a chemist--just a studious grower. Here are two websites you need. The first is a great article from NC State about alkalinity. The second is the ALKCALC, an invaluable calculator to help you determine how much acid you need to add to your water to bring down the pH. NC State Alkalinity article ALKCALC As an example, my well water has high alkalinity (280 ppm CaCO3), and the pH is 7.5. To get the pH down to 5.5, I must add 2.055 ml of sulfuric acid (battery acid) to a gallon of water. My container blueberries also thrived on this solution. However, water that has been treated with acid may not be able to overcome the problems in the container mix. Most of my containers were made up with 5-1-1 or a mix of pine bark and compost. It worked great. In other containers I experimented with mixes containing sand. Here, the plants did poorly. I later did a pour-through test and learned that the pH of these containers was 7.0, despite the acidic irrigation water! Have your water tested. Use test strips to confirm your pH changes. Best of luck with your plants. Marc

strawberry hill, your post is so interesting. I've never tested my soil but knowing that it's basically decomposed granite (in some places solid granite just 1 1/2 feet down) is a good clue. Growing the right roses for your area, as has been emphasized on this forum over and over, is in my opinion the most important lesson to learn. Having once chosen the right ones, there are still steps that can be taken, as you point out, to fine-tune the results. A lot depends on how much you can or are willing to do. I've found that coffee grounds from my husband's coffee consumption, alfalfa meal and adequate water are the simplest way for me to have good-looking roses. Judicious pruning also has its place. Poisons never will; I'd give up roses first. It's part art, part science and part the will of the roses to live and thrive. It's a little different for everyone, and it is endlessly fascinating. Ingrid

Just thought I'd post the results I had in one garden bed that's clay-loam. Last year I had amended this bed with home-made compost. Everything did well last year as first year plantings. This year they suffered from too little light. (I just put the roses there to get them through the winter and hoping they might like the eastern exposure. Heathcliff, Sugar Moon and Falstaff like sun in my neck of the woods, it seems. I'll probably be moving the viking Queen next Spring as she's a fraction of the size of her sister in full sun, and hasn't bloomed since Spring while her sister would be non-stop if not for the midge.) Anyway, the soil was very dry even with rain. I thought the heavy leaf layer prevented water. I stuffed the empty holes with alfalfa hay, compost and leaf mold until I decided what to plant. I also put the alfalfa under the leaves in the rest of the bed and gave it additional compost. Wow, when I went to plant Lavender Lassie and two hydrangeas, all the soil was so soft and fluffy and moist, even though we had less rain that earlier. I'm now prepping my holes in advance of next Spring and filling them with the same and covering the entire bed with alfalfa hay, etc. The new plantings have taken off even in the reduced light of late summer. I repeated this in another new bed and Mme Alfred Carriere and Awakening seem to love it even in their NE exposure. (Of course, they could just be responding to being in the ground vs. in pots. : ) ) Lesson learned. : ) I'm also trying gypsum on some new beds I'm prepping since they're on an incline. I'll report back.

Kordes Flower Carpet survived my zone 5a winter better than Knock-out. Zero diseases for the past 16 years. Didn't fertilize nor water it for over a decade. Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden in NY rated the top 115 no-spray & disease-resistant roses by score. Quietness came 3nd place, after Belinda's Dream at 8.6. Quietness got the second best score of 8.55, higher than single-Knock-out at 8. Julia Child gets a score of 8.3. Austin Heritage gets a score of 8.8. Alkaline clay folks complained that Heritage is stingy, due less acid-phosphatase. Roots secrete acid to utilize phosphorus in soil for blooming. Too much of that ends up with fungal diseases. http://www.nybg.org/gardens/rose-garden-top-performers-2010.php If you click on the link above, it ranked the most disease & no-spray roses by a score. Knock-out scores at 8, while many Kordes roses are at 8.3 and above. Kordes roses have vigorous root system, mean better winter-survival and perfect foliage. HybridizerVariety (Sorted Alphabetically)Overall ScoreAlexander Hill GrayAlister Stella Gray7.75LimAll the Rage8.15KordesAmadeus®7.90MeillandApricot Drift®8.10BayseBelinda's Dream8.60PriorBetty Prior8.15UnknownBlush Noisette8.00RadlerBlushing Knock Out®8.10MeillandBolero™ 20048.50MeillandBonica™®8.00ClarkBorderer7.75LensBouquet Parfait®7.91BedardCape Diamond®7.85KordesCaramella®7.85AustinCarding Mill®8.50BuckCarefree Beauty™8.25MeillandCarefree Delight™7.75RadlerCarefree Spirit™7.95LimCentennial7.85MeillandCherry Parfait™8.50KordesCinderella Fairy Tale8.50MeillandColette™8.00MeillandCoral Drift™8.40KordesCream Veranda8.75FoundDarlow's Enigma9.00LimDaydream7.90KordesDesmond Tutu8.25RadlerDouble Knock Out®9.10DucherDucher8.25BernèdeDuchesse de Brabant8.25MeillandEaster Basket™9.25HarknessEasy Does It™7.85KordesEiffel Tower8.25KordesEliza®8.00KordesEscimo™8.00MeillandEternal Flame™8.40ShoupF.J. Lindheimer8.40KordesFelicitas8.00KordesFloral Fairy Tale8.00LesterFrancis E. Lester8.00KordesGardening Joy8.25KordesGebrϋder Grimm® (Brothers Grimm)8.50KordesGolden Fairy Tale™8.00AustinHeritage®8.80CarruthHome Run™8.10KordesJasmina®8.35WilliamsJoe Grey™8.10CarruthJulia Child™8.35KordesKarl Ploberger7.85RadlerKnock Out®8.00KordesKordes Golden Gate™8.00KordesKordes Moonlight®8.75KordesKosmos9.00BarbierLa Marne8.15KordesLa Perla8.00NoackLady Elsie May™8.00ShoupLady Pamela Carol8.00KordesLaguna®8.30KordesLarissa8.50ZuzekLena7.90KordesLions-Rose®7.60KordesLupo®8.00LimMacy's Pride8.95DesprezMarchesa Boccella8.25SportMarie Daly7.85AlégatièreMarie Pavié7.85KordesMarie-Luise Marjan®8.40CarruthMemorial Day™8.25DelbardMichel Bras8.25MeillandMother of Pearl™8.70UnknownMutabilis8.25LimMy Girl7.85PissardNastarana7.85ShoupOld Baylor8.45ZuzekOle7.85MeillandOso Easy Cherry Pie8.50WarnerOso Easy Fragrant Spreader8.00MeillandPeach Drift®9.00FoundPeggy Martin 'Survivor'8.75RadlerPink Double Knock Out®9.00MeillandPink Drift®8.75CarruthPink Home Run®7.15RadlerPink Knock Out®8.10MeillandPink Traviata™8.40KordesPlanten un Blomen8.40KordesPomponella™8.00LensPorcelaine de Chine8.00PembertonProsperity7.50KordesPurple Rain8.65BuckQuietness8.55RadlerRainbow Knock Out®8.00ShoupRepublic of Texas8.00KordesRosanna®7.85KordesRosarium Uetersen®8.05UnknownRose de Rescht7.25KordesRoxy™8.50HolmesSally Holmes®8.45BarniSans Souci7.85AustinScepter'd Isle7.80KordesSolero™7.80AustinSophy's Rose8.75AustinSpirit of Freedom8.75LeeStanwell Perpetual7.85BarniStile '800®8.20KordesSummer Memories™8.00KordesSummerSun8.00RadlerSunny Knock Out®8.50MeillandSweet Drift®8.00MeillandTequila™7.90DemitsThe Gift7.95BugnetThérèse Bugnet8.15MeillandTraviata™8.65RadlerWhite Out®8.65RadlerWinner's Circle™7.90KordesZadie8.10 Below is my Kordes FlowerCarpet, pic. taken late August. I didn't fertilizer nor water it for over a decade .. actually did better that way: