Hi Frank ! this is my first year to give roses a try again...I manaaged to kill three about fifteen years ago, and vowed never again...but they got ahold of me again this spring ! I found that my four newbies (all planted in barrels and tubs) don't do well in the 100+ weather either ! So my daughter helped me "roll out the barrels" to light shade areas, where they receive early morning sun, then shade most of day, til late,late sun...so far, so good... They get oodles of water at least every other day, lots of mulch, and handsful of epsom salts watered in well about every two weeks...the ES really perks them up ! They are all blooming, but not profusely...I'm just happy they're alive ! I tried shade cloth tented over one first,but she "Blue Moon" wasn't happy with that...I guess natural shade is better ! I'm in Bullhead City AZ, so when winter arrives, they can probably take more sun...Right now,we're having a "cool" spell with highs in the 90's ! We'll be in triple digits any day now ! From one newbie to another, I hope some of this info will be helpful... Take care... Mary Lou

Ischan, I found the pic that looks like yours ....almost. It should be a semi-mini Single chimera red-purple pansy, blue fantasy. Medium green, quilted, serrated. I do not see the blue fantasy and your leaves are light green. If it is the very first bloom - wait - sometimes they come to look closer to the description after the second - third bloom. It is definitely a beautiful chimera - and chimeras are rare. Check where you bought it - it can be another chimera - misnamed - or your chimera sported - changed a bit. But it is very lovely and rare. Enjoy it. Good Luck Irina Here is a link that might be useful: another monkeyshines

Katelyn, so it sounds like you have recently watered this plant but the leaves are still shrivelled? Couple of other things may be worth considering: could be that the plant has lost it's roots to rot (or a pest), try giving the plant a gentle tug to see if it comes away from the soil. If the plant feels firmly rooted, another possibility is that the roots are situated in a clump of hydrophobic peat which the water is not penetrating. You may need to consider digging the plant up in order to find out exactly what is going on. Andrew

Hello, I am sorry that you actually have thrips. They are very annoying, but finding them is the first step to getting them under control. I just spent all weekend removing every bloom and bud from my roses (over 150). It was a painful thing to do as they were loaded with unopened buds, but a quick look into those buds showed me it needed to be done. If you can make yourself do it I would remove every single bloom and bud into a trash bag, and then spray with whatever you prefer. I read that doing this a good way to tackle the thrips on the heirloom website ( they said to spray with an organic product).