I have a David Austin rose called 'Heritage' that I have grown for more than ten years now without spraying with anything at all and it is beautiful. My entire yard and garden are grown organically. I think that whether a rose performs well (after making a good selection, which includes buying a rose that is growing on its own roots, not a grafted rose) it is more important to figure out how to prune the bush than anything else, if you are most concerned with having a solid show of beautiful roses throughout the season. I haven't mastered that skill yet, but 'Heritage' still gives me beautiful roses. Sometimes when I accidentally prune her just right, I am rewarded ten-fold. As an organic gardener, I have also learned this about aphids: You will most likely see some aphids in the spring on the young tender growth of your roses (and other plants). Leave them alone for awhile and don't fret. The aphids hatch out a little earlier than the ladybugs, and are the primary food for the ladybug nymphs. If you kill all the aphids, your ladybugs will have to look elsewhere for food, and you will be depriving your garden of an extremely beneficial predator. Learn to be patient and watch and wait. In just a few days the young ladybugs will come crawling for their first succulent meals, and they will clean up all the aphids. It's a wonder to see. Lesson #2 about ladybugs is that if you sweep your entire yard clean of leaves in the fall, they have nowhere to nest and lay their eggs. They like to lay eggs and raise their young under bushes in leaves and debris. Leave some habitat there for them.

Hey Jackie, Like HT said, let it dry. I would also move it from the direct sun if it is suffering from this intense heat. As long as it is getting bottom heat and you can put it in a protected area out of the direct sun..it should continue to root. I know you said it hasn't rooted yet. Let the cut part of the stem dry out. You can always seal later. By cutting the top .. it will send out other branches when it starts to root. If you want, you could always seal the cut stem with waterproof wood glue (some use Dap Sealant), so you dont have any moisture getting into the stem and causing more problems. Sounds like it was in to much direct sun. I am so sorry about your Lani... It is one of My favorites. Simply Beautiful... Good Luck.. Laura

Well the small container size and the pruning - removing what you are calling 'suckers' - are whole other issues for other discussions. And there are many of them here. But yes both will contribute to your original question about fruit size. Stressed plants produce smaller fruit. The container is far too small for an indeterminate variety, especially one that gets as big as Whopper does. And removing what are actually fruit-producing lateral branches will not only reduce the amount of fruit produced by the plant but make it substantially taller. Then there is the issue of feeding. The nutrients in your potting mix are very limited and quickly lost. Container plants require regular feedings. The smaller the container the more often it has to be watered, the more it is watered the faster the nutrients wash out of the continer and more feeding it requires. So with all those issues don't expect normal size or normal levels of production. This is not to say the fruit you do get will all be small or won't be fine just that the growing conditions are far from ideal so the plant will be limited in its performance by those conditions. Dave

Hello Gardenwebbers! I'm in the beginning stages of searching out appliances for a pretty extensive kitchen remodel, and I found one person on GardenWeb that was getting an Officine Gullo range. Not being the most tech saavy, I wasn't able to post a message to find out if he/she ever purchased this range, much less loved/hated etc. it, and was hoping there would be someone somewhere that could help. As I understand it, it's a European brand making their debut here in the States and is a very high end "luxury" stove. Their showroom is in Miami, but several more are planned across the country this year. The company has been in business for over 70 years, and the appliances they carry, which include friges etc. are beyond gorgeous. I've contacted the sales rep in Florida and hopefully he'll be sending me more info (the web site is a bit hard to read and follow), but if anybody out there can chip in, I'd be grateful! Cheers! Laura