First off you have very nice garden beds Ellie Wood! Nice flowers etc...

I'm organic so I do not spray chemicals or use chemical soil granules...

We also have rose midge and I'm still in the process of trying to figure out what all to do about Rose Midge...

I'm sure others will come along and share there organic ways of trying to slow down this beast called Rose Midge...

Then there is chemicals that can be used against Rose Midge but I won't go there...lol

Sadly Rose Midge is not a easy insect to rid your garden of no matter what method is used...Probably it will take yearly control with something to keep them at bay...

But I have a couple rose bushes not effected by rose midge but have no idea why... Sorry wish I could be of more help...

Other related threads on rose midge:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4807323/more-rose-midge-advice?n=24

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4712206/another-post-about-rose-midge?n=17

Try typing rose midge in this forums search bar and other threads will come up also...

Ellie,

Please refer to a post I placed in this Roses Forum (now in its archives), that can be accessed by typing "Rose Midge Fly....an approach that works for me...," in the Search box at the top of the main page of the Roses Forum.

I have been using this method for years, and it controls rose midge fly more effectively, and with the least chemicals used of any method I am aware of, chemical or non-chemical.

Midged tips even after spraying still occur for me, but at a 5%, 1 in 20 tips rate, which is negligible. Those midged occurrences are partially due to me missing a growing tip during a spraying session, as careful as I try to be.

I would have not one bloom in my rose garden all season long, after a feeble, spring, partially midged bloom. I commiserate with you 100%. Midge is a nasty villain!

Moses

Blue cups covered with canola oil seem to be one of the best options for midge control. It is enough to control the midge, yet not wipe out all the bugs that like to the eat midge. Tangled foot on blue cups on all four points of the compass and or yellow cups sticky traps. Insecticides may result in collateral damage to predators that may allow the midge population to grow exponentially. Lady Bugs are beneficial and also the predators which you can get include nematodes, spiders , Dalotia, Athetacoriaria, Strateolaelaps predator mites, hypoaspis Predator mites. It's good I have healthy soil.

Spraying Spinosad on every bud protects the roses.

Checked out that Tangle foot you mentioned Sam... I'm going to order that next Spring to try on my blue/yellow cups... Rains too much here for canola oil... I gave up this year as cups needed sprayed way to often...lol

Plant roses resistant to rose midge.

http://rosebreeders.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55718

There are some that are quick to pull the chemicals out and go total nuclear. Thank God for Dr Henry Kuska. He keeps them in check. Summertime is for having fun not spraying bug spray. Rose Midges are a native American species. They were here a long time ago and they will always be here. No need to go nuclear winter on the soil. The soil contains the life. The life that makes plants grow.

Darn this computer! I can't open your recent link either Henry... Once I got to the forum (the link on forum would not open...)

Ellie, your garden is beautiful!! It's so frustrating to not get any blooms. Some have had success with spraying yellow cups with oil to trap the midge. Others have used the cups and covered the ground below the roses to the perimeter of the leaf canopy with either plastic or landscape cloth to create a barrier to the soil where the midge pupate and emerge as adults. The plastic/fabric can't be covered with mulch though since the midge would pupate in the layer of mulch so this would take away from the look of your beautiful garden.

Jim- I ordered the spray tanglefoot since I read that the brush on one was awful to use. A rose forum member, Rebecca maybe, also used the brush on and stated it also caught bees and butterflies!! Not good. The spray on doesn't trap these insects but it doesn't seem to do any better than the cooking oil does and is pretty expensive. Just my observations.

Sharon

From list referenced by Henry. Midge resistant roses that are either in commerce or in my garden. Midge resistant means less than 2% of buds affected.

Fragrant Cloud, Ingrid Berman, New Zealand, Dublin Bay, Jeanne Lajoie, and Golden Wings.

OK Sharon...Thanks!

Dear Gardening Friends Who Responded to Rose Midge Question,

My heartfelt thanks for your kindness in taking time to respond. I was overwhelmed with your expertise and your efforts to help. It will take a while to consider all the information but I surely will be doing so. I have been flabbergasted by the lack of blooms... only one measly flower early in June. Never have I heard of the rose midge until I went looking for an answer on this forum. Even though I do not know you personally, I feel as if you are gardening angels. Many thanks Sharon,Jim,Zack,Sam,Henry,Moses and all the others who have shared wisdom via the links.

Hopeful,

Ellie

It's a great community. Just watch out for the enablers though, lol. They can talk you into buying more roses than you have room for with all the stunning photos of their gorgeous roses :-)

Good luck with your rose midge battle.

Sharon