I know I am recommending Northland Rosarium a lot but I love their roses! They are located up north I believe in zone 5 so the roses they grow are for that climate also. Plus they are own root. If you go to their website, you can read for yourself about their own root roses. The benefit for own root in zone 5 is if it dies back during the winter, it will grow again in the spring since it will re-grow form it's own roots. Grafted roses cannot do that. Also I am in zone 7, and I have two Eden roses. One is grafted, and the other is own root from Northland Rosarium. The grafted one I bought a year before, and a year later bought the own root Eden. Well the own root rose has almost caught up to the grafted one, plus the own root one grows new canes from the ground that the grafted one cannot. I am eagerly awaiting bloom right now, and I will post pics as soon as I can.

Thank you for the reminder to be more in awe of all the beauty I am gifted with in my garden. I tend to be focused on the creating aspect of gardening. Taking time to just be in the moment and admire with a joyful mind is the gift of our labors and talent. I see you are in zone 6b, berrypie. My growing zone is 8, so I am a fair bit milder. Certainly go for the hot area for Eden rose. As well, I am sure you know all about mulching the roots of your roses for winter. I am an advocate of own root roses, finding them to be much easier to grow. As well, they come back true from the roots should the top die to the ground for some reason.

Hi Candace, I would leave Eden where you have it, and train the canes out along the fence on either side, allowing them to spill down at the ends. I can confirm, from personal experience, that Eden will bow down and still bloom -- at least to the level of its roots. But as Cynthia notes, roses whose canes drape too far below horizontal can have issues (circulation problems? Anyone know how to explain this?) I'm not sure if Eden would enjoy hanging straight down over your fence -- it probably needs to go up or along the fence for at least as much distance as it will drape down. Imagine sort of fanning it out along the fence in both directions. Below is a picture of mine (own root, I think four years old now) which, last summer, was draping over my five-foot fence (at right) and hanging into the garden. This year it looks super awkward, as I chopped some of the canes leaning into my garden due to a midge issue, and encouraged it to sprawl in front of the alley to discourage a public urination issue (yeah... gross). But I think this picture will help you visualize the possibilities for yours. I would not remove the fence, as it will give the rose a bit of support.

A little late to the conversation, and I don't know what your soil is like, Lesli, but you might find alfalfa to be a lot cheaper in your area sold as horse feed. I'm not sure I would go to the trouble of making it into a tea -- from your description, your soil might appreciate it as a compost amendment. You could also look into digging in some green sand which might cover a lot of your micronutrient needs if the plants look a little anemic. And of course, Epsom Salts are very cheap at any drug store, for the nominal amount you might require, if magnesium is an issue. I wouldn't think a little epsom salt could hurt, as long as you don't overdo it. *Some* amendments can set you back more than the darned roses did in the first place! Ben's garden is absolutely spectacular -- probably the most spectacular I've seen in our region -- but you probably don't need to be quite so feeding-happy to have a happy garden. (You are likely to end up with proliferation in some of your blooms, and might have to beat back some of your plants if you get *too* crazy with the feedings! LOL.) Cutting peaches *before* handling Milorganite was probably a good call, BTW. ;-) (Ben, do you lay off your feeding regimen when the summer heat comes, or do you have to water your plants heavily to keep them humming along? I have historically tended to encourage my plants to rest to avoid stressing them too much in summer, but I also try not to irrigate more than I absolutely have to.)