EP problems could be any number of issues.. Might simply be non-optimal soil if this is the first year that the area been planted as a garden. Could it be not enough sunlight? or overcrowding? My only comment would be on your timing. I'm in your same planting zone. EP love heat. I typically plant EP seeds aroud the beginning of March and set plant mid to late April. I've found it better to wait until the soil is good and warm. However, I'd doubt that an early planting would be the cause of your problems. You can always try again.... I'm about to plant Ping Tung EP seeds for the Fall production. Plants will be ready for planting around mid-June.

HI folks Sorry I've been off posting since last fall - I've missed you all. Partly I've been online so incredibly long hours teaching (university) that I haven't been able to stand being online any more than I have to be. Also, I had a devastating garden-wide bout with Rose Rosette Disease last fall and had to take out about 20 roses and prune ABSOLUTELY everything else to the ground to hope to avoid catastrophic rose disaster. I'll post separately about that, maybe this weekend. Suffice to say for 1000 roses several of which were 12' tall and 10 years old (owning their own dumpsters) this was an exhausting and demoralizing fall. To respond to folks in warmer zones that just got that bizarre freeze all the way to Texas, it doesn't hurt to wait a bit to prune. Dead canes don't cause the rose problems any more than long fingernails cause you problems beyond inconvenience, though if there is downy mildew spotting it's probably good to prune sooner than later. I try to wait till the rose starts leafing out and you can see what is alive at that point. Seil, no I'm not remotely pruning at this point - the post is several years old and was from mid to late March. We're still recovering from the snowiest January ever and one of the coldest Februaries ever. Thank heavens it was in that order! Under the snow it's always 32 degrees however cold the air gets, and we had easily two feet of snow (16" in one snowfall) protecting everything. It's just now starting to melt with temps this week into the 40's all week, but it'll be a long time till I'm out in the garden. Great tips about not pruning once-bloomers Seil. Fortunately those are among the roses that don't take any pruning at all and I almost never see winter damage. Occasionally I'll see a once bloomer shed a cane for some reason, but that can be pruned out after the spring bloom to avoid disrupting the other canes. For the first year ever since growing roses, i have absolutely no rose pruning to do this spring. Everything was pruned to the ground so it's a matter of seeing what resprouts from the ground, and anxiously checking for any signs of RRD and ruthlessly digging out. No second chances or wimping out. Glad this post is helpful! Cynthia

MNDutch RoseGuy Thank you for the fantastic report on nurseries, I never buy from Edmunds roses after googling "The scoop on .. name of nursery", this gives customers' reviews on any nursery. https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/123/0/ How do you like the own-roots bought from Roses Unlimited this summer sale? Nurseries that I bought own-root roses from are: Regan, Burlington, Heirloom, Chamblee's, High Country Roses, Roses Unlimited. Right now I'm debating if I should buy State of Grace for $16 from Northland Rosarium ... shipping charge is $20 for 2 roses, but Andrew is excellent in customer service. Della Reese is wimpy as grafted-on-Dr.Huey (got from local Menards store for $6 as bare-root). It didn't even flower for 1st year, so I killed it. Grafted-on-Dr.Huey declines drastically after 2nd-year in my zone 5, so I no longer buy grafted-on-Dr.Huey unless it's flowering lots in a pot at local store. Very happy with the 6 roses I bought from Roses Unlimited this June 2020 summer sale, they are 3 times taller than the 4 bands I got from High Country Roses late May 2020. The bands from High Country Roses are so short that they got eaten by bunnies this fall. For dense & thick and alkaline clay like mine, just a bare-stick Dr.Huey-roostock doesn't sprout roots well, even when bought from Regan Nursery, such as Young Lycidas (grafted-on-Dr.Huey) died through its first zone 5 winter. The blooming power of 3 own-roots roses (large bare-sticks) from Regan Nursery is less than the blooming power of 3 own-roots roses (in pots) from Roses Unlimited. In the past decade of buying 130 own-root varieties, I find that alfalfa meal is a must for growth-hormone, it's worth making a special trip to the feed-store for a 40 lb. bag of alfalfa meal to mix with potting soil or to top my clay. Roses Unlimited recommends mixing 2 cups of alfalfa meal or 1 cup Mills Magic Rose Mix in the planting hole. Below is a tiny band of Crimson Glory (bought from Burlington) producing 4 bud/blooms after 1 month of purchase, fertilized with alfalfa meal.

I joined the swap before the deadline but forgot to post my list. Here it is: Gaura: Sparkle White, Whirling Butterflies, Crimson Butterflies, Rosy Jane Salvias: Amistad, Caradonna, Pozo Blue, reptans, penstemonoides, sinaloensis, chaemadroides, darcyi-any salvias that are hardy in zone 8 Scabiosa-perennial (Fama, Butterfly Blue etc) Sedum- Sunsparkler series, Touchdown series, Marina, Mr. Goodbud, Thunderhead, Thundercloud Abutilon megapatmican (hardy) Heliopsis: Burning Hearts or Bleeding Hearts Shasta Daisies: Real Series, yellow/cream colored, or dwarf Bergenia Snapdragons-tall annual snapdragons, or perennial snapdragons Maianthemum (false Solomon's seal) Belamcanda "Hello Yellow" Pardancanda (any) Melampodium paludosum (annual) or leucanthum (perennial) Gladiolus-dalenii (parrot gladiolus) or other small flowered or species glads Dianthus Romance series, any hardy Dianthus Nepeta "Neptune", "Cats Pajamas', 'Little Trudy' or any tidy cultivar Petunias Japanese Iris or other species Irises, Euphorbias (any ornamental) Penstemon pinifolius Geraniums-perennial only Coleus (any) Perennial or annuals that will grow in clayey soil and tolerate heat-for sun or shade