@strawchicago z5 your Yolande looks outstandingly beautiful and the foliage perfect and gorgeous.

garden nest: Per your questions of full sun, partial shade, or weak & cool morning sun only. It depends on if a rose is good for the vase. Charles Darwin is good for vase, lasting 3+ days with firm petals so it can take some hot evening sun. But Charles Darwin is a pale leaves rain-hog (needs tons of rain to bloom), so full-sun in a dry climate means Charles will be very stingy in blooms.

W.S. 2000 has softer petals than Charles Darwin so blooms fry even with a few hrs. of afternoon sun, thus best in very few hours of cool morning sun (like the gloomy climate England where it's bred).

Most French roses like Sonia Rykiel can take hot full-sun, even at 100 F. Southern France is hotter than northern England, and southern France has a vast region of alkaline clay.

Sonia does best with DENSE and alkaline clay, it pumped out 15+ blooms in a dinky 3-gallon pot as 1st-year band-size in late fall. In early spring it sat there doing nothing, refusing to grow until I topped it dolomitic lime along with alfalfa meal to "thicken" the soil prior to heavy rain.

Yesterday 6/21/22, it was 99 F here and Sonia exploded in buds, it does better with my alkaline tap water at pH 9 than with tons of acidic rain at pH 4.5. Below was Sonia Rykiel in Sept. 2021, with 15+ buds in a 3-gallon pot, after a few months received as a tiny rooting from a friend in late April 2021.

Anyone has info. on Royal Jubilee as own-root? Thanks for the info.

@strawchicago z5

OK this makes lots of sense and helps to understand why some complain of a rose not blooming while others get lots of blooms, great foliage etc.

Yes great info, amazing to learn the particulars of a rose. One wishes the vendors will give you all the info for better success.

Even though I have more acidic soil I'm going do some of some of these fragrant roses and this amendments to the soil and use pine bark mulch/ and I'll just and in soil then just add dolomitic lime etc to make it more neutral when needed.

That is also why most roses I planted did better at first and not as great after a while, because the instructions I had I put great soil amendments including dolomitic lime.

Great help! thanks :)

If someone knows where to buy Sonia Rykiel please let me know. I was trying to find the phone and website for the company email did not work, maybe they're done for the summer

I got my Sonia Rykiel last year from Roses Unlimited

Straw - I can attest to what you said about Charles Darwin. Mine is finally, finally doing much better after getting a ton of rainwater. :)

Anyone in the wet PNW seen Perfume Breeze at any HD or Lowes?

Ann, not sure where exactly in Washington you are but I got a Perfume Breeze from Carpinito’s in Kent

Freedom gardens will propogate it for you ,but it may take a while.

Perfume Breeze was sold at Home Depot early May here in zone 5a (which translates to April for your zone 8a). It was sold out fast within a week due to the powerful scent that perfumes the entire garden area. I saw Perfume Breeze listed in Burlington inventory.

It's best to buy from HomeDepot, the rootball was HUGE at 2-gallon and the plant was loaded with blooms for $25. HomeDepot's rootball was so big that I could not fit into a 7-gallon air-pot, I had to plant smack into my clay. Below pic. of Perfume Breeze was taken after 3/4 of the blooms were gone.

Nice. My own route is Smaller but I'm so happy with it. I didn't realize it was sold at the big box stores Or I might have chosen something else.

I believe Raft Island Roses also had Perfume Breeze as a bare root, but they only ship in the spring.

Beautiful, Straw!! Looks like a great rose for the bees. Mine is right beside my perennial garden. Mine has tons of buds just waiting to pop. It's such a strong and healthy grower. :) I can't wait to smell its fragrance!!

rosecanadian that is good to know

oursteelers 8B PNW Thank you I will try them hope they are still shipping.

strawchicago z5 you mentioned before you moved Munsteadwood far from the trees. How far? I have maples trees, I'm hoping to plant about 25 feet or further where I might plan CPM it receives morning sun to 1pm another spot farther receives more sun till later 3pm

Trees send out their roots BEYOND their canopy. Munstead Wood was 20 feet from a slender & small crabapple tree and the roots extended far beyond its canopy to invade Munstead Wood. So I moved Munstead Wood else where.

Munstead Wood is constantly eaten by rabbits here with its thinner leaves. If I had known about air-pots earlier, I could had put Munstead Wood outside in a 12-gallon air-pot. Joey in zone 4 put her roses in large pots and they survive winter if bags of leaves are put next to them to insulate, plus 1 foot of protection on top.

Roses die through my winter NOT because of cold temp., but thanks to freezing rain in April or May in poor drainage clay. Air-pots solve that problem of tons of freezing rain in May that rotted my tiny rootings, and even trees can't take 2 inch. of freezing rain per day.

I lost 6 trees over the past 2 winters of too much freezing rain in early spring. These trees are 15 to 20 year old.

In May I asked husband to burn a big pile of yard waste. I put pruned rose canes at bottom, then topped with a heap of other pruned perennials up to a 1.5 feet. He was annoyed since the rose canes are still green at the bottom of the heap, despite Feb's freezing temp at -20 F below zero. Funny how rose canes were still green lying on the ground, below a heap of green compost, but decades old trees died this past winter.

strawchicago z5 Great idea with those pots. Did Joey put the pots in the garage? I don't have room in the garage since we put the car in there so as not to shovel snow. and it's hard to move those heavy pots.

Here is the fence we are installing now and the Maples are at the end (dark end) the maples provide shade after 1pm up to where black plastic lays (nice for the roses that need shade) It's noon time and towards the front of the fence there is sun all day, but the roots :{ will have to feed them more

Right before the maples there is a small deviation of the fence due to the big roots. perhaps I can hide some roses in containers in the winter there behind between the fence and the neighbor's

garage, they might be kept from the north wind. I wanted to plant roses along the new fence but when digging holes for the fence I seen smaller roots, could be old removed trees. Here . O well decisions decisions.

Some of my pots are tall and big but narrower at the bottom..will like to try some of the air pots.

@garden nest 101 Z5 northeast I had good pot survival when they were all clustered together against the firewood pile, bags of potting soil piled around the group of pots, and then a discarded Christmas tree laid over the top to block the wind.

This last year I had changed the kind of pot I was using and it turned out the new ones had poor drainage which killed the roses.

I didn't have any of them in the garage, I tried one mini in the garage one year and it survived fine but too much work hauling in and out and making space.

The roses that had the best survival this last winter (even though they were transplanted in late fall and experienced freezes with exposed roots) were planted in the ground and then twigs and branches from the lilac bush piled on top and then leaves on top of that. My working theory is that the twigs and branches allow air flow around the canes, as opposed to mulch against the canes keeping them damp and damaging them with rot, and then leaves on top to block the wind and the worst of the cold. I plan to try that again this winter to confirm my theory.

marascz9b Raft Island is on the way to Physical Therapy so I'll call or check. Mike has amazing plants and I want to see his Dad, Frank's seedlings in bloom. Several people have gotten Frank's roses then named them for someone.

Joey: You are right about dry & warm air is best next to canes (like dry wood chips or canes), then wet stuff on top like leaves. Wet & acidic leaves on top of the crown through winter can cause black canker.

Garden nest: Your white fence looks fantastic !!! My neighbor put a fence like that but he has the bottom of his 6' tall plastic white fence sits on the ground so rabbits can't crawl in.

It's OK to plant roses where tree-roots are if square cement blocks (1' x 1') are placed into the ground to prevent tree roots from invading. That's what I did for my 20-year old Norway Spruce (over 30 feet tall). Below are cement blocks dug down to 1 foot to stop Norway Spruce's roots. Later on I had to put another layer next to it since roots crawled between adjacent blocks. Deciduous trees like my dwarf cherry tree is worse than tall Norway Spruce: I had to dig down to 2 feet and put cement blocks down to 2 feet. It's a real pain to stop tree-roots, so I'll try 12-gallon air-pots OUTSIDE in winter insulated by bags of leaves, plus a heap of wood chips over 1 foot tall on top.

TREE ROOTS CAN CRAWL UPWARD INTO POTS, that's why I put pots on top of cement blocks.

i have read the wonders of air pots, but seeing these example is believing!!! Do you plan to put these roses in the soil eventually? Im expecting my PL in the coming days and would love to have similar growth.

Straw - You got a Firefighter to grow!!! Wahoo!!! I'm actually getting Austins to grow thanks to my rainwater collection system that my husband did for me. I'm going to buy some Austins next year. I'm so happy for you that the air pots are doing so well for your roses!! Oh, by the way, I can't get into my email (long story) so I may have to make another one and if you sent me an email, I haven't read it. No worries though.

vaporvac: yes, I'll put them into my rock-hard clay when their roots are at least 1 foot long to survive my zone 5a winter.

Carol: Per your questions with pics. in your e-mail, here is my answer:

Your own-root Vineyard Song (also Blue for you): Lavender and blue roses has multiflora genetics and HATE any salty fertilizer.

The crisp leaves & brown margins are from fertilizer-burns.

That happened when I put a wad of salty chicken manure on my tiny roses, or too much chemical granules. When acidic rain hit, they melt off solid fertilizer and it's a fast release to burn leaves. Alkaline tap water does less damage since alkaline tap water can't dissolve fertilizer as well as acidic rain water.

SOLUBLE fertilizer is best if you use acidic rain water. I got brown margins (salt-burns) on leaves when I mixed 1 cup of alfalfa meal with 1/2 cup of rock-dust, plus tons of acidic rain. The acidity of rain, plus alfalfa meal broke down fast the rock-dust (has salt), and I got salt-burns (brown margins on leaves). I had to replace the soil.

CALCIUM is best in tiny doses, same with fertilizer (best as weak soluble) for young roses, be it own-root or grafted.

When bare-roots try to grow thin cluster-root, these are sensitive to any granular fertilizer. The advice given by own-root nursery is NOT to use any granular fertilizer for the 1st year.

Antique Rose Emporium, even with their HUGE 2-gallon root, specified that DO NOT use any fertilizer until 1 month later, then use diluted SOLUBLE fertilizer after that.

PCDM, Anastasia, Sweet Delight - to make bare-roots grow: apply a SOLUBLE growth hormone from alfalfa meal or mint compost. That's my logic of soaking 2 TBS of alfalfa meal for a few hours in 1 gallon of tap water, plus 1/2 TBS of sulfate of potash .. to induce growth.

A friend nearby swore that the mint-compost he bought from Heirloom Roses is a cure-it-all. I agree. Mint is invasive in my garden since it has growth hormone.

One year in high heat, I tested both alfalfa tea and mint-tea, and mint-tea far surpassed alfalfa tea. I tested mulching roses with alfalfa hay versus topping them with alfalfa meal, and alfalfa hay (slow-release) is way better in inducing new growth and health.

Alfalfa meal is highly processed, a faster release & more acidic. It's like eating fresh foods versus fast food. Alfalfa meal is best as diluted SOLUBLE.

I have a 11th-year own-root Francis Dubreuil that's shrinking due to old age. Nothing can perk it up, not even alfalfa meal nor any fertilizers. Rabbits kept eating that tiny rose, so I chopped up fresh peppermint and threw on the bush to deter rabbits. After day-long rain, the bush exploded in growth and leaves are super healthy and glossy. I was impressed, same thing happened to W.S. 2000 that got eaten really short by rabbits.

Fresh Greens (esp. those with growth hormone) is better for tiny roses than salty chemical fertilizer.

Thank you, Straw! I had decided to go for tap water for my own root Vineyard Song and Blue For You with tap water. I'm glad I made the right decision. :) :) I learned the hard way about calcium in tiny does. You have no idea how much I put on and lime last year. Ugh. My roses that survived the horrors of last summer are finally (with all the rainfall and rain from my collection system) getting better. Yeah, I'm not using alfalfa pellets this year...maybe not anymore at all. I'm just using soluble fert. Hmmm...maybe I should grow mint next year. I'm amazed at how mint has helped you weak growers. I wonder if parsley would help...I grow that. Doubtful...but you never know. :) Thank you so much for your help...you always come through for me. :)

• @strawchicago z5, would you say the growth on your potted roses exceeds that of other years? Have you changed any other factors such as soil, fertilizer, etc. Im just trying to tease out the multi-variables to help determine if its the pots thats accounting for the extra growth if there even is more growth this year to begin with before I invest in some. Whatever, your roses look fantastic!

Vaporvac: Air-pot is A MUST for high rain climate, regardless of growth factor. Smart pots or fabric pots SUCKS, I bought one and never again, soil dries out fast in a fabric pot.

Air-pots are different, it's made of out black plastic so it retains moisture, but has many holes to let out excess rain-water. It also allows plenty of air for best root-growth.

The top growth and flowering is from fertilizers alone, but the root-growth below is from air and fluffy soil. Last year I achieved FAST GROWTH and FLOWERING with plastic pots, but I drilled dozens of holes on the sides & bottom. Last year I grew Sonia Rykiel from a tiny rooting (3" tall with a root 1/4 the size of LongAgoRoses' band). Sonia Rykiel grew into 2 feet tall bush with 15+ buds in a dinky 3-gallon pot that I spent time drilling tons of holes.

But Sonia Rykie broke out in blackspots in late Sept. in that dinky pot. I put at least 2 cups of gypsum in that pot for fast drainage prior to planting Sonia Rykiel, but plastic pot (even with tons of holes drilled at the side) can't cope with the day-long rain.

So far Air-pots stood the test of 1" of rain per day in May, and recently 1" of rain (24 hrs. rain) this past Sat. June 25. It's about the health of roses besides FAST GROWTH of roots.

For top-growth it's easy to achieve with chemical SOLUBLE fertilizer (high in nitrogen), but for root-growth for my zone 5a winter-survival, air-pot is a must.

Constant flowering is easily achieved with Rose-tone or chicken manure once a month, plus Osmocote PLUS for pots. My goal is never tons of blooms, my goal is health plus solid roots for winter survival.

Below was climbing Crimson Glory in a 7-gallon air-pot (bought from RU April 28). Now after 2 months it's 3 times the size, and I need to transfer it into a larger air-pot (12 gallon).

Below pic. shows the advantage of air-pot, roots spread out more, thus can survive my zone 5a winter better. It's best to buy a largest air-pot, at least 12 gallon since roots grow fast, now all my six roses (gallon-size) from RU get too big in a 7-gallon air-pots, after 2 months of growth.

I have been off from the Internet for 3 weeks since July 4th (too busy with rooting roses & my dozens of pepper plants and 24 tomatoes).

Augusta Luis is my best rose purchase this year since the leaves are scratchy underneath, which means rabbits won't eat it. Below pics. was taken 2nd week of July, or 2 months after purchase as band-size from LongAgoRoses:

Below is Augusta Luis received as band-size mid-May

Below is Augusta Luis, after 2 months in an air-pot. Pic. taken mid-July. 100% healthy despite day long rain:

Augusta lasts long in the vase, up to 5 days. The scent is intense fruity: floral plus nectarine, scent is stronger than Abraham Darby:

I love your Augusta Luise! I've been trying to get one for two years now and haven't succeeded, she is always out of stock.

Good to see you back @strawchicago z5 ! I hope you are having a great summer and that your cuttings are striking !

Your Augusta Luise is looking great! I just added her to my boyfriend's garden (the madman said I could add some potted roses over there, I'm not sure he realizes he has opened the floodgates haha). She hasn't bloomed yet, but I hope she will soon ! Yours has gorgeous blooms and flawless green foliage, she's beautiful!

Straw - I killed 2 Augusta Luise plants over the past 2 years. But, you told me to have better drainage (found a place that adds pumice) and I also gave it a mixture of tap water and stored rainwater...and it's doing beautifully! Thank you! This picture is from late July.

Now growing new leaves.

Carol: Your Augusta Luis looks fantastic with so many buds. I'm impressed. Augusta Luis got up to 7 feet tall for a grower in zone 7 as grafted on Multiflora. Mine is own-root so it's less than 1 foot tall, but blooms last long on the bush, and huge at 4" across.

Straw - thanks! :) :) Yours has such wonderfully full flowers and great foliage! Looks like air pots are what works really well for you. :) :) Yes, Diane's AL (Idaho) is really big too. I don't think mine will get very big in a pot...but you never know. I'm just so happy that it's doing well. :) :)

Carol: I prefer own roots since they consume less water and fertilizer. Remember how Frank Gatto, owner of rose nursery in high rain PNW, recommended 5 GALLONS of water per week per rose, plus a handful (1/3 cup) of NPK 10-10-10 chemical fertilizer, plus 1/3 cup of ORGANIC blends at EVERY 3 WEEKS interval. That's just for one big grafted-rose.

I'm too lazy for such so I grow tiny own-root roses that demand less water and fertilizer.

Highly recommend air-pots for heavy rain climate ($60 for six pots at 7 gallon each on Amazon, plastic saucer included, and wheels for extra $10).

Air-pots are fantastic for fast growth of own-root roses, below is Augusta Luis with 10 buds after 4 months purchase as band-size, it's healthy at 80% humidity, pic. taken 9/6/22:

Since the air-pots are so tall & deep, I plant the rootings at 1/2 depth so the roots are shaded by the outer wall. In my zone 5a winter I need to throw a thermal blanket over in my unheated garage. Easier to throw a thermal blanket over if the rootings are planted at 1/2 depth in an air-pot so they won't be crushed by the heavy thermal blanket in the winter. 7-gallon air pots are best for fast growth of tiny rootings. Below 2 rootings are in an air pot.

This April I brought rootings out from my garage and some got eaten by Squirrels, others died when we had freezing rain in late April. The best way to keep rootings alive is a tall air pot. Each air pot holds 2 rootings, it drains fast so spring rain won't kill rootings. One can plant the rootings deep inside each air pot for shade, then throw some thorny branches inside to prevent chipmunks or squirrels from climbing inside.

In my zone 5a winter with unheated garage, it's easier to cover each tall air pot with a thermal blanket since rootings are planted DEEP (fill up the tall air pot only with 1/2 with soil).

Have you over wintered your roses in these airpods yet?

Not yet, but I over-wintered many pots of rootings in my dark & unheated garage in zone 5a winter. Best winter survival is with FAST drainage pots, and the worst winter survival is with poor drainage pots. Joey in zone 4, WY made the same observation keeping roses OUTSIDE in zone 4 winter.

strawchicago z5

Hi, I'd like to ask Straw or anyone for suggestions about transplanting my young roses from this past spring. ( own roots purchased this past spring)

After my beautiful own roots roses are finally doing great in the ground (thanks to your help and advise) Now I find out we have to move by Nov 1st. 2022.

So please tell me what is the best time to transplant them. I can trim them and dig them out now, put them in pots and in the ground in their own pots (in our friend's garden) only temp until the spring 2023 when I'll have my own place. and then It will be easy to get them out in pots

I'm afraid to dig them out in November, they may start growing to close to winter. Since (If I'm not wrong I'll have to hard trim them so the roots won't have to support too much foliage.

Any suggestion please, I appreciate help to save my roses (about 25 of them).

garden nest 101 Z5 northeast I moved two 1st-year gallon-size own-root roses last weekend Labor Day. The one from pot did not wilt. The one from my clay wilted, so I had to chop 1/2 off that bush. It's hot & sunny in Sept. at 80 F so it's a nuisance to water them twice a day.

Years ago, I moved roses from my clay in early Nov., and it was SO MUCH EASIER. These were 3+ year own root, and they did not wilt since the weather is cooler. I had plenty of leaves to mulch, so I did not need to water them daily. It's best to move in late Oct. or early Nov. when the bagged topsoil HAS NOT FROZEN to ice blocks.

If I'm moving now, I would put roses IN POTS rather than in someone else's garden since I don't know how good their soil drain. I had grown roses to 3-gallon root ball, and they decline or die if planted in a poor-drainage spot. It takes at least 1 hour of digging in my rock-hard clay, plus pouring a 3-gallon bucket of water at 2.5 feet level to check for drainage.

POTS are best for roses to recuperate from the injury incurred by digging them up. When I dig up a rose, lots of cluster roots are damaged, and MOIST fluffy potting soil helps to grow back cluster roots.

If water cannot drain within 5 min. at 2.5 feet level, roses will blackspots or else die through freezing rain in zone 5. One day of heavy rain at freezing temp. is enough to kill roses in poor drainage clay.

Potting soil is on sale at Walmart at 1/2 price right now. We bought $100 worth this week of potting soil for next year, but we paid only $50 since it's 1/2 price. Beyond Peat potting soil's price is $8 but on sale for $2. It's rich but too dense (best on top). Pennington potting soil is too dry with bark but good for drainage at bottom (only $4 per bag on sale).

Better Homes & Garden potting soil is on sale for $5, it's BEST since it retains moisture and rich with turkey manure but needs to pick out the chunks of bark if used at root level. MG-Nature's care Organic Potting soil is excellent, very moist & rich.

Back to the Roots potting soil SUCKS, not worth buying even if $2. It's 90% cheap barks.

Below is my experience in planting 150+ varieties of own-root roses in my dense clay garden, zone 5a:

I dig a hole 3' wide x 2' deep, when I get down to 1.5' deep, pour a 3 gallons bucket of water. It should drain in less than 5 min, if not, then I dig out the rocks at bottom. I work in plenty of pelletized lime AT the top layer since I have acidic rain. For dry & alkaline region like CA then work in acidic gypsum instead. Austin or zillion petals roses need more calcium when they mature.

The soil at root level and below it should be FLUFFY (potting soil) for tiny own-roots and to encourage cluster-root in damaged roots.

Best for dense clay to be ON TOP, potting soil at root level, and even more pelletized lime (for acidic soi) or gypsum (for alkaline & dry climate) mixed with clay at bottom level to speed up drainage and provide calcium when roots go down deeper.

Soil on the East coast has less calcium but soil in CA has more calcium. Bagged soil in IL is rich in calcium, but my clay is depleted in calcium from too many trees in my garden. See below:

Straw - I'm so glad that you found those rose pots :) Someone here recommended them. Can't remember who. :)

strawchicago z5

Straw I'm so appreciate your caution me about the drainage danger, that would be catastrophic.

Where you in cold weather when you did it in November?

Do you think since removing them from the ground will incurred damage of chopping roots and most likely wilting and therefore having to cut some top foliage... my fear is doing this end of October/1st NOV and having cold weather when they have had no time to recuperate might kill some plants. And doesn't cutting the foliage encourage growing instead of going dormant which is due for the roses?

I'm leaning more on your idea of uprooting them in a week or so and putting them in 5 Gal pots.. then I can keep watering and caring. Then I will put them in ground in end of Oct but only if test show good drainage. otherwise ... I'll have to think of plan B. :( keeping them in pots maybe a unheated garage etc.. or do you think they will survive in pots next to a house with lots of mulch? And I'd put them in the ground inside the pots for easy transplant in Spring..

Ugh I'm in trouble

I so much appreciate the advise and any idea given

I hope my local Walmart has the potting soil.

joeywyomingzone4

you said:

"The roses that had the best survival this last winter (even though they were transplanted in late fall and experienced freezes with exposed roots).... twigs and branches from the lilac bush piled on top and then leaves on top..."

When you say "transplanted" does it mean from the ground in one area to another area in the ground or from pots to the ground? :) I'm sorry I just think of transplanting as from ground to ground, as roses in pots seem OK planted i n the ground, but as Straw says with amended and drainage..

Thanks for your answer

Straw Thanks for the tip. I found the Home and Garden pot organic soil on sale at Walmart it was $7 but still a good price.since it's normally $11 or more. they didn't have MG potting soil here.

So I imagine I would need to prepared the pot fill up to root level and then when I get the plant out of the ground I would need to remove at little of the soil at the root label in order to keep that area with more of this fluffy soil.

I'll be potting first the ones with no new grow, but some have big canes I'll wait a while till they mature a little.

This is triple work and more in the hot days as you say, so hoping for cool days soon :)

@garden nest 101 Z5 northeast last fall, late in the year, we moved house, but I had to dig the roses a couple of weeks early because the ground was freezing. I had too many roses to put in individual pots, so I got several large planters and stacked multiple roses, pruned back, with their rootballs kept as intact inside a shovelful of dirt as possible. Then I covered some with more dirt as I had opportunity. They sat in these large planters for several weeks and experienced several hard freezes and snowstorms before I was able to get them planted again in my new yard. To be honest I was really surprised that any survived after all the hullaballoo!!

Joey: That's a clever tip for moving. thank you !!

garden nest 101 Z5 northeast: I revise what I wrote IN CAPS: "Better Homes & Garden potting soil is on sale for $5 at Walmart, it's BEST since it retains moisture and rich with turkey manure but needs to pick out the chunks of bark if used at root level FOR ROOTING ROSES."

But for matured own-roots, those chunks of bark are great since they break down to provide calcium, plus giving air pockets for roots to breathe. Roots need oxygen to grow. If the potting soil has lots of bark chips (like Pennington or Better Homes & Garden), then it will create spaces in clay for roots to breathe.

From the web: "An ideal soil contains 25 percent air, 25 percent water, 45 percent minerals like clay and 5 percent organic matter."

Joey: Thank you for the good ideas,

Straw: I appreciate you making it clear as I misunderstood.

Thanks You so much

Joey - were they hardy roses? I'm glad that they survived for you...great job!

Carol most of them aren't what I would call known hardy roses. I zone push a bit so there are quite a few that are listed as zone 5 or even zone 6.

Great job on getting them to survive a zone 4 winter! :) :)

Thank you!!!

joeywyomingzone4 I appreciate the info. gave. You wrote: "The vegetable garden has been a bit of a disaster. The Kellogg's Organic Raised Bed soil that I bought to fill my planter boxes turned out to have an excessively high salt content and killed the seedlings I raised, along with the replacement plants I purchased from the nursery. It even killed bindweed that tried to grow up the side of the planters and root in the dirt! So, I thought I'd let you know that the Kellogg's brand of soil has been really toxic for me." Joey.

garden nest 101 Z5 northeast: ALERT about Better Homes and Garden bagged soil for container (black bag) sold at Walmart: It's also high in salt and made by rootings broke out in mildew. It has turkey manure, too salty.

The other rootings, planted in BEYOND PEAT potting soil (purple bag at Walmart) DO NOT HAVE MILDEW.

BEYOND PEAT is the purple bag on sale this fall for $2, versus $5 for Better Homes and Garden container soil. So the cheaper price is actually better quality.

Scott's bagged topsoil (red bag) sold at Walmart also changes the formula to be higher salt. Back in 2012 I was foolish to mixed horse manure into my clay, then planted 3 Austin own-roots. They broke out in salt burn (brownish at the edge of leaves).

In 2012 I replaced the soil with Scott's bagged topsoil, and each Austin gave 40+ blooms as 1st-year own-root & very healthy. Back then that soil had lots of black peat (decomposed peat), thus high in nitrogen.

Fast forward to 2022, I bought Scott's bagged topsoil, and the ingredients changed to LESS expensive black peat & MORE cheap & salty horse manure. I found a wad of brownish horse manure inside. It's saltier, and made my roses broke out in mildew, plus brownish burn at edge of leaves. Will scrape off that soil which I used to top my air-pots.

What a disappointment.