Janetta, I have 19 roses in pots here in Las Vegas and as you know, it gets REALLY hot here - doesn't even cool down at night from June through September. What I did was to insulate the pots in sheets of styrofoam-like house insulation that you can buy at HD or Lowe's. It's not expensive, comes in different thicknesses, from 1/2 inch to 1" and in lengths of 4' or 8'. They're very easy to cut if you need to. I used a 2" x 8" sheet that I put in front of 4 pots so the sun wouldn't beat down directly on them. I screwed the 2X8' sheet to a piece of lattice, added some trim and finials, and it really looks nice. (I cut pieces for any sides of the pots that would be in the direct sun as well.) Also, I mulched them with as much shredded bark as the pot would hold to keep the roots near the surface as cool as possible. They were all 'newbies' this year and came through the summer really well - even managed to grow some. Now that it's cooled down, they're really putting on new growth and blooming like crazy. I hope this helps you. If you have any questions, just let me know. Karin

Nhbabs, I was sorry to read about your injury I certainly hope your kiddos arenÂt taking advantage of your lack of speed!! I learned lots about oak galls I didn't know; where did you find all this info, KT? Back in October I read a great article in my local news paper the Vineyard Gazette by Suzan Bellincampi titled A Lot of Gall at the same time that I was doing yard clean up under a stand of Oaks (black, red, and pin). Her article which included a quote (though grim) from Thoreau, encouraged me to read further and read I did but I am afraid I did not take notes on resources I will say how ever all of the info was repetitive with the exception of the timing of the wasp leaving the oak apple gall, Bellincampi reported the timing was no later than Memorial Day where other sources stated this happened as late as Mid-July. Terrene, Do these gall occur on certain species of Oaks or all Oaks? Do they damage the trees? From what I understand the oak apple gall can occur on all Oaks but it is more likely to be found on black and red oaks. Although some galls as VV pointed out can cause damage to its host but I donÂt believe the oak apple gall causes any type of extreme damage. VV, The worst galls form along woody stems, where they can cut off circulation, or weaken branches enough that significant canopy loss is possible Hmm.. this made me think of the hard reddish galls that I find on my (32+) blueberries? It sounds as though this might be the cause of branch die back that I have yet to diagnose. Thanks for the book referral Sinclair & Lyons Insects that Feed on Trees and Shrubs sounds like a must have for any library. DtD, Glad you brough this one up a while ago I lost a beautiful cedar and the tree guy attributed it to Gymnosporangium juniperii I wonder if that was likely? Have you had any problems with it?

Do you think that there are any particular ingredients that the tomatoes would leach from the potting soil that I could add before I plant the roses next week? I will be putting in Mills Magic and will mix compost with the soil, but do you happen to know if tomatoes take out other nutrients? ***** Now you've got me confused a bit. LOL In your first post you said you'd been growing your tomatoes in pots and now wanted to plant roses in those same pots. I would assume, as I said above, that in those pots you had artificial mix and composted manure, probably, hopefully, both purchased. But now you're talking about tomato dirt. Do you mean that you just had real dirt, whatever that might be, in those pots instead of purchased artificial mix and composted manure? If using artificial mix and comosted manure in the pots anything grown in them will take up whatever nutrients are there and I assume you also fertilized your tomatoes as well, since the artificial mix is not a source of nutrients. I don't know what Mill's Magic is in terms of specific content. When I grow my roses they get fed nicely throughout the major part of the season but not in the Fall since I don't want new growth at that time. Wouldn't you also be feeding your new roses as well, like even maybe soaking them if they come bare root, in a solution that contains some NPK, either blue stuff such as MG or Peters, or if organic some liquid fish or seaweed? I always do that presoaking whenever new bareroot roses came. So right now I don't see the problem as regards having enough nutrients in those pots since you'll be adding it to those new roses once they've established themselves. If I'm missing something here, please share that with me/us. Carolyn

Curdle, I hope you discarded all the soil in the PJPII pot in a secure waste bag, then removed off your property. Then, a thorough disinfection of the pot in which it grew, as well as all the tools that came in contact with the bush or its pot's soil should be done. The only case of root gall that I am aware I have had so far was 4 years ago on an own root Belinda's Dream, purchased online as a gallon pot from a well known mail order nursery, stateside. It had been growing in the ground in my rose bed for about 3 years when I discovered its root gall as I was moving it to a different spot. There was only one root gall on the bush. It was about 8" out from the crown attached to a very thin root. It was the size of a golf ball, very round and rough, heavy for its size, and as hard as a rock. What surprised me the most was that the Belinda's Dream it grew on was a vigorous bush and showed no above ground signs of the gall on its root. I immediately discarded the bush in the trash can, but I did not disinfect the tools used or remove the soil in the area where it grew. To this date no rose growing in or near the spot in the bed where the infected Belinda's Dream grew has shown anything but good vigor. Does this mean the root gall bacteria has not infected any other roses? I cannot say for sure, who could? There are no above ground signs of anything but strong growth. Does this mean the root gall bacterial has died out? How can I tell. Do all/some of my roses have root gall and show no symptoms? Maybe. These are all questions that linger in my mind. I think my mind would be more at ease if I had removed the soil in the area in which the infected rose grew, and also disinfected the tools used. That is why I have advised you to take all the precautions I did not take. I have no excuse for being careless in my case, and am fortunate my roses are all growing well in spite of me. A word about Pope John Paul II... There have been so many mixed reports on the vigor of PJPII that I would not necesarily lay the blame for its poor performance for you on the root gall it had. Just a thought, in light of the vigor my Belinda's Dream showed in spite of its root gall. Maybe its decline was yet to manifest itself. I may have just moved it before the visual effects of the infestation took place. No way of knowing for sure. Maybe root gall is a benign infestation, unlike crown gall.