Gorgeous, Jeri. I got two from Paul, and they've squeezed out a couple of blooms. But they absolutely refuse to grow. Any suggestions? It's been Hades-hot this summer, but has suddenly cooled down after the remnants of Helene dumped a monsoon on us.

@fig_insanity Z7b E TN put them on "high culture". Give them the best soil, best position (morning sun, preferably filtered through regular nylon window screen, particularly through the hottest hours), feed them "weakly, weekly" with water soluble fertilizer after properly watering them to avoid burn, and DON'T LET THEM FLOWER until they are putting out regular, vigorous growth. Not because of the specific plant, but because they're either still immature or the conditions are too extreme for the maturity of the plants. We don't generally get "hot" most of the year here, but the sun intensity is SO extreme, I put all the new things and most of the minis under nylon window screen and that mitigates the sun intensity sufficiently to push them like crazy. Paul wrote me he can't get 44 Stripe to grow but two small plants of it have exploded with the treatment I just described. That is boards on saw horses with a "rustic" wooden frame with gray nylon window screen stapled to the top, leaving flip up sides for ease of maintenance. This is the eastern exposure as it runs north and south so the sides are the other directions.

Fig, CS has always been happy here -- Not a big plant, but very bloomiferous, and very healthy. I don't think it likes screeching heat, but It made it through our drenching wet winter very well (though it did stop blooming for a time). Now it's had a big flush of bloom, and it's starting to push new buds.

@jerijen Carolyn is half Pinstripe. It gets any "vigor" is may have from the Midnight Blue seed parent.

Well, not to say it's huge plant . . . but it's a pretty plant, and it repeats very well for me.

Mine here is getting nicely filled out.

It is gearing up for another bloom.

Jeri, sorry to hijack the thread. I only wanted to ask if anyone is selling Schmidt's Smooth Yellow that you knew about. It is still removed from the RPN website. Would anyone of you who are lucky to grow it be willing to sell cuttings? I can't resist that very specific Lady Hillingdon-esque shade of yellow anytime I see it.

Rosaceae . . . Where are you located?

John -- Oh God . . . If I'd had your weather, I wouldn't grow either!!

Jeri, I'm in Texas now. May I private message you?

Sure, l but I don't see a means of doing pvt messages here anymore!

I can still send and receive messages. Maybe your settings got turned off during the recent "update"?

Yes, I noticed the button to send messages appears for other users but not you, Jeri. Maybe some privacy setting as Vaporvac says. You might have not even edited it yourself, I think nobody would be surprised if it was a malfunction from Houzz lol.

How about I message you on helpmefind though? I believe I've seen your user there

Sure! Try that. Sorry. OR you can send a message at the HRG page, and it should come to me.

The Heritage Roses Group | Study, Preservation, Fellowship

Kim, could you post a photo of the sun-protection structures? Sad to say, I have both extreme sun intensity and excessive heat in summer,and the south-western exposure means intense afternoon sun. Last summer I used shade cloth on rebar hoops, but I would be very interested in exploring other options. I confess that I feel slightly comforted hearing that even someone like Paul sometimes has trouble getting roses to grow, not just me.

Carolyn Supinger is very beautiful!

It sounds as though you need greater shade protection than I am using. These are literally rudimentary wooden frames nailed to long boards strung between plastic saw horses, to which I have stapled gray nylon window screen so I can set the immature rooted cuttings and some of the smaller seedlings inside to protect them from being fried by the sun intensity. I guess you could increase the size and strength to create larger shade structures if needed.

Nothing "exotic" nor even really "professional" and not meant to last longer than required. The reduction of the solar heat and intensity has worked splendidly. It's currently raining, not really enough to help, just enough to make it nasty and cold outside. Neither of which I am prepared to deal with at the moment.

Fig -- I'm glad I don't have your climate!!!

Thank you so much, Kim. Yes, I'd definitely have to do it differently,since in my case I need to protect plants that are out in the garden, growing in the ground, not pots. But this does give me an idea for a new project (Ha! as if I didn't already have more than I can handle,lol)-that is, building a semi-permanent wooden structure around the plants that aren't taking off on which I can put the shade cloth in summer.

Another question about this "high culture". The roses in question have by now dropped most/all of their leaves, though there are leaf buds on them. I think it's mainly the lack of light that causes it, since we don't get very cold here. Should I be doing the weakly/weekly fert thing now anyway, or wait until early spring?

Thanks again, and please Jeri pardon me for hijacking so shamelessly!

@jerijen Jeri, I think we all have our climate burdens to bear these days. In the past I had smothering humidity in summer and wildly swinging temps in Spring as my most common complaints, with the occasional dry spell in summer. Now, it's droughts, heatwaves, Arctic blasts, 1000 year floods...

Right now we're expecting our first frost this Saturday, which will actually be a freeze around 21F. That's *only* six weeks late compared to our normal first frost, and a much lower temp (our first frost usually occurs with a low of 32 to 35-ish) . This Fall has been very warm overall, with Sept and Oct averaging 15-20F above normal. It's much more "seasonal" now, but Oct felt more like August. I guess we all will have to adjust our gardening expectations, because there are going to more and more plants that we've grown in the past that simply won't be able to endure the changes. I'm too old to start with a new plant palette, so I guess I'll be forcefully downsized as things die out. My teas have loved the late warm weather, but I dread seeing the new growth they've put on this Fall get frozen, because it's about to happen.

Now, back on topic...I sure hope my CS plants survive the winter, because it's much too late to start feeding and pampering them on Kim's recommended schedule. Even with the weird weather, Winter IS on the way, lol. The few blooms I've had so far were tiny red dynamite, and I hope my CS eventually grows to compare to yours and Sheila's.

@bart bart you probably want to stop fertilizing over "winter". If there are rains, they'll flush away most of the nitrogen. If not, the salts may build up in the soil. I'd let them make any use of what they've already received then begin again once warmer weather returns.

I hear 'ya bro! The changing climates are killer. We had SUCH fun last spring, with new weed varieties, as well as oceans of blackspot. Can't wait to see what else the climate gods have in store.

I've just concluded that if a rose can't handle the weather we've inherited, I'll just have to let it die.

Ugh, I'm afraid you may be right,Jeri. I'm still effing around, because I know that I'm not as knowledgeable and expert as you or Kim; I have to be sure that I am truly doing my best. But I am reaching the end of the line. Last week we had a horrible weather event-heavy rain followed by high, high wind. Out at my land, and in the tiny group of houses nearby, there was enormous destruction-300-year-old oaks were uprooted .I spoke to a gentleman that lives in the town-he told me this, and that the trees that were blown down are so huge that he does not know how to cut them even with a chainsaw. Some fell on houses-trees that he said had survived the wind for hundreds of years. At my land, there is so much damage (I won't go into these pieces I've worked on for years, that did survive Ciaran); what really aches is the fact that one ancient oak on whom I've always reyed for shade had the whole top blown off. It's still alive, but totally mutilated and deformed. Seriously I don't think it's the fault of the actual win, much less that of the rain. This is most likely due to the fact that these last few years have been just too dry and hot; not enough rain in the fall , nor in what passes here as "winter"(any more ).In the past this happened with those wimpy "acacia" trees, but now apparently it's so extreme that OAKS are being defeated???

Oh, Bart, I am so sorry you have this trouble during the rainy Winter season when resting and recovery would be what you need.

Thank you so much for your sympathy, Sheila-I need it. Worse yet,my left hip is giving me trouble; I'm scared that I'll need that replaced. What awful timing.

Yes it is. My husband has had both hips resurfaced and it gets to a point these parts need attention. I'm in the rest up mode myself.

I am so sorry.