Roses

I love roses! I don't use anything like Miracle Grow or whatnot. We try to go organic when we can. Sometimes I use manure tea, but mostly my roses do OK without anything. I've heard that giving them alot of nitrogen makes them more suceptible to fungal yuckies. When they do look fungal, I squirt them with a weak solution of plain yogurt and water. I make sure when I cut the flowers (either to deadhead or for boquets) that I cut just above a group of five leaves. Also, I prune at the end of winter, before I get alot of new growth. I cut down any canes less than a pencil's width, any canes growing into the center of the bush, and any canes that cross another. You want to prune in a way that lets light and air into the center of the bush. You can cut back a rosebush pretty severely if you want to check it's size. I've cut them down to about six inches from the ground without ill effects. Generally I think that more severe cutting leads to fewer roses...but the roses you get will be bigger and more spectacular. Light pruning will lead to more roses that are smaller. Sometimes we have aphids, and I squirt them off with the hose. Enjoy your lovelies!

I would add, Don't be intimidated. Roses are pretty rugged plants.

They don't *need* to be fertilized if the soil they're in is good, but every spring & fall you can just apply a 3" layer of compost & water it well. Keep them mulched deeply to avoid weeds & high water bills. Straw, hay, leaves, beauty bark, it's all good. Unless you have slug problems, bury melon rinds & banana peels under the mulch. Watering with reclaimed, soapy/foody kitchen water is great too. Real soap breaks down into great food plants -- the American colonists fed their gardens with wash water containing lard soap.

To avoid disease the best thing you can do is have healthy plants. The more sun, the better, and they like good air circulation, so don't cram a bunch of other plants real close to them. They *can* be moved if their position seems to be challenging them. Ask at a nursery that specializes in roses (not a hardware store garden center).

I've never tried the yogurt solution but it makes sense. I've used a solution of 1 tsp baking soda & a few drops liquid Dr Bronner's soap per quart of water. This has "brought back" roses that were so covered in black spot they'd almost completely defoliated. It supposedly prevents fungal spores from germinating, so also spray the ground around the roses. Use it up to once a week. I find after the plants are fully leafed out in spring I don't need to use it anymore (because the spores never got a chance to establish themselves). If buggies start chewing on my roses I spray them liberally with peppermint or lavender Dr Bronner's in water. A strong garlic tea might work, or a cayenne tea, depending on what the bugs are. (The garlic smell goes away in a day or so). And, you know, don't panic over a few fungal spots or one caterpillar.

Pruning sounds complicated, but give yourself a few years and a book with pictures and you'll achieve a balance. If your roses are short and have fewer, very large, blooms than you'd like, prune less severely next year. If they're tall and floppy with blooms only at the tips, prune more severely next year. Either way you won't kill them. If you have antique roses, that bloom only once in the spring, prune them right after blooming or not at all that year; if you wait till late winter, you won't get any roses in spring.

Rodale Press has very good books on organic gardening & I'm sure they have one or more about roses.

Thanks for the info about black spot, girlndocs. I have a terrible time with it here in Chicago. Some varieties are very susceptible, some never get it. I hate to use anything chemical-y with young ones around. Gotta love that Dr. Bronner's!

A rose book I love is Growing Roses in Cold Climates, written by two master rosarians who live and grow in Minnesota. They have lots of info on winter-hardy roses (which ones will survive without protection, how to protect those that need it), as well as a thorough fertilizing plan that I follow which results in absolutely show-stopping displays of roses on my shrub and climbing roses. The book gives organic and non-organic versions of the fertilizing plan, including when to start and stop (so roses have a chance to get ready for winter).

My basic plan is alternating 20-20-20 in water one week, then fish emulsion in water the next week. Most books I have read love the old-dishwater thing, and most say water only in the morning and don't get leaves wet, to avoid black spot and other fungal diseases.

Edited to add: I'm abandoning my fish emulsion treatment (high in nitrogen), and trying the Dr. Bronners n baking soda. How often did you have to do this before you saw an improvement?