The best is Bayer Advanced Desease Control. NOT the Bayer 3-in-one, Just the desease control. Also very good is Bonide Infuse. Both are systemic.

Spray every two weeks like clockwork. If it is going to rain, move up your spray date, do not bump it back. Much more difficult to cure blackspotted roses than top prevent the mess in the first place. You can't really actually cure it, just hopefully stop it if its started. Much better not to start up in the first place.

Thanks rita.

If you only have afew roses just mix up the fungicide in a watering can. Use rubber kitchen dishwashing type gloves. Take the watering can and pour gently on the rose shrubs. Soak the ground underneath. It works as a drench too in that the roses will take it up by the roots. However, without getting fungicide on the leaves, those drenches never work as well as spraying. However, you don't actually have to use a sprayer LOL!

Sisters at Heart has two leaves affected by black spot, so it's off the list of "naturally resistant" roses, and the list is now down to 22.

Andi, my Carefree Celebration also has no resistance whatsoever. In general, the Radler roses (Knockouts, double Knockouts, etc.) are a real disappointment in this area.

Carefree Delight and Carefree Spirit, however, are Meilland roses and they haven't shown a trace of black spot yet, although Carefree Wonder, another Meilland rose, is not resistant at all.

Just looked at the 10 day weather report. Sun for next two days and then RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, etc. Getting out my sprayer right now. The problem is that when it rains so often, the spraying becomes ineffective. Shades of lats summer!

It really rained here lots last summer also. I remember that not once did I have to actually water the garden, not once.

well, it's almost noon here and it's only 46 deg and completely overcast. Actually had to wear a light jacket this morning. And it's going to be like this all week. Was hoping for HOT and wet, not this cold again!! If I had enough leaves, I know I'd be getting blackspot.

Today's 70, sunny, dry, windy. Tomorrow 55, rain, and near-frost temps at night. Usually April, May, and June here are rainless months. But the garden is full of young plants, so I can't complain about a little rain.

Too bad that ROSES don't like rain everyday. Maybe I'll give them each an umbrella or something.

I was spraying my plants with neems oil/baking soda/soap this morning. Of course a new neighbor came over to lecture me about the "evils" of chemicals. She doesn't understand why everyone doesn't garden organically. As far as I can tell, this woman doesn't garden at all. I don't even know her name, she just walked up and started lecturing. I explained that am a Cornell educated chemical engineer and was spraying with neems oil, bla bla bla. She started in about the "chemicals" again. I explained that neems was natural and that you can even get an organic neems oil if you want to pay over 3x as much plus shipping. Good thing she missed me spraying the Bayer solution with the big green metal sprayer yesterday. Ironically, I believe in gardening as naturally as possible and only use chemicals when the natural methods fail, just don't like being lectured by ignorant busy bodies. I haven't been feeling well and am very low on patience lately.

I also spray around the building with dilute ammonia/canola oil/soap to deter slugs and earwigs. Each spring I have to put ant traps outside. I wonder if she will still have a no spray policy when her kitchen is over run with ants and earwigs. I kind of hope that one of the voles follow her home and to eat her granola. Then she will be too busy to bother me when I am busy fighting aphids.

Maybe the rain will wash off some aphids, at least. I would rather have rain this week than when my peonies are blooming. No rose blooms yet, but lots of tiny buds.

At least you have buds! I don't have any blackspot yet, but I don't have any buds yet, either. Heck, I don't have hardly any LEAVES! Can't get blackspot if I don't have leaves.

Wait.

That's ONE way of preventing blackspot! Not having leaves on your roses! There! Solved the blackspot problem once and for all. Easy solution. No more unsightly blackened leaves. Just bare green twigs, thorns, & blooms! Yay!

Seems to be nature's way. She's always in a hurry to dump those leaves.

I use tons of Bayer chemicals. LOL. If someone lectures me about them, I'll tell them where to take a hike!

It was time to spray with Bayer for blackspot again. I am out there with my gloves and antique spray can contraption when guess who walks by. (I don't know her name yet, she didn't introduce herself the last time and I don't feel obligated to be polite to rude, nosy people.) Anyway, she looked appalled. I smiled and said said "just spraying with Bayer". She said "they make aspirin for plants?". I said "kind of, keeps the leaves green on the roses". She seemed to feel better knowing it was rose aspirin and not some "evil chemical". This woman is obviously a rocket scientist.

LOL, oh that is funny!

I have some really "interesting" neighbors. I just smile and go about my business, keeping my thoughts to myself. They must think I am deaf or crazy. Nice to have somewhere to share them.

As I am sure I mentioned, my worst neighbor is gone, so I can sit on my patio and enjoy the blooming honeysuckle (the one she hit with roundup that I hosed off in time). It is a bit crowded with winter sown containers at the moment. I appreciate the quiet and the local wildlife. No roses back there, much too shady, and too much juglone from the black walnut tree. No sign of any new neighbors there, but I hope someone nice moves in.

My neighbor across the way is nosy. If she sees me planting something, I can look out later and she will be planting something new. It's like we are having some sort of plant-off competition. LOL.

How funny, Clint. Only one neighbor is a gardener, but we aren't in competition. I just gave her a bunch of pachysandra.

A couple of people grow annuals or tomato plants, but that is about it. You have to be pretty determined, or crazy, to garden here with a short growing season, rocks and trees. When I see everyone's gardens blooming already, I am tempted to move south!

LOL! I'm the only one who doesn't do the grass thing on my block except for the renters on my west side. But, with the giant willow tree and a NE face, it'd be hard to grow anything there, so it's rocked in. Day before yesterday, I was outside laying down mulch when one of my neighbors comes over, wanting to know if I'm burying more bodies (we discussed this last year that I bury people that piss me off in little bitty holes, then cover 'em w/roses). Told him, yup, lots of people tick me off at work! But they're really nice.

We're due for some more humid weather today. This week will bring lots of showers. I wonder if my spraying for blackspot is effective or will it be washed off each time? Lots of stuff blooming now. Lilac Josee has it's first flush, daffs and tulips, allium starting, climbing roses all have buds, all rose bushes very red with new growth, baby blue eyes all over the place and in pots, pansies and more pansies etc etc. The good thing is that there will be something blooming in my garden from April until November each year. Just warm enough and cool enough for the lilies to overwinter well. Need to remember to spray Hollyhocks and others that behave like roses sometimes.