Amen to what you said Lyn, we all learn from each other!

The key part to that is many of us are in distinct climates that require a different set of rules.
Mr Rupert wrote most eloquently about this in a letter that was posted on HMF.
http://www.helpmefind.com/gard...
In this one letter, he warns about blanket statements about roses because of climatic and cultural differences. Mary Kay, in that same letter, he also talks about how some roses just refuse to root or grow own-root. If yours won't root for you, it's possible it's just the nature of that rose. Also, it may root, but be a poor grower without a stronger rootstock.

A club I belong to sent out a newsletter instructing rose growers to prune in January. (The editor had reprinted an article written for a San Diego club, I think.) If we were to follow those instructions, our roses would suffer terribly because they would try to grow during one of the winter warm spells. Our temperatures fluctuate terribly some winters--freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw. We normally have no snow cover to protect from the wind and dry air, either. We had a freeze here in May this year. Two days before the freeze, it was 102 degrees. If I post that my new Fantin Latour rose is only 1 foot tall, I need to remember that it was 3' tall already when the temps went crazy in May. That rose should be hardy to zone 4, and I'm zone 6b or 7, but this year deserves a * in the record books.
Blackspot has made an appearance here this year, too. Normally I would tell you ________ fill in the blank rose is free of blackspot. Not this year! I guess the good part is, the grasshoppers have eaten most of the leaves off the roses, so I don't need to go picking spotty leaves off the plants!

I totally agree with Mr Rupert in saying what works in one climate may not work in another. For example "pruning rose bushes in Jan", while that may work in Southern CA or Nevada, my roses in WY are in a deep freeze and up to their "necks" in snow!!! I would kill them if I pruned them in the middle of winter! So, he is wise to mention that climate and cultural difference need to be taken into consideration.
It sounds like Mother Nature was "menopausal" in your neck of the woods with a freeze and then 102 degrees days later!
I also had to smile in the article where Mr Rupert said that the rose called "Grey Pearl" was just plain ugly and hard to grow. Since I didn't know what Grey Pearl looked like, I googled it......oh my!!!! It looks like my beloved purple rose!!! I never knew what the name of my rose bush was, but when I transplanted it from my mom's house, I googled it then and thought it looked just like a rose called "Sterling Silver". I guess I will never know the name of this rose bush, but it is starting to "fit the bill" of the Grey Pearl, except that I would not call it an ugly rose. (At least not when it was in it's prime and before thrips moved in!)
I also like where he mentioned that some roses just refuse to root, which may be the case of the rose bush in Nevada that gives me fits!!! I have not given up though and am going to try again this winter when we are down there and I will try the tips that I have been given from all of you wonderful "friends" who have helped me with tips and advice.
I love this new forum. THANK YOU EVERYONE for all of your help!
Mary Kay

Due to some VERY harsh transplant handling and storage, I lost a lot of newly acquired roses. I want to fill in some holes in my drift rose border and want to try the burrito method. Incidently, the pink and red drift roses came back pretty quickly after the transplant shock. White took a little longer. Peach is finally looking better, but we're down to a single specimen roughly 1 ft2. Would like to try it on the peach to get it rolling again so I can fill the two holes left by death of the others..

Has anyone tried this method on drift roses? Will this work with ANY stems or just new growth, etc? Would love to use spent flowering stems as those are the only ones I feel are safe to remove right now.

Welcome UrbanWild

Yes, the burrito method works with any rose, but it has to be tweaked for where you are growing your roses and where you are propagating roses.

For example, Kim had a "window" where that method of propagation was highly effective for him in his southern California location. One of the variables that impacts most propagation methods is the ambient humidity during the propagation period along with others.

Good luck with your roses.

Bumping, because I missed the part where we determined why the systemmic and spot insecticide treatments failed and what to do next.

marykay37 said:... I am posting a picture of what it looked like many years ago. Several years ago, it got infested with tiny black bugs and I have had trouble with this rose bush ever since. For the past few years, I begin to spray the bush with rose food and systemic disease and bug control sprays as soon as growth shows and continue to spray every month. I am also attaching a picture of what the roses now look like. The rose bush is profuse with roses and the plant looks healthy, but the rose petals wilt and die off. Sometimes, the buds don't open. I do spray the tight buds as soon as they appear to try and get any bugs that are inside the bud. This particular rose is highly rose scented. I have several other rose bushes near and around this one and none of them seem to have this problem. They also don't have the strong rose scent that this one does. Also, the color of the roses is fading in color, whereas it used to be a beautiful deep purple and is now faded barely purple. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for me? thank you so much.

Pretty sure it's thrips, too. They go first for fragrant roses, and among fragrant roses they seem to like the lavender ones the most. I had this exact problem with Lagerfeld in NJ. Here in AZ thrips pretty much prevent the spring blossoms on Baronne Prevost from ever opening. It may seem a small consolation, but failure to treat the problem seems to draw beneficials to the garden and other cultivars tend to remain (nearly) unaffected. Fall bloom can be good if there's been a good summer monsoon.

That's not such a good solution for a garden with just one or two rose plants. Or where the unique fragrance of a particular lavender rose is the high point of the season. I've heard of dusting rose buds with diatomaceous earth or with insecticide. Does either of these work? Or must one resort to systemic insecticide to get to the thrips deep inside the bud? If this is the solution, why did it not work here? Did vinegar work?

I did not try vinegar because one person said that can kill the plant. Also, because I have two Yorkies that are always hunting for critters (lizards, mice or squirrels, not bugs) I hesitate to use any dusting powder in my garden.
Yes, this particular purple rose is heavily scented!

I understand. Thanks, Mary Kay.

Steve 812 We were just traveling through Prescott last week!

Sure looks like thrip damage. They pretty much ruined all my rose buds two years ago.
I used these traps last year and also sprayed with Bayar Insect control and eliminated the thrips all together.

Thank you!! I will look for this sticky tape!! I have used Bayer Insect control with minimal results but am excited to try the sticky tape!!! THANK YOU!

Sticky tape has been ordered!!! I can't wait to try it out! Thank you so much!!!!

Mary Kay, if you run out of the sticky tape you can try blue plastic cups sprayed with oil. Actually anything blue sprayed with oil. I have hear of people spraying the blue rubber gloves.

Thank you! I am willing to try anything! I have also used little paper cups with a bit of red wine in it and that also seems to attract the flying pests. They fly in the cup, drink some wine, get drunk and drown but I don't like sharing my wine with bugs that are destroying my garden!

you sound like my DH when I used his beer to get the snails drunk - he didn't like sharing either

oh yeah!! I also use my husbands beer to get the slugs drunk!!! Hey! whatever it takes, right?

My husband is clever enough to buy me cheap beer for the slugs!!

marykay37 said:I have also used little paper cups with a bit of red wine in it and that also seems to attract the flying pests. They fly in the cup, drink some wine, get drunk and drown but I don't like sharing my wine with bugs that are destroying my garden!

I once put some malt vinegar into one of those shake dispensers used for oil and vinegar to dress salads. It sat on the table indoors for a month before I used it. When I tried to use it, it was chock full of tiny flying insects, all dead of course. And I did not even know we had tiny insects in the house! It's not cheap, as vinegar goes, but it does work well and it won't go bad as fast as beer or wine.

Not sure if it works on exactly precisely the right flying insects. It may come down to whether you prefer your thrips stewed or pickled.

My blue stickies are on the way. I'm watering Baronne Prevost more heavily this spring in anticipation of some fragrant roses. I think the plant will look good with a touch of blue. Now I just have to trim the sticky in the shape of a rose!

You all are making me laugh talking about getting our pests drunk, stewed and/or pickled!!! Whatever it takes!! I have sticky tape out now along with blue plastic cup sprayed in oil next to a blue rubber glove sprayed with oil. Now to get some malt vinegar! Never can have over kill!
Steve812, your story reminded me of a time when my husband went out for a drink and he ordered a Jack Daniels and coke and that drink was full of dead little flies....so we called his drink "Jack and bugs" . He never ordered another one.......