"Heidi Stump" wrote in message
...
Happy Friday everyone!

I am curious as to your thoughts on my experiences so far on growing
roses. I have 3 rose plants. 1 Buttercream HT by JP that I purchased 2
months ago from my favorite local nursery, and 2 JFK HT's that I
purchased 1 month ago from a nursery that has a good reputation, but
that I have never purchased from before. My experiences thus far:

Buttercream HT: No problems whatsoever. No disease, giving me lots of
blooms, reblooming quickly after I deadhead, or take the blooms inside
to enjoy. The plant has grown considerably in the past 2 months. The
japanese beetles have discovered this bush, but only after they
discovered my new roses.

JFK HT's: non stop challenges. First botrytis (sp?), than rust spots,
and what is left of the plant has been massacred by the beetles. Not
much growth (due in large to how much of the plant I have had to prune
from disease), not many blooms (for same reason). When I first
transplanted them I noticed 3 tiny little slugs (at least I assume they
were slugs, same color as slugs, definitely not white grubs) near the
root. Only when I planted the JFK's did Japanese Beetles discover my
garden.

So my question is...why has the Buttercream performed so much better
than the JFK?

1) Could it be the quality of the plant....should I not purchase again
from the nursery where I got the JFK's?
2) Is Buttercream known to be more disease resistant than JFK? (I
thought JFK had a good reputation as far as disease resistance)?
or
3) Is it shear luck....welcome to growing roses no one ever said it
would be easy...?


Thanks for your thoughts!
Heidi


Hiedi,

I can't definitively answer all your questions but I will say this:

1. yes, side by side roses that are different will bloom differently-- one
could bloom much more than the other.
2. pests- yes, some are more appetizing to pests than others. I've heard
it said that thrips like light-colored roses more.
3. I gave up on JFK and dug it up. It hardly put out at all. It was a nice
rose when it bloomed, but mine rarely did.

hope that helps

JimS.
Seattle