Yeah, but I'm only in zone 8b and I get a dozen 20F
mornings a winter. All those catalogs make claims
that various roses are suitable for zone 9. Yeah, okay,
maybe I should forget the rugosas.

I probably have fewer nematodes than most Floridians
due to the sand-clay mix naturally occurring on most of
my land; nematodes do much better in sand than in clay.
Also, hairy indigo got established on much of my 36
acres ages ago, and it's supposed to be toxic to root-knot
and other harmful nematodes. Hairy indigo seeds can lie
dormant for a decade, and then sprout in disturbed soil;
what with fixing nitrogen and supposedly poisoning the
nematodes, this is not a bad thing until you have something
else planted there. Lots of organic matter is supposed to
make nematodes less comfortable as well (people in
nearby Gainesville claim that one should mulch with wood
chips that rot easily, not with cypress chips, to provide new
organic matter over time).

Some safe-pesticide company is selling whole ground-up
sesame plants as nematode killer. Maybe I should plant
sesame to go with the hairy indigo, then rototill the plants in
before putting roses in an area. Also, I've been trying to
establish mycorrhizal fungi on my roses' roots, but I fear that
any systemic fungicides I try will get to them and kill them.
Still, I see that I'm in for some challenges, except with some
of the tougher roses: fungi, nematodes, deer, grasshoppers,
fire ants that tend aphids rather than eat other insects the way
they're supposed to.

It's hard to get fortuniana grafts here. I'm told that if I lived
nearer Orlando, where the soil has less clay and it's warmer,
I'd absolutely have to have them, barring some roses that can
manage on their own roots. There's one company that sells
roses on fortuniana wholesale, and some nurseries/garden
centers have them, but they tend to be modern varieties I don't
really fancy that much anyhow.

Mark.