07-11-2003, 07:32 PM
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Good climbing roses in Los Angeles
(Okay. Fine. Whatever.) wrote in
om:
Thank you for your post! Actually, Zepherine Drouhin was another rose
I was considering, and it's good to know that it grows well.
Very well indeed for me. It's in its third year and has been throwing
canes all year. I have it wrapping up around a front window at the
moment. Even now in November it has nice red new growth emerging.
Two other climbers that I grow and like (though the colors may not be
exactly in the color range you seem to want): Gloire de Dijon, which has
apricot-pink quartered blooms, and Gloire de Rosomanes (a.k.a. Ragged
Robin), a deep pink to crimson semidouble with a vigorous habit and
excellent repeatability. Both are fragrant too.
I think I might have already met your Pacific Palisades rosarian ...
in any case, I had a long talk with *a* rosarian at the Pacific
Palisades nursery that I visited yesterday. I had a lot of general
questions about taking care of the roses I already have, and he was
very helpful and very thorough, although I have to say that I'm still
completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of knowledge and work
required in growing roses.
Ah, sounds like Kim! I've been growing roses (antique and modern) for
thirty years and the first time I met Kim I felt like I was just about to
begin learning again. He helped me realize, in the most accommodating
way, that there was a lot more I could be doing with roses. At that time
I was in search of a new Jacques Cartier for my garden and had eight
roses in my garden...now I have ninety-eight. I'd have more if I weren't
living in an apartment and had to consider how much lawn my landlord will
let me dig up.
Since you were nice enough to answer my last question, may I ask you a
few more? I appear to have a serious case of black spot, and I'm
leery of using fungicides; I'm cancer-phobic and don't even like to
stand too close to the microwave oven. I bought some Rose Defense and
had hoped to use that, after stripping my rose bushes of leaves that
appear infected. Do you know if Rose Defense works? Is my concern
over the use of fungicides silly? Is there such thing as a "mild"
fungicide?
IMHO concern over fungicides are valid. I don't know whether Rose Defense
works; I don't use chemicals. There are indeed organic methods of
battling blackspot and mildew and I've tried several.
If you do a web search on "organic blackspot control" you'll come up with
a plethora of recipes. I've used milk and water sprays with success
(ratios vary, some suggest 50:50, I've used 1 part whole milk with six
parts water); this also works for powdery mildew, which is more my
occasional problem. Some folks use summer-weight horticultural oil
mixtures; some use baking soda sprays (1 tsp to 1 gallon of water). Of
course cleanup under the roses is a must as well, as is persistence with
whatever method you choose.
I'm further inland than you are so fungus is minimal for me. This past
summer though I learned that my garden is on the tourist route for rose
slugs. I would prefer not to have that happen again, if at all possible;
crushing small green worms under leaves is not a favorite pastime....
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