"Grubber" wrote in message
nk.net...
"escapee" wrote in message
news
It sounds like blackspot. However, I should warn you, roses are not for
black
thumbs! They are very fussy, require maintenance and need to heavily
fertilized
in order to product UNLESS you bought antique roses, then you may have
good
success. The mini's are usually on their own rootstock and perform very
well,
but please be certain you have problems before you start spraying
pesticides.

Herbicides are very dangerous chemicals, unless you used Neem Oil, then
it's a
lot less toxic.



I think your general assessment is too pessimistic. I have about 25
different roses that are hardly pampered, and they are mostly in glorious
bloom right now. I have probably planted ten others that croaked in the
first year, but my approach is a survival of the fittest method. If they
can't survive without pampering, I don't want them. They are all planted
in
slightly improved soil with lots of sun and given a good layer of mulch.
They are watered in the heat of the summer. I fertilize sometimes, but
not
every year. I deadhead, but only prune the roses when they get too big.

That said, I agree that own root antique roses will do much better in the
long run. I have a grafted yellow rose that I got from Home Depot for $10
a
few years ago that is amazing, and a grafted Marilyn Monroe from It's a
Jungle that is impressive for just having been planted in the fall, but
I've
had lots of grafted roses that looked healthy for months and then croaked.
Many of the own root antiques look kind of weak for a couple of years, but
then they come on with a vengeance. I have a Buff Beauty that easily has
a
thousand roses on it right now, although it only has a few roses the rest
of
the year.

Few of these are show quality roses, and there is some blackspot, but it's
enough of a show that people stop and get out of their cars to look.

I would agree completely. I've had dozens of rose bushes over the years and
I've only lost one. The only type I've ever had were those that were
grafted. I don't pamper them either. I plant them in the native soil and
they either live or they don't. All I've ever done is fertilize them three
times per year, prune them back when they get overgrown, and keep them
watered until they get established. Occassionally I will hit them with
fungicide or pesticide if they start getting overrun. Blackspot is
something you have to get used to unless you want to spray fungicide often,
but I've never had it kill a rosebush.

I don't really treat my rosebushes any different from any other flowering
shrub that I have. The only ones I've really had to mess with much are
climbing roses which require frequent training. Aggressive pruning and
deadheading will help tremendously with blooming.