"Bethgsd" wrote in message
...
Hi, I've decided to take the plunge and plant roses. I
found this newsgroup
about a week ago and am enjoying all the good information.
Forgive me if this
is old hat, but I didn't find a FAQ for this group.

see below for ARS website

I live in zone 7a. Central Virginia. We have already had
days in the 90's and
some nasty humidity and thunderstorms. I'm guessing it is
too late to plant
roses until the fall if I go the container route, or next
spring for bare root.

You can plant roses in containers pretty much
anytime. You might want to provide some
partial shade until the rose gets established
but then as long as it's watered well, it should
be fine in full sun, all else being equal.

It's been so long since I planted bare roots that
I'll skip that question and hope someone else
can answer. BTW, the American Rose Society
web site has some useful articles you might
look into: www.ars.org

I try to garden in as organic a manner as possible.

Me, too.

I really don't want to
spray if I don't have to. Two roses I've picked out are
the Old Blush and
Duchesse de Brabant. Would these be good choices for my
situation?

I honestly don't know since I don't grow those.
Someone else here should have the answer, or
you could call a local botanical garden, or a local
nursery that specializes in roses.

What is the best thing to do about Japanese beetles? I'm
thinking milky spore
or is there something better? One of the reasons I don't
like to spray is that
I have dogs and cats that are allowed run of the yard, so
I'm a little hesitant
to use something like grubex.

I get few Japanese beetles and can just pick them
off (with tongs) and drop them into soapy water.
For heavier infestations there may be other solutions.
That's something else you might want to ask local
experts about.

Are own root roses better than the grafted types?

Depends. Grafted roses can "revert" to the
root stock, which isn't good (unless you adore
Dr. Huey or whatever the root stock is). But
not all modern roses do well as own roots.
I have several modern roses as own roots;
some are monsters that are eating my house
(the outstanding performer Moody Dream), some
are still small compared to grafted versions after
two years in the ground (Sheila's Perfume).

I also have a number of old garden roses, all
of which are own root, and as with the modern
roses, some are thriving, a few others die off after
a year or two.

Is there any stand out website for ordering roses?

I've seen good recommendations for Edmunds:
http://www.edmundsroses.com/
but their rose ordering season is over now. I
have ordered from them in the past but not
recently. No problems, I just found really good
local sources for roses.

Another possibility is Michael's:
http://www.michaelsrose.com/
I've ordered a number of roses from them,
including the aforementioned Moody Dream.
Some have not done well (died in the first
year), but some of my Edmund's roses had
a similar experience. Sometimes a Michael's
rose will be back ordered. You'll get it
eventually. They ship year around, which is
nice if you need to replace a rose mid-season.
I think all their roses are own root, and usually
come quite young/small. Typically I put them in
a pot until they've grown a bit before planting them
in a bed.

There are a lot of other good places but let
some other posters suggest their favorites.

I would recommend buying one of the Ortho
or Sunset books on roses found in home
improvement centers (Home Depot, Lowes)
and bookstores. They're relatively cheap
(under $20) and have a lot of useful information
to start.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8