On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 10:32:56 -0400, Henry
wrote:

Remember that while your roses need nitrogen, it's easy to over do it.
If you over feed with N you may get lots of nice, lush growth but only
few flowers. As in so many things, moderation is the key.

Ayup. I'm following the feeding schedule that's on the package. 3/4 a
cup once a month until mid-September. No more, no less and infrequent
deep waterings! It must really like the fertilizer. I wasn't expecting
so much new growth and five buds so soon.



Ants are attracted to a secretion from aphids and scale called honeydew.
The ants don't really do any harm to the plants. They can be a sign
that you have some other problem but you already know about the aphids.
If the aphids are now gone, the ants will probably not hang around too
long. As for the "winged ants", they are most likely winged ants
grin. Most ants you see are non-breeding females which are wingless.
Males and breeding females are winged.

Okay. It's really hard to tell if they're ants, thrips or some other
bug. I've been reading up so that I can start recognizing garden
pests, but these guys have left me guessing.

I've also noticed the same bugs at the base of my butterfly bushes as
I've fed them holly-tone. Or maybe they've been in the soil under the
mulch all along and I'm just now noticing as I'm scratching in
fertilizer.

The browning in the flower bud doesn't really look like insect damage.
The leaves don't look too bad either. If you've made significant
changes in your feeding and spraying recently, I'd give the plant a
little longer before I started changing it again. No, the leaves are
not perfect but whatever the problem is, it certainly doesn't look
particularly serious. Also, it's probably not a good idea to base an
entire spray regimen on a single flower with problems. It could be as
simple as the bud getting too wet. So, my advice is give it some time
and see what happens.

I'd say about 10% of my leaves have that curling deformity going for
them. The rest look good and healthy. I'm not really bothered, but I
wasn't sure if it was a sign of insect damage or what. I only saw the
aphids on the memorial day. The blue girl is just now starting to show
new growth since I began with the rose-tone. So I'm just doing
preventative spraying on that one. I'm trying to alternate between
chemical and organic so there's less chance of a resistance build-up
or killing the plants by overspraying.

Thank you for your insight!

- Elphaba