In article m, Shiva
writes
On Fri, 4 Apr 2003 10:28:13 -0800, "Emil"
wrote:

Hi guys,

The roses in my front yard don't look that great. My Lovers Lane (planted
last year) is especially bad. It barely has any branches that are more than
4 inches. I know that one problem is the minimum sun they recieve. See, not
being in denial is a good thing. :-)

Emil, it is a losing proposition, growing roses in not enough sun.
They can be fussy as it is. Can't you get them some more sun? If not
cutting down trees, then by trimming lower branches? Or MOVE them, it
is not hard. Sun is the big basic.

All true, but it IS possible to cosset them on four hours or so of sun
per day, or in dappled sun - it doesn't have to be a blazing desert.

I think they need more everything when they're struggling - more water,
more mulch, more rotted manure, more, and more frequent food and more
antifungal sprays in poor conditions. I've spoken before about Vitax Q4
- I get much better leaf and bloom results with this than with fish
blood and bone, and I find Osmocote nearly worthless - and if a rose is
looking sick it gets rose chicken soup - a foliar feed with liquid
seaweed.

Even so, of course they do better with more light.

--
Jane Lumley