Snooze wrote:

"Scopata Fuori" wrote in message
It sounds as though they are getting too much nitrogen, and not enough
phosphorous.
snip

Consider using bone meal, which lasts a long time and provides a steady
supply of phosphorous. Unfortunately it's best if you can spread the stuff
in the ground near the roots, rather then sprinkling around the surface. If
you can get rock phosphorous add that too, but it is critical that it be
placed under the surface of the soil.

Another factor is sunlight. Lots. As many hours in a day as you have in
your climate. Since you're in the UK, your roses would be perfectly
happy with all day sun.

John, another thing I've noticed in UK gardens is such tidiness that
the soil is not mulched with organic matter. We slobs keep our soils
covered with 4 to 6 inches of ground bark, cocoa hulls, pine needles
or other organic mulch. Soil organisms provide a lot of free labor in
the garden if you provide them with an environment they like: lots of
decaying stuff right on the surface. It doesn't need to be dug in: the
organisms work in the top 6 inches of soil.

I suppose that's enough to keep you busy in the garden for a few months.

--
-=-
Cass
Zone 9 San Francisco Bay Area
http://home.attbi.com/~cassbernstein/index.html