"Freckles" wrote

I grow all my roses in very large pots. Its a lot easier for me to fill up
a pot with good potting soil than it is to dig a large hole and fill it
back up.

I have tried soap solutions on my roses and they might have gotten get rid
of some aphids, but they have done partially nothing to reduce the white
fly population.

I bought a spray bottle of a pesticide spray, but after reading all the
hazards and warnings I stored the bottle on a shelf in my garage.

I would prefer to go organic, but that method just doesn't seem to be
working.



Roses are a magnet for insects... molds, smuts, all manner of nasties that
want to do in your roses.

Depending on the physical arrangement of your roses, if relatively close to
each other, you may want to look into ordering some ladybug or preying
mantis egg casings... although I think that is mostly a method to assuage
your psyche that you're doing the right thing. These are the natural
preditors of aphids, white flies, and other insects... I've tried it without
much luck, I think they migrated to a neighbor's garden. But to be
perfectly honest there is no sure fire organic insect control method... by
the time many of the so-called organic methods have some effect your plants
will be pretty much skeletonized... you'll get that good feeling that comes
with thinking you're doing the right thing but you won't get any roses.
Anytime you see a showcase rose garden you can bet your bippee they are
using chemical insecticides... if used judiciously they don't cause any
problems... choose the correct type and read and follow the directions... I
think you can find excellent help at jacksonandperkins.com