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Not totally sure this is spam, midnightgardener. The poster did not sign up today, has posted before on rose subjects, and it's a legitimate rose related site. I'm still pondering trying a rose or two on fortuniana myself, so I found this link helpful.

I do agree that spammers show up here every so often, that is for sure!!

Love the spam can though!
VERY classy!

Jeri

I don't mind the plug for the nursery - It's sometimes difficult to find roses on Fortuniana. It's very frustrating to see all these luscious roses and know that I can't grow most of them here because they aren't on the proper rootstock.
Can Zone 9 roses be on Dr. Huey?
I do love the Spam can, though!

The rootstock hasn't much to do with Zone.
Zone is simply a matter of winter chill levels.
Rootstocks have to do with soil chemistry and makeup.

Huey is apparently a whiz-bang rootstock for alkaline conditions, typical of the West -- so it's used where the roses have for many years been produced.
Before Huey, there were other rootstocks -- and post-Huey, there are fewer rootstocks altogether, and many more roses on their own roots.

Jeri

If I'd live in a zone 10, without any doubt I would plant masses of chinensis mutabilis, one of my absolute favourite roses.

Miami-Dade (zone 10b) county has almost solid limestone very alkaline "soil" - yet Dr. Huey doesnt' do well - it cannot survive the heat and lack of dormancy period, which is equal to a never-ending growing season in MDC. Roses on Dr. Huey typically don't survive there more than a very few years at best, need way too much care and don't perform well while they are alive. Fortuniana is the only way to go. Also, I have read that Fortuniana cannot withstand the cold winters north of zone 8-7, although I don't personally have any experience with rose growing up north of zone 10.
I will definitely look into getting some chinesis mutabilis! Thanks for the tip -trying to grow roses here is a real mission, and any info about which ones do best is just great.

If that is spam, everything about any rose nursery will have to be labled spam. If your area woun't allow you to grow your roses on fortuniana rootstock, ignore the place. But I know there are MANY areas where fortuniana roses florish. And if you take a good look at his web site you will notice his nursery is not located in a tropical area. Plus he has some roses you can't find ANYWHERE else in the States.

It's about time!

I've been waiting for the Mills people to put up a website since I learned about them.

Mr. Mills is one of the nicest laid back people I've come across since I've been into roses. I ordered several from him last October (Rock-N-Roll, Legends, Cajun...) and am extremely impressed with the quality and care that goes into the rose bushes shipped. Not since Merrygro, and their roses were smaller, have I seen so much attention paid to the transport of roses. Since I've put the roses in the ground they have been taking off.

No, I don't think this is Spam, especialy when you realize that most of us south easterners seek out to find more sources of roses on Fortuniana. The only reliable ones that I've found are Nelson's Roses, Cool Roses, and the Mills folks. Kudos to you rjlongo! Thanks for spreading the news.

Adrian.

You have to laugh at some of the instant internet haters....

Ardian, I agree that Jim and Daisy are a complete breath of fresh air compared to "corporate business" environment we now live in. When I phoned my order to Daisy, I had my credit card ready to give her at the end. To my surprise, she says, "we'll just put an invoice in the box and mail us a check when you get a chance". Unheard of nowadays!

Anyway, as you stated the plants are very well packed. I purchased recently grafted 1 gallon plants and they are very healthy. I couldn't be more pleased. If they do well over the summer I'll definatley be placing another order next year.

Adrian, can you share your prunning, watering and fedding program for your hybrid teas? I'm in zip 33319.

Thanks! Richard

I just wish they didn't have a minimum order of 4. I'm lucky if I can find room to squeeze in one. I've heard really good things about this nursery.
Nancy

Hi Richard,

You're in Sawgrass Mills country!

I'm down in Miramar (33027).

I'm about to Head for a meeting of the Tropical Rose Society. I'll respond in detail in a bit. You should consider joining. Our annual rose show is happening this weekend at Pinecrest Gardens. Check it out if you get a chance.

Adrian.

Prunning

I tend to dead head more than cut back roses severely. I belong to the camp that believes that a well leafed out rose is a healthy one. When I dead head I cut just before a bud-eye that faces out in order to keep growth from growing inwards and eventualy rubbing against eachother and damaging the plant. The only time that I severely prune back a rose is when it is well established (2+ years in the ground or pot) and when the temperature is at it's coolest. This year has been favorable since January and February have been consistently cool.

Watering

I have an automatic sprinkler system (like most people in SF) that gets its water from the lake behind my house. During the dry cooler months that we've been experiencing I tend to water every two to three days. During the hot summer months I water daily, so long as we haven't had rain (which can happen). I am always looking for the most effective and conservative method of balancing water conservation with raising healthy roses, so I've tried several watering methods. Regular sprinkler heads wet the foliage too much and create massive blackspot challenges. Drip emmitters tend to clog up easily. The second to last system I converted to was Spot Spitters, which are relatively inexpensive small hose end emmitters that fan out and cover a large area without getting the leaves wet, but I found myself constantly adjusting and balancing the water flow so I'm currently converting to soaker hoses. Thus far they seem to be the best option, although I won't be able to gauge their success until this summer when watering is at its most crucial.

Feeding

I've been known to dable in almost everything available. My constant program is a mixture of the granular Miracle Gro for roses stuff along with some Sol-Po-Mag (or K-Mag under another brand) as a ground fertilizer and my folier feeding consists of water soluable Miracle Gro in the hose end resevoir mixed with fish emulsion. The neighbors might complain about the smell, but your roses will thank you for it. Another item I use from time to time is the Rosetone (Rosetome sp?) which is a propietary blend of inert ingredients (including the special ingredient: chicken poop) That I find helps my roses grow healthy leaves and bigger rose hips.

If you'd like some super advice on feeding/watering programs that work well in Florida visit the Central Florida Rose Society's webpage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Central Florida Rose Society