I spray, but now I use the Bayer spray, so I only have to do it every 3-4 weeks as opposed to every week when I used regular fungicide.

I am doing alfalfa, but I do some roses one week, then another batch the next week, etc.

I've cut down on deadheading and just stroll among my roses and snap off spent blooms when I see them. I toss them right in the bed as 'compost'.

After a flush, I may prune down some of the roses to shape them. Otherwise, I just let them go.

I work full time, but have no kids, so in the summer I can spend time in the yard (since it's light out till 9pm).

Don't spray, and keep going for varieties that will grow despite coming down with blackspot, etc. It may not be as much variety as spraying, but the long term will be more rewarding. A chore is not a hobby in my opinion. Its even more frustrating if you are always thinking you should be doing more, but can't. That strategy won't work if you insist on roses with perfect foiliage all the time.

Definitely try to ditch the spraying. If your kids are anything like mine, it's not only overall time that is a problem, but doing anything in a solid block of time without interruptions becomes exponentially more difficult. Deadheading can be done one flower at a time, fertilizing and watering can be done one plant at a time, but spraying pretty much has to be the whole garden at once. So it becomes a logistical chore that can only be done when somebody else is in charge of the kids.

Once spraying is off the menu, there really isn't much that absolutely has to be done. The object is almost just to keep them going until the kids are older.

Now an idea you may want to consider is a 'mother's helper'. My daugher unofficially does this for a neighbor. They don't pay her, but take her places, often out to dinner. She is 9, their son is 5, and she keeps him occupied. She isn't old enough to really babysit, but is old enough to entertain younger children and to know the difference between a little problem that can wait and a big problem. Nickelodeon changing their TV schedule is a big problem.

hi! I have 4 kids but luckily I am a teacher and have summers off so only the spring is a problem.

I disagree about stopping the spraying. Spraying 25 roses every 2 to 3 weeks (use the Bayer it really works) does not take very long. i have 28 in the ground right now (and a large pot ghetto of the new ones for this year yikes!) and it takes about 30 minutes tops.

Use a one time fertilizer. Our local botanical garden uses osmocote once and theirs look great.

Water on weekend early in the morning as needed during the summer.

Take afternoon/weekend strolls through your roses to relax and enjoy them and pop off the old ones as you go as buford said.

I don't spray for insects unless there is a problem.

That is all I would do.
sunni

I bought 4 gallon backpack sprayer. It takes me maybe 1 1/2 hours tops to spray 70+ roses. Every three weeks. I do it early Saturday or Sunday morning. It's probably the least work intensive part of my program.

If I didn't spray, I'd be spending a lot more time looking for BS and picking up spotty leaves.

Sure, I could get rid of all my bs prone roses, but that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

I wish I could spray the alfalfa :)

Boy this sounds familiar! I work at an arboretum with 3 acres of grounds-- raised beds, a daylily nursery, two rose gardens, 9 huge borders. So I don't have much time/energy/daylight to care for my roses at home. I have runs of soaker hose under the mulch, so I don't have to worry at what time of day I water so much-- and I can run soakers while I'm at the store, house-cleaning, etc. When I make alfalfa tea it takes me 7 to 10 days to distribute it a bucket at a time (I just stir it every so often & keep it tightly capped-- it gets awfully odiferous!). Mostly I rely on tough old roses that don't need pampering!

I don't have small kids, but teenagers also take time and I work really long hours, so only weekends give my some opportunity to garden. Here are my ways of simplifying things.
Install drip irrigation system. It will cost you about $50 for 25 roses and will free your time for other things. Installation is easy, it took me 1 hour for my back yard and 1 hour for the front yard. No male help needed. I got my system from leevalley.com 7 years ago and it is still working. Of course I need more then just for 25. They still have the same product.
You don't need to do alfalfa tea, pellets spread like chicken feed by hand work as well and it takes only 15-20 min for my 150 roses. Don't try to scratch them in or something like that, just broadcast. Granules of 10-10-10 are cheap and can be spread the same way one or two times per season. Spraying is optional, but with good sprayer it takes only 1 hour every 3 weeks (I use Banner Max)), even when I had 150 roses that require spraying. Now 2/3 of my roses are no spray, so it is less then 30 min.
The only time consuming tasks are prunning and spread of mulch or compost in spring. But these are seasonal tasks, I just spread my pruning, starting in December and finishing in March. For mulching/compost I take day off from work. It is usually possible to find somebody to entertain you kids for one day in spring. At least I was lucky enough to do it when my daughter was small. I grow roses for long time, so gardening with small kids is something I am familiar with.
Olga

I do as much work as possible for my soil in the fall. I load on several inches of compost and/or manure and cover it all with thick mulch. That way when spring comes my roses are all ready to grow without me needing to worry about fertilizing or alfalfa applications. There are a lot more garden chores happening in spring, so not having to worry about the roses too much, other than pruning after winter, makes that part of the season not too hectic.

I will add some alfalfa meal when I get around to it before first bloom. I don't bother making tea because that would be one more chore, looking after the tea. Just like I used to spend a lot of time turning my compost piles and making sure they were a perfect mix of ingredients for faster composting--I found I was spending as much time on my compost piles as I was gardening! So now I am more loose in composting--I save all my kitchen scraps, throw some reserved shredded leaves on top of them from time to time, and let things happen as they will. When I need a big load of compost I call the farm guys and have a truckload delivered.

I have 65 roses and have found that deadheading after the first flush was very daunting. I broke it up last summer over a week or two.

I work part time and have a kid. She has moved from the age from where her and her friends interrupt me constantly in the garden to needing a ride to the mall (or wherever) constantly.

Since my rose beds are mulched heavily I try not to worry about watering. We get enough rainfall here to sustain them except in July-early August. If I get around to it, I will lay the hose at each of them at a trickle, one at a time, while I go sit down and read a book on my patio in between moving the hose. (or do some other chore).

I have found that unfortunately I have to spray. I will be using the Bayer like Buford every 3-4 weeks. That is what I did before (I skipped spraying last year as an experiment) and my roses were bs-free until Sept., which is the time of year I no longer care if my garden looks close to perfect.

I know what you mean about time. I also take care of other gardens, some of which have roses. Factor in our short growing season, where we have to cram in so much work in a short period of time, and summer can be quite stressful.

"besides watering of course". I don't think i've ever read a thread on any forum where anyone had lost a rose that was planted in the ground, because they didn't water it. I'm sure some places that could be the case if they didn't water. I am just curious if overwatering isn't a lot of the problems we have with blackspot. Maybe experiment with a rose that gets a lot of bs and is almost ready for shovel prune and neglect it and see what happens.

In your area, grow Buck roses.

Like you, I have two small children. I think working in the garden is similar to cleaning your house. If you go out every other day or so and just spend 5-10 minutes pulling weeds, deadheading & inspecting, it doesn't take much time, but if you let it go, it takes too long to actually do and you become annoyed that the roses don't look as good as you want them too. I say try to spray every two weeks and just go out there for 5 minutes a day. Last year, I let everything go. The task got so huge that I just kept putting it off and off, until finally I just pruned them.
www.rosesrfun.com

I don't spray and if I lived in an area with BS would stick to roses with proven BS resistance. I water and put mulch that is partially compost around the roses and fertilize with alfalfa meal which is easy since you just water it in. When I deadhead I leave the roses on the mulch and if I weed in that area that also goes on the rose mulch. When I see aphids I squish them with my fingers and/or hose them off when I'm watering. That's about all I have energy for since I work and have health issues. The roses seem quite happy and that leaves me with enough energy and free time to enjoy them. I do think that picking roses that do well in your area and are not fussy is half the battle.

Ingrid

Essential jobs here are:
- fertilizing once a year in early spring with a moderate nitrogen fertilizer,
-weeding through the spring,
-monitoring irrigation from mid-April or May through October, and
-pruning roses that need it between Thanksgiving and the Ides of March.

Once-bloomers suit me just fine and require little more than occasional pruning. Roses that are not disease resistant are dispatched because spraying is not an option. I deadhead when the spirit moves me. Every couple of years I inventory roses that are worth keeping around with such a lackadaisical regimen. The spring flush is excellent, continuous bloomers are treasured and planted in groups, and the fall flush is decent but far from fantastic.

Here is a link that might be useful: pdf of No Spray Roses in the SE USA

Thanks for all of the suggestions, folks. Actually the spraying is not THAT bad for me because DH will come home from work and watch the kids for 30 minutes. Although as my collection grows, it will take far longer so I will try to add some no sprays. Unfortunately, I like the Austins so if they do well for me this year, I will be adding more and they require spray.

I do have some time in the morning when they go to preschool, but I have lots of other chores to do too. I can't spray in the morning because it gets too sunny too fast.

The drip irrigation is a great solution, Olga, but we don't have a traditional yard. We live on a corner with the majority of the backyard being a brick patio. So I have a small bed here and a small bed there kind of thing. No one large area of roses. I'm not sure how to make the drip irrigation thing work for me.

redsox. Try some soaker hoses. It's not as efficient as drip irrigation, but gets the job done. I have one in my main rose bed and all I have to do is hook it up to the hose and let it go for an hour or two, whatever it needs. It soaks the entire bed rather than each plant so it uses more water, but if your roses are closely planted, it works.

So you could leave one soaker hose buried in the mulch in each bed and just drag the hose over to the connector. That's what I do.

I have 6 hybrid teas and 2 small shrub roses. I spray them with a Neem oil solution (Organic 2-in-1 fungicide and miticide) and fertilize with Espoma brand Rosetone fertilizer once a month and my roses seem to do very well. Their website can help you find a dealer in your area. You should be able to purchase it from a box store if necessary though. Total time spent is aproximately 15 - 20 minutes monthly. Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Espoma web site

Single mom
3 kids
Full time job
Getting masters degree
obsessive compulsive rose freak

I don't spray
I don't pamper
I don't water (unless 3 weeks without rain)

Most of my work is done in spring in time for the first flush. I mulch, prune, weed, fertilize and otherwise prepare for that first flush. After that....well....

I grow a lot of roses and nearly all of them are great no spray roses. I push the envelope with Abe Darby because I can't live without him. I have had to spray him a time or two in his life but I am willing to make a concession for Abe so I know what you mean about the Austins.

I think it is certainly possible to add in some no spray roses to make sure that your quick spray routine doesn't become a big time consumer. As Patricia said, the Bucks are a great place to start.

redsox, I am married, with a teenage daughter, having a full time work, and taking an online collage class. I leave home about 7:20am and come home about 5:40pm, then cook, clean, study, etc. My gardening time is mainly for a weekend if I don't go out, and a little bit here and there after cooking & finishing a dinner during a weekday if I can squeeze some time.

What I do for roses are:
Water (my hubby's hobby)
No-spray
Organic fertilizer twice in a year
Deadhead
Pruning if they get too big
Plant OGR

I think one of the important thing is how you take the gardening. To me, I am busy, and I like to enjoy the gardening, I have other interests and like to spend some time for them, I can not spend too much money, and I do not like to be stressed out. Therefore I plant the roses that will do good in my area with a minimum care. There are so many different varieties of roses that will meet my liking. I am not sure how old your children are, and maybe you can teach them the enjoyment of gardening by turning them into free garden slaves. :)

redsox, you can spray in the mornings, I do. You want it to be sunny, the fungicides dry faster.

I have a 4-gallon sprayer, and it takes me less than an hour to do my 70+ roses.

Fertilizing: try the organic or mostly-organic route. Most of those only need to be applied 2 - 4 times a season (depending on the product). I add liquid seaweed to my fungicide spray, so they get an added foliar feed every two weeks.

Don't freak out about deadheading. Snap it, baby! In season, I'll come home and snap off whatever looks bad and then will do any additional touch-ups (mostly on the HTs) on the weekends.

My little ones are 5 and 2 so while I am teaching them the love of gardening, it takes twice as long for them to "help." LOL. I do have a no spray area planned for next year with a couple of austins on the end since I can't help myself.

Where would I look into buck roses?

Chamblee's is focusing on Buck roses. They also feature Earth Kind roses which you should consider.

"Buck roses" are roses hybridized by Dr. Griffith Buck. Some are more disease resistant than other, so you'll have to ask about specific varieties.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses hybridized by Dr. Buck.

Roses Unlimited has a good selection.

MUST haves are:

Country Dancer
Carefree Beauty
Quietness
Earth Song

Easy and carefree and best of all no-spray.

Here is a link that might be useful: Buck Roses