I actually just bought some from a local gardener and planted garlic and chives throughout my rose garden. It's quite pretty actually because they add some coverage to the Hybrid teas. And so far I've not had any issues with aphids....Japanese Beetles on the other hand....

I use society garlic sold at local nurseries and garden centers. They have to be divided every few years so the three little pots I bought 8 years ago have produced enough clumps to protect nearly 200 roses, lol.

Oh oh oh ...
Society Garlic.

A lot of people are really allergic to society garlic.
I discovered my own sensitivity to it when some was planted in our local Heritage Garden.
I stayed away from there until at last the stuff was gone.
It may drive away aphids or not, but it sure drove this rosarian away!

Jeri

I've not used garlic before, but I had great success this year with planting petunias under my roses. Hardly an aphid to be found in the garden this year.

These are all interesting but if anyone can possibly help me with my questions (above) I would be really grateful. Can't you just buy a regular garlic and stick the cloves in the ground? Do you leave the skin on them? Can someone please tell me how to do this? Much, much appreciated & thank you all!

Cadence,

You just stick the cloves in the ground with the skin on. I have have not had any aphids on the roses that I did this with. I planted 1 clove close (about 2 inches away) to the base of the rose and you really can't even see it.

The bands I still have potted near my roses all got aphids as well as the roses that do not have garlic planted with them, so it has worked for me. I'm planting garlic around the rest of them as well.

It should grow more cloves if garlic does well in your area.

Tina

Tina, thanks very much for helping me with this. About how many cloves should I put at the base of my rosebush?

I wasn't sure what you meant when you said you have 'bands' potted near your roses. What are 'bands'? Thanks again Tina. I'm almost ready to go out into my yard and plant the garlic cloves.

Sorry. Bands are small potted roses. You can buy them online in bands (small pots) or larger pot sizes. I bought them online and still haven't planted them.

I planted one clove near each rose. Some, I planted 2 (if the bush was larger. That's it. The garlic grows very quickly.

Tina, thanks again. You've been very helpful to me. Now off I go to plant my garlic. Happy Gardening!

I've heard this about garlic before, and have heard, too, that any bulb in the allium family will work. I planted some ornamental alliums near some of my roses and so far, there are no aphids on them, while there are aphids on some of the roses with no allium nearby ... guess I'd better get a few cloves of garlic planted.

Question: Is this a systemic remedy that would work on climbing roses as well, or just shrub-size roses that are relatively close to the garlic plant?

I have some garlic planted in a bed that just happens to have roses in it. Now that I think about it, those roses didn't seem to have as many aphids as other roses did. Of course, if you wait the aphids out and don't spray, the predators will show up. Now none of my roses have aphids to speak of, whether they're near the garlic or not.

You break the cloves from the head--no need to peel them--and plant them about 2" deep, pointy-side up. We plant ours in the fall so they can develop a good root system over the winter. It makes a pretty, blue-green strap leaf type plant. And the flavor is FANTASTIC--much better than what you'd get at the grocery store. And crisp like an apple. Aphids or no, it's worth trying to grow your own if you're a garlic hound!

I'll have to take a look tomorrow and see how the aphids are around the roses in that bed. The garlic bed is probably 5' x 6'. Roses are all over the yard.

Hi Cadence,
I don't know much about growing garlic, but I know that there are varieties that need chill hours and those that don't. The northern garlics won't form buds in warmer places. There are internet businesses that sell garlics for different areas. I can't recommend one, though, because I haven't ordered yet. Apparently, the white garlic that is commonly available in the supermarket will do here in S.Fla. If you are really interested in growing garlic (I am now!), you may want to research which varieties will do well in your area.

happy gardening,
Avalon

I devote part of my vegetable garden to garlic and grow several different kinds of hardneck and softneck. The world of garlic can be divided into "hardnecks" and "softnecks". There are several differences, but the most obvious is that the hardnecks grow a straight hard stalk while the softnecks have a softer more vegetative stalk that can be braided once the top dies back.

I have mostly hard necks because they seed themselves with tiny bulbs very readily and spread around the garden as volunteers. One year I took a handful of these tiny bulbs and tossed them in to the mixed border of roses and perennials and I now have a lot of garlic growing in the beds. They can be a nuisance to weed as the tiny shoots break off leaving the bulb in the ground.

For garlic cultivated as a food crop it is best to buy types suitable for your region from a reliable source and plant them in the fall so they have a chance to build roots over the winter. To experiment with as a deterrent to aphids you can just buy garlic (softneck silverskin) in the grocery store and plant them now.

I am very skeptical as to any practical benefit to growing garlic as a deterrent to aphids. What exactly would the mechanism be? Would growing one garlic plant near the base of a rose so pollute the sap of the rose with its essence that aphids couldn't tolerate the taste of it? I don't think so. Be that as it may, I have many roses growing in the vegetable garden which doubles as a nursery, surrounded by garlic and other roses growing all over the property without neighboring garlic and I can't see any difference with respect to aphid infections.

For more information on garlic see the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Filaree Farm

Just want to say "thank-you" to everyone for all your help. I can't believe how helpful everyone is here. I've received a wealth of information. I'll do some research to find out what kind of garlic grows best in my area. I've planted the cloves today (just to experiment) In the fall, I'm going to plant whatever grows best here. Thanks again.

I agree with palustris that the garlic will do nothing to deter aphids. I grow garlic chives around my rose garden and it doesn't make a difference. I don't see how a few garlic plants around roses would have enough of a scent to deter any bugs.

What no one mentioned here are the wonderful decorative purple pompom flowers that grow up into the roses. I love the look.

patricia