How about strike it rich or ch-Ching since your saving money lol. Free shipping is a great deal, I need to check that out! I don't have ch-Ching bit I so have SIR and it has been a blooming fool for me with beautiful shades of orange and yellow. Good luck!

Thanks for mentioning this, Kippy. I just ordered a Felicia for a wall of Hybrid Musks my mom is creating.

Jay

Jay, that was the one I forgot. I had different ones on my wish list but they were sold out. This was supposed to be my cheap month not spending anything more in the garden/house than I already had last month. But this was money I did not expect.

I couldn't pass up on the free shipping. Felicia is sold out a lot of places this time of year and Burling surprisingly doesn't carry it though an order I put in a little while back there is going to be ready in 3 or 4 weeks.

It could be that I haven't found anything I've liked a lot at local nurseries this year, but I ordered something last night as well -the thread about Treasure Trail explains that- in a moment of serious rose envy. I think it's almost always good to support rose nurseries. Unexpected money is just icing on the cake! If Felicia was one on your list you forgot about, I'm glad I could remind you.

Jay

Happy belated, Kippy! Kim

Thank you Kim

Jay, I am trying to put an order in with the "locals-aka west coasters" every couple of months. I don't have a lot extra I can spend with my budget but I would like to support them. Rogue free shipping could have been a budget buster Burling ships so cheaply that there is no worry about postage costs from her.

Oh, groan! Kippy, I wasn't going to buy anymore this season! Enabler!

Oh nooooooooo (groan). I thought I was done with new roses for awhile, but I don't think I'll be able to resist getting Heritage with free shipping. All my bands from Heirloom are doing amazingly well, even though they've known nothing but hot, hot, hot. They're all beautiful shrubs; not too much smaller than the bare roots I started this year, and are blooming away in our broiling heat.

jannike

What did you end up picking Seil and Jannike?

I hope Little White Pet is a big band. I really want to pull out the plant from her spot today but it will look very blank with nothing there, guess I will see how my clippers feel today. I plan on moving a pair of sages that did not get the message they are dwarfs from that area so it will look extra bare

Ah this is so tempting! I have been very pleased with the roses I got from Heirloom. I purchased 3 moss roses that were very large and growing quite well and a miniature rose that has been covered in blooms for the last week weeks.

I will have to see how impulsive I am feeling tomorrow. :o)

Kippy, I'm debating between Heritage and Strawberry Hill, and hoping to get feedback from people on the forum familiar with one or both.

I was surprised how big my bands from Heirloom were, and how fast they're growing. Hopefully your White Pet will be a good one as well.

jannike

If it helps, I'm not sure where you live nor what your climate is like, and I have not (nor am I likely to) grown Strawberry Hill, but Heritage has extremely fragile petals. Extreme, dry, hot sun, hot wind, water stress, high temps can fry them into potpourri in a very little while (minutes to a few hours). The variety is EXTREMELY susceptible to water stress induced rust and mildew. Due to my climate, exposure, soil composition and "indigenous" vermin, water stress and extreme transpiration due to high heat, extreme sun and wind and relatively low humidity, water stress is something all plants I grow have to deal with, leave or die. Heritage was down right terrible here. The ONLY time flowers lasted more than a few hours was also when there was any foliage on the plant NOT severely affected by rust, black spot AND mildew. That was in late winter into spring when we had rain. The ones in clients' gardens are now all gone. Theirs were more easily kept watered due to positions and soil types, but their flowers were far too fleeting, also, and have all been replaced with more durable types (not Austins). If your conditions resemble any of those described, you might be better pleased by anything other than Heritage. And, I WANTED to like Heritage. It simply never cooperated because it genetically can't. Kim

Kippy you will like B Prevost. A good bloomer on a plant that does not get too large. Little white pet is a dream come true for anyplace you need a little rose that is always in bloom.

And LWP smells wonderful! Kim

Thank you so much for posting this! I wouldn't have known otherwise! I went a little overboard, but I got such a good deal it's ok. I got the following bands:

Easy Goin'
Livin' Easy
Crocus Rose
Carding Mill
Pat Austin
Heirloom HT

& a 32oz organic fish emulsion fertilizer

all for $111 delivered!

I am so excited!! I am also so happy that I went container crazy last year at a local fall sale, because now I will have something to fill these containers!

Thanks again!

Jessica

What a deal Jessica! We are still trying to use up a big gallon sized fish fertilizer we got a deal on a year ago

A favorite color combo is mine is Iceberg, Crocus and Golden Celebration together I need a another white, but have two busy growing so I use iceberg for my white

Good to hear about little white pets scent Kim, I have had this one on my want list but I keep forgetting it when buying roses. I can't tell you how many times I have realized I planned on it and like deer in the headlights totally blanked but knew I was missing something important

Kitty, how big do you think BPrevost will get? Glad to hear you like her.

Mom had watered the front yard before I got there today so I stayed off to not compact it. Had a talk with mom about over watering....again it is hard to get her to change decades of watering habits. So rather than take out the plants I wanted I did other garden stuff. Still working on my design for the bottom of the lot, I used a bunch of 5g pots as a quick low retaining wall (filled with dirt and red geraniums poked in). I think Baronne Provost will be down there....somewhere. Maybe as a focal point for the neighbor across the streets arbor view. A good thing was how damp the soil was considering we have not watered there a drop. I am working on the terraces not only to slow down and redirect any rain we might get but to hold it and allow it to stay

Now to finish designing that bottom area

Kim, thanks so much for advice. What you're saying is exactly what's keeping me on the fence regarding Heritage. On the other hand, many people from hot, dry areas have also posted that Heritage did phenomenally well for them, or that it put out so many blooms and repeated so quickly that it didn't matter. Claire Austin, another rose that some people claim blows easily in a hot, dry climate, has been a fantastic rose for me; almost always covered in beautiful blooms. In fact, all the Austins here (very hot/dry Redlands area a bit southeast of you) perform far better than all the other roses we have now or have had in the past. Do you know, or can you venture a guess why that is? I do amend all the beds (yes, the entire bed -- not just the planting hole), irrigate most plants underground or with drip, and mulch 4 inches. I feed only rarely (my intention is to feed weakly weekly as you recommend, but I haven't worked this good habit into my schedule yet). I never spray with anything except plain water, and disease doesn't seem to be an issue here, at least not in the roses. I also ask advice from the generous rose gardeners on this forum, and almost always follow it. I'm a new gardener, and I've read some of the negative things people have posted about Austins, so I'm holding my breath and wondering why all our Austins are doing so well? Could it be the irrigation (I'm loving the underground so far -- I can really see a difference in all the plants)? Or is it the amending? Or perhaps the care and luck and good advice in selecting the right Austins? Or are my expectations just lower than most peoples'? Or worse yet, is this just beginners luck before the big crash? There are about 10 different Austins here, and I would rate their performance from "very good" to "stellar", and I would rate their physical appearance as "exceptionally pretty" to "heartbreakingly beautiful".
By the way, I'm on the waiting list for several of your Annie Lauries (for Humpty Dumpty House and for a childrens hospital), and I can't wait to get them!

jannike

(Below: Alnwick or lunch -- hee hee)

Hi Jannike, your results may be due to all of the factors you state. The larger, more vigorous the plant; the greater the quantity of flowers; the larger the flowers, particularly with increased petal counts, the more water they demand. Your soil may be heavy enough, with enough amendment; you may have slowed the evaporation rate sufficiently with the deep mulch and you may be applying sufficient water under ground to maintain their momentum. They may be performing the way they are before the real heat hits and remains, when they may, or may not, begin showing their displeasure. All of it may continue working, or it may not. Who knows until it happens?

Feeding with under ground irrigation and deep mulch will require over head water. All fertilizers require water to dissolve them and move them through the feeder roots. If your water is being applied below the soil surface and the surface is covered with a deep mulch, how are you going to get anything spread on the surface dissolved and brought to the roots? Using that set up, you would need to dissolve whatever you intend to feed and apply it through the irrigation or it will sit on the soil surface until there is rain or over head water. Due to the restricted water use, I am only using water soluble types now, hand applied and only after a thorough watering. That isn't for every rose. It's primarily for those already showing issues or in spots where their owners are more demanding of appearance or for those upon which I wish to continue pollinating flowers a while longer.

I'm not suggesting you change what you are doing because it seems to be working well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! If you've amended well with organics, you may want to not feed until the rains return. The more you push growth, the more water the plant demands. They slow down when water reduces to reduce the potential water stress. If they are growing and flowering to your satisfaction, don't change anything. If they begin showing stress, check the water levels first. Expect them to begin slowing as the heat builds and continues as that is what they are supposed to do. We keep them pushing by increasing the water, increaseing the available "food" and expecting them to continue pushing the enormous, heavily petalled flowers even when Nature and their genes are telling them not to. If you use inorganic fertilizers, you need more water to mitigate the "saltier" conditions they create and to carry them to the roots, and enable them to utilize the "food". Organics require moisture for the bacteria and fungi to digest them, then move the digested results to the roots and for the plant to utilize those. If the mulch is drier and the water is supplied under ground, very little (if any) of that is going to happen without sprinklers, the hose or rain.

As long as drought and heat remain, the prime directive is simply to keep them alive and healthy. If what you have set up and are providing them is accomplishing that, congratulations! Don't "fix" it. You might mess it up!

Annie Laurie McDowell will definitely become significantly easier to obtain. I heard from Heirloom last week the cuttings I supplied them last fall are "growing like weeds!" Burlington, Long Ago Roses, Angel Gardens and Heirloom should have enough to get their quantities up (and provide mother plants), and keep it available. Thanks! Kim

Exactly Kim -- who knows what'll happen next, especially since I've only had these roses for a few months.

I apologize for the delay; I was called out on an emergency, and it's been nonstop "emergencies" since -- thank goodness mostly good ones. I'm grateful to be taking a breather, and catching up with the rose forums a bit.

Kim, you asked, "If your water is being applied below the soil surface and the surface is covered with a deep mulch, how are you going to get anything spread on the surface dissolved and brought to the roots?"

I always leave a circle around the base of each plant clear of mulch. I haven't been feeding the roses, but my intention is to start doing so. Would this not be a good place to apply a soluble feeding? I can also feed through the underground irrigation lines, but there are many plants other than roses on those lines, and I'd need to evaluate whether they should get the same feeding. I'd love to be "demanding of appearance", but the reality is that I might never have the time to perfectly give the roses everything they need, so I can't rightly expect perfection from them either.

You also said, "Organics require moisture for the bacteria and fungi to digest them, then move the digested results to the roots and for the plant to utilize those. If the mulch is drier and the water is supplied under ground, very little (if any) of that is going to happen without sprinklers, the hose or rain."

I apologize; I failed to mention that underground irrigation is one of many ways I water here, and I do really like this system. But some beds have surface drip lines and microspray, and some have no irrigation at all. Part of my regimen includes hauling bottles of water to pour near plants, and dragging a hose to spray. I also use every hose on the property to slowly drip plants, 12 or so hours at a time, systematically deep dripping all appropriate plants throughout the gardens. I spray nearly everything at least once a week during summer; sort of a "doctor's rounds" to make sure everybody's okay, and to spray off dust and bugs (we don't use anything except plain water for pest control here). That said, do you know the effect of watering through a deep layer of mulch? Also, is there a specific plant food you recommend for roses?

I truly appreciate your advice. I'm a new gardener, and never gardened growing up, so this is a real learning process. And I'm so glad Annie Laurie MacDowell will now become significantly easier to obtain. I'm doing a volunteer project with a childrens hospital, and this seems like the ideal rose. We will need quite a few of them though, and I don't think administration wants to wait too long to have this garden up and beautiful.

Below is our Claire Austin on a typical hot, dry day last week, before the weather cooled a bit.

jannike

I'm sorry! I hope your emergencies are finished so you can get back to the normal, high-pitched crazy instead. As long as you have water at the surface, where the organic material is, so it can be moistened to assist the bacteria and fungi to digest it, then dissolve the digested minerals and flush them through the feeder root system, all should work well. Whatever systems and methods which work for your conditions, time, energy and gardening style are fine. I wasn't certain your had the water at or near the surface nor that there would be enough to dissolve the necessary nutrients to flush them through the roots. It sounds as if you have it covered.

As long as the deep layer of mulch isn't covering the crowns of the plants and the volume of water you are applying soaks through the mulch into the root zones, all should work fine. You can test that by simply pulling back some of the mulch to make sure the soil is moist. If it is, great. If it seems overly dry, you're not giving them enough water. The sub soil watering is a good idea, and with the spraying and water bottles, you should be able to flush the fertilizers through the mulch into the roots.

Watering through the mulch is good. The water will help the mulch break down into food and help keep the bacteria breaking it down, happy. If the mulch is acidic, it will help acidify the alkaline water so it makes the alkaline soil more neutral and releases more of the locked up nutrients, making them more readily available for the plants. You're basically doing what Nature does in the woods. There are good reasons why She drops everything on the surface then rains or dews on it.

What I use to feed the gardens I tend, I selected for cost, ease and to prevent attracting my clients' dogs. I'd love to use organics, but dogs LOVE organic fertilizers. Blood meal, bone meal, feather meal, alfalfa, fish, all things dogs adore both eating and rolling in. So, I avoid using them so the gardens don't get ripped up by the dogs looking for "dinner" and so their owners don't shoot me for all their dirty, stinky dogs. I can't use them at home, either, both because of my critters as well as all the "indigenous personnel" the organics attract from the surrounding hills. I have enough of them as it is. Adding things which smell like dinner will bring even more of them here. No thanks!

Remember that a plant's feeder roots generally begin at the drip zone around the plant. That's the ideal place to put the fertilizer. If your basins are inside the drip zone, fertlizing there won't be quite as efficient, though it will work, just not quite as well. Plus, putting fertlizers around the crown of the plant can be dangerous to the plant. Many are salty and salts sitting in contact with the canes will draw moisture out of the plant, replacing it with the salts. That's how fertilizers get in to the plants. Ideally, the fertilizers should be sprinkled (or watered) around the outside of the drip zones where the concentration of feeder roots is greater and where none of it will sit against the canes. But, as with everything, if that's the only way you can do it, that's what you have to do. Just be aware of the potential risks so you can avoid them. Good luck! Kim

Kim, you are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you especially for the tip about organics. We also have more than enough "indigenous personnel" who can't resist rearranging every new garden I plant.

Hope I'll be seeing Annie Laurie widely available soon!

jannike

I got my order Friday, UPS worked hard to mangle the box, but the roses were okay. Today they are potted up and sitting in the shade of the oak tree and will gradually make it out to the sun if it is not too hot today.

Our scent spreading garden soil testers have been very busy in the garden. I keep trying to figure out which door I left the mat on for them to keep visiting. There are little V shaped holes everywhere. Lots of dirty paw/claw prints on the white picket fences and on the sides of the water buckets left through out the garden. Wish they would eat all those nasty peaches falling down rather than the good grapes. Guess they know which is worth eating and which is not too.

I do worry about the big foot prints, Animal Control picked up a rabid raccoon a couple of houses away.

Kippy, I really like the packaging Heirloom uses. Thank goodness those packages survived UPS's abuse. Which roses did you get?

Pepe Le Pew and clan seem to think they're household pets. Nothing like having a skunk rub up against your ankles.

jannike

Jannike, I got Cl Iceberg, Little White Pet, Baronne Prevost and Felicia. My boss had them rub ankles at his desk in the "man cave" aka garage. I suppose the fact that we have worms for them to want is a good thing.

My roses arrived on Friday as well. I added one to the Felicia I had mentioned above. Baron Girod de l'Ain. It will probably fail within a few years or be an unsightly mess sooner, but I decided I'm willing to take on a problem child in this case. I don't and won't spray, but it'll be fun to get whatever blooms I receive from it while it's here. I have an empty half barrel to put it in after it develops a little bit in its new one gallon container. If it somehow succeeds and outgrows the barrel, I'll probably be too happy to worry about finding it a permanent spot.

Jay

Pepe le Pew was one of the best cartoons ever!!!!