this is what Oklahoma looks like now, after a 102 F + day

And it has some afternoon shade... Will Firefighter do better Straw? where I'm planning on planting her it is full sun all day long...

Jess: When it gets over 100*F in Islamabad, most roses do not perform well. Even if they bloom, bloom size reduces and becomes almost half of normal size or even smaller. A 5" bloom in spring may come down to 2" or so. Leaves also get smaller and more compact. This is perhaps natural reaction of the bush against heat.

Few years back I was living at another place down south called Okara (Straw, do you remember pics from that place?). Temperature there during hottest days in June / July would touch 45-47*C (113-117*F). I had to provide my roses with temporary home made shades. Just looked for the old pictures and found two....

When I was searching for the old pics with shades, found two from 2013. It brought back nostalgic memories of perhaps the best garden that I ever had. Still remember that. Though the weather was very hot in Okara, still I was able to maintain a fabulous lawn and a luxurious kitchen garden and of course, lots of roses. If you see in right corner, you would see a green shade which is perhaps covering my miniature roses.This is how I covered my first years roses. Shade was home made.... bought green cloth only.

But 102 is not very high. It won't be a threat to the bushes however, quality of blooms will be affected in most cases. Either the blooms fry or reduce their size and look awful. McCartney, Whisky Mac and French Lace are three roses in my house that kept flowering well even in 105*F this summer. What is the maximum temp in your area?

best regards

Jess: How about starting a dedicated thread for your wonderful roses in South Africa? Your roses will be better documented at one place and it will be easier for others to find all your roses at one place.

I will request the same to Straw and Sam also, when their roses start blooming.

regards

Jess: For ants around roses, TERRO outdoor ant-trap is what I use. I also use TERRO indoor ant-trap for my kitchen. Many folks, including me, swear by the TERRO brand. Other brands didn't work !! The ants get inside the traps for the poison, so it doesn't hurt any insects except for the ants.

My Firefighter was in full-sun, and our temp. got up to 100 F, or 38 C .. the color was dark-red, so just a touch of outer of the petals was fried .. still looked good. Firefighter doesn't fade whatsoever, but I got less petals in high heat.

JESS: I would touch the petals to see how thick it is before buying. Firefighter petals is much thicker than Austin roses, thus last long in the vase and can stand up to high heat. But Romantica, or French Meilland roses like Love's Promise has THICKER petals than Firefighter even, and lasts even longer in the vase. The thicker the petals, the more it can withstand high heat. Yes, Firefighter blooms still look good in high heat, but it needs tons of water, and the roots need to be cooled by logs, or leaves.

In hot weather, I DON'T RECOMMEND sulfate of potash nor gypsum. Effects of too much sulfate of potash: 1) more blooms, but less petals 2) petals get bleached out Effects of too much gypsum in hot weather: leaves become thinner & wilted. But just a tiny bit of SOLUBLE gypsum is safe to lower pH of alkaline tap water.

The only thing safe in hot weather is leaves or straws on top to keep moist, and to slowly release nutrients. My best success in hot weather was to pile up alfalfa hay NPK 2.5-1-2 around the roots. Hot weather is the best time to use large chunk organics .. they break down fast.

JESS: I enjoy the link to your vacation spot in Mosambique. Really enjoy your narrative of that wonderful place !! .. the fish look fresh .. I love fish fresh from ocean, so yummy, the beach with white sand looks so clean and pure. Also noted Khalid's posting of Benjamin Britten .. posts from Pakistan got inserted later, so I always re-read from the top.

thank you so much Straw... I will try and order the Terro ant bait from the local shop...in the meantime I'll get the Lime...to use around the roses and everywhere else..wherever I walk they're climbing on me and attacking me...a calf was born here a short while ago and it was covered with ants by the time it was lying on the soil...the drought is terrible...

and, I will ask the people at Ludwig's to feel the petals, it will be shipped either from Pretoria or Cape Town...thanks also for that advice...

and also I'm glad you enjoyed the piece about Lourenco Marques...it is so sad to think all of that gets lost in time due to wars and more wars...how many other beautiful places like that got lost already...

another 3 days of this hellish weather then a few cooler days...

can I ask everyone to pray for rain for this country please? not just here where I'm staying but everywhere, there are areas up north where the land is now red dust...animals dying...no maize to feed animals or people, has to be imported, with the government pumping untreated sewerage into our dams and rivers...I think we need prayers for more than rain...we need a miracle...

http://www.sapeople.com/2015/12/28/video-reveals-shocking-drought-in-freestate-south-africa-2015/

Jess: The video above is so sad .. I feel for the people of South Africa. Yes, I'll pray for them .. I feel spoiled since we have so much rain & snow. We used to donate to World Vision International, which dig wells in Africa .. but later I found that the president of World Vision makes 1/2 million dollar per year, so we stopped donation. I wrote to World Vision asking why, and they sent me a "pre-formatted" letter, saying that they have to pay him more, since he can get MORE money for the organization. I simply can't understand greed.

Curbing greed has to stop at all levels. Compassion and understanding is what brings happiness to the poor, rather than getting more & acquiring more. Yes, I pray for more rain for South Africa.

Khalid: I didn't see pics. of your travel to Germany until now. AWESOME. Thank you for the info. on organ meats (takka) & freshness of meat, and the fragrant roses you have. Really enjoy reading your replies & learn lots from you.

Would you start a new thread for Roses & places you travel & culture, etc ... for 2016? THANK YOU. this thread is getting long, and I don't want to miss out on your posts & photos (got inserted much later WAY UP there by my web-browser).

Jess, I looked up Oscillococcinum, it's made from diluted duck and goose liver. I agree to liver's healthy immune-boosting enzymes. We ate chicken's liver weekly in Vietnam. For my 13 years there I got a bad cold ONLY ONCE ... compare to my kid's getting 2 bad colds per year.

Khalid: yes, I remember your huge garden with a peacock in Okara, which you posted in English rose forum. That peacock was gorgeous !! Thank you for what you wrote: "McCartney, Whisky Mac and French Lace are three roses in my house that kept flowering well even in 105*F this summer. What is the maximum temp in your area?"

French roses like your McCartney, French Lace, and my Frederic Mistral can take high heat well (up to 104 degree). That's the highest it gets in Chicago's summer. Evelyn & Christopher Marlowe & Radio Times are my 3 Austin roses that can take high heat. Firefighter leads the pack for high heat, but it needs lots of water (the roots are shallow & spreading).

I'm looking foward for your new thread on travels ... thanks.

Jess: All my prayers for rains in South Africa. May God help us all.

Straw: I will start a new thread for travels in 2016. But I was also suggesting that all of us can open our dedicated rose pics threads, giving a few details of our climate, soil etc at the start. This way it will be easy for us to trace back the rose pics that we see on this forum. Now, we are posting pics everywhere. The other day I wanted to see an old pic posted couple of months backs and just couldn't trace it despite searching numerous threads.

Jess, myself and perhaps msdorkgirl can post our 2016 pics even now (I have already opened a new rose thread for 2016). You, Carol and Sam can also open your threads when winters are over and roses start blooming in your respective areas. I think we all will enjoy this forum much more that way.... What do you say?

regards

You mean this peacock. Found this photo of the backyard garden. Wow.... me and my wife still remember our good days in this house. That is the advantage of living in a small city.... one can afford a grand house. In Islamabad, prices are 10 to 15 times higher than Okara and this kind of a house will cost me a fortune.

How do I do that Khalid? - create a new thread?

ps - thanks for the prayers for rain (and miracles) for SA....from my heart....Greed seems to be a virtue in some people's minds...it's like gambling - once you start you can't stop....

Khalid - I like your temporary net/canvas houses against the heat for your roses... and the bamboo you used makes it even prettier....will have to think about something like that for my roses over here....

I found this thread and enjoyed and appreciated everything here so much!

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3410183/wise-quotes-that-help-with-life-and-gardening-and-happiness

Yes Jess. I would suggest a new thread which is dedicated for your roses only. As I have a thread dedicated for my roses in Islamabad Zone 9a. Similarly I will request Straw and Sam also to open a new thread dedicated for their roses, whenever their roses start blooming. I guess our roses will be much better documented that way.

Thanks and regards

Jess: To create a new thread, go back to Organic Rose forum (back arrow, or click on Organic rose way at the top). Scroll ALL THE way up, until you see the big title ORGANIC ROSE GROWING, beneath is your user logo, next to it is "Example title: Need help for kitchen", type the title of your new thread over that, you have 70 characters to fill the box.

I make the title as descriptive as possible to make it easy for folks to google. Beneath is a bigger box "Tell us the details here, share photos" ... just type whatever you want over that grayish instruction. When done, click on the green button "Post", and that's how you start a new thread.

After posting your new thread, you have 1/2 hour to change it, by scrolling ALL THE WAY down, click "Edit" box on the right most, bottom bar. Fix your new thread, and click "Post" again.

thanks so much Khalid... my heart skipped a beat when I saw that beautiful peacock...

what an amazing garden...such a pity you had to move...sigh sigh sigh...

you'll have to teach/tell me how to create a thread please?

and then you'll have to post yours otherwise I won't find it ...not so clued up with technology.... :-)

I have a tiny Jude the Obscure that I planted where it'll only get morning sun, and, like Sharifa Asma, the plant is really surprising me, growing happily, although, no blooms yet. (planted a few months after Sharifa)..I'm hoping it'll climb...it's right next to my bedroom window :-)

you know what's really wonderful about this forum...? so many beings communicating peacefully... why can't the rest of the world try doing that I wonder? this forum takes me to another world, and each rose reminds me of all of you! :-)

thanks Straw, will do that this evening.... don't want to rush this in between work... :-)

Jess: For the new thread, sometimes I copy my old Houzz posts, including pics. That's how I organize data here .. so nice that Houzz has more than a week to edit old posts, so I move them around.

Some info. can be googled in Houzz only .. that's where I found the vertigo discussion which folks reported ginger helps, plus artificial sugar like xylitol worsens vertigo. Pinterest has a powerful search where it pops up pictures of the BEST which people collected from the internet .. that's where I found exercises to lessen my vertigo, induced by that darn-flu-shot.

Jess: You don't have to worry about how to create a new thread. Straw is here

Please take your time..... I will await pics of your beautiful roses.

BTW, if you are interested in seeing my rose pics of 2016, please click this link

My Roses in Zone 9a - 2016

regards

This is the thread I just posted:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3592025/m=3/organic-roses-in-south-africa-and-thoughts-about-life-and-health

I'm looking forward to all yours! :-)

many thanks for helping me create a thread Straw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Jess: I'm glad to help.

Khalid: Your backyard with a peacock & rose garden & gazebo is the best ever .. Never seen such before !! and would love to see that pic. again, and again .. gorgeous garden !!

Khalid

That picture of the peacock is sooo cool.

Jess

Here is a picture of one of my blueberry bush. I have 4.

They didn't grow at all the last two years . It was so cold we had a polar vortex.

Sam: Beautiful pic. of the snow & blueberry bush. When we picked blueberries from large farms in Michigan .. our favorite was the bushes next to a pine-grove, they get evening shade from the hot sun ... those give the sweetest & juiciest blueberry.

I received my Smart-pot (10 gallon), will post pic. of that. I spent 1/2 hour this morning chopping up ice with a heavy shovel used for edging ... the snow froze into ice .. broke out in a sweat from doing that.

I am really eager to hear about the smart pot. That's sounds like it would be very successful at growing things. The more oxygen that gets to the roots the more healthy the plant will be. That's why the smart pot is better than a plastic pot.

Speaking of peacocks (pictures from Winter 2015 trip) ...

Random peacock on neighbor's wall (outside of Los Angeles, CA)

Same neighbor's place--- at least 5 if not 6 inches! Just Joey

The Shrine, caught them right when they were hard pruning (off of Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA)

Bouquet from Shine cuttings ... I love visiting there, it's an unexpected place in the middle of LA

The LA Arboretum (rose garden wasn't spectacular because of the season)

I also went to Austin, TX but I guess I didn't take many pictures of Ziker Garden (SP?)

Msgirl: that shrine bouquet is gorgeous, I like the sunshine onto that .. will save that as my screen-saver. I love peacocks!!

Beautiful pics. Love the peacock pics and of course the gorgeous Just Joey. Thanks for sharing msdorkgirl.

Desperate for roses and rose talk I happened on this forum, new to me. Travel is another interest of mine but I don't travel far these days, only within Europe. Like Khalid I've visited about 30 countries but that was long ago and before mass tourism. I spent several days in Lahore in 1967 when my husband and I, still students, were on our way over land to India where we were going to do voluntary work. Now in my old days I travel only for gardens and flowers. I am not a good photographer and take very few photos but I'll post a few, nothing grand.

In May 2011 we went to Norfolk for the Norfolk Auricula Day at West Acre Nursery near King's Lynn. Auriculas are another of my interests, shared by my husband. It was great fun, glorious auriculas and lots of tea and cakes. Big cities are tiring so we took a break one Sunday for a walk in the Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden in the Norfolk Broads. Such a relief.

In June 2012 my husband had business in Berlin and I went along as I wanted to see the community garden in former east Berlin, Nomadisch Grün (Nomadic Green) where local people grow vegetables organically on a an empty site that will be built on later. They can easily move it to wherever there is an empty site. The café was great.

The same year in October Greek friends with a house on the island of Egina needed help with their garden so four of their friends went from Sweden to help them prune fruit trees and roses. I was responsible for the roses and it was not easy for me as I was not familiar with the varieties. I think this is a sanguinea. I couldn't put a name to any of the other roses, mostly HT's, but pruned them as best I could.

July 2014 the Nordic Rose Societies celebrated their biannual rose weekend, this year in Turku, Finland. I had no idea there were so many wonderful rose gardens there. We visited the summer palace of the President of Finland and many private gardens. The rose garden at Gullranda, the president's palace.

Apparently I couldn't post more pictures in the same post so I go on with my recent trips. In November 2014 my husband had business in Munich and I went along. I didn't see any gardens, only parks,

but the market square was nice and I bought lots of stuff for Christmas and some packets of seed.

Our latest trip was to northern Germany in September last year and the Rosen Tantau headquarters in Uetersen north of Hamburg. I wanted replacements for two misbehaving Geschwind climbers. The Rosarium Uetersen was an added bonus chockfull of roses from the great breeders Tantau and Kordes and other rose firms in the neighborhood.

I was most interested in an American Rose, the climber Christine Wright, because it bloomed so well so late, and I will try to find it,

I know already that our next trip will be to Norway in April, to early for roses in Scandinavia, but there may be rhododendrons in bloom if I'm lucky.

Hi Marianese: Glad to hear from you .. I used to post in Antique rose under Strawberryhill .. now StrawChicago. I also have alkaline clay. You are located in Sweden? Do I remember correctly?

Auriculas are such lovely flowers .. that's the 1st time I see them, thanks to your post. My mother-in-law is Swedish, she's quiet & reserved. The garden in Finland is lovely, same with the architecture in Munich. Really enjoy all those lovely pics ... THANK YOU.

Hi Marianese: Welcome to our little community. And what a wonderful write up. I love to read travelogues and watch pics posted from different countries. Thanks for taking the trouble to do this and I fully understand it does take a bit of time. Since last two weeks I am trying to post a few more but arranging them and writing about history of the area does take time and I am unable to do it. It's easy to post a few rose pics but travelogue writing is time consuming.

I visited Hamburg in end April last year and was told that the roses won't be blooming. Otherwise I had planned to visit Rosen Tantau.

Great to have you around Marianese. Stay blessed.

Saratoga's rose garden.

Wow....beautiful roses. Which is this bright scarlet rose, Sam

Thanks for sharing the pics

Sam: really like those elegant white columns ... and the last rose-bush is outstanding, that's the color I want.

I think they are from David Austin.

Yaddo Gardens

Khalid

I like the format of this forum now that I can read the comments arranged proper.

Thank-you for doing that.

What a treat...another surprise... msdorkgirl what a lovely peacock, roses, houses and gardens...most lovely red roses Samuel...so many blooms on each rose bush....marianesse, I also loved your photo's... of your travels and the roses...it is all so stunning....

Cave of Sleepers

Visited Cave of Sleepers near Amman. Basing on information available from early Christian writings and then, from Muslim holy book Quran, it is believed that somewhere in 1st century AD, there were probably 7 pious men who didn't want to follow the idolater king who had threatened every one of death penalty if he believed in any god other than the god specified by the king. Avoiding to worship th god nominated by the king, these men, along with their dog, left the village and went to a cave in the mountains to avoid persecution. It is said that these men slept in that cave for 300 years or a little more and when they woke up, times had changed and new king was believer (probably Roman King Theodosius II).

The story existed for quite some time but nobody knew the location of the caves. However, with time, at least 6 places came up in different countries that were said to be the cave of sleepers. The two most likely, on which scholars agree, are in Jordan and Turkey. Others that are in Syria, three in Algeria and one in China are considered less likely. There is a larger no of scholars who vote for the cave in Jordan to be the actual cave where the seven (or whatever number) of sleepers slept for 300 years. Few days afterwards, all of them died and were buried in the same cave.

Inside of the cave. Other than the door of the cave (which remain covered with bushes etc... the only source of light was this hole in the roof.

Outside garden was wonderful and contained giant size rose bushes.... fragrance was all over the air. Though the prime blooming time was over, still it was a magnificent show.

Could there be a bush more beautiful. What you see in the photo is nowhere close to what it actually looked on ground. It was fabulous

There are so many more pics....

Although most rose bushes were past their prime time but they still looked marvelous. Bloom size was large and there were so many blooms. And look at the health of bushes.... some of them were just like trees having thick trunks and branches. In Jordan climate, roses grow huge.

best regards

Khalid: thank you for posting those pics. from Jordan. I really like the caves and the history behind it, and Jordan has beautiful roses !!

The only time that I saw roses similar to that was Elizabeth park in Connecticut, with 5,000 rose bushes. My sister lives 1/2 hour from that park, and her soil is very fluffy & loamy, way more phosphorus for branching than my one cane-wonder. Her zone is 6b, warmer than my zone of 5a.

Straw: I would rate the climate of Amman close to 9a or 8b of USDA standards with few big differences. It has cool and wet winters with lot of rains and some snow and warm (but not very hot) summers with no rains. I think this aspect also plays an important role in the size of roses here. The roses grow huge in the Northern Areas of Pakistan as well and it also has cool summers with almost no rains along with very cold and wet winters. Additionally, the ground bed naturally has little soil in Amman area as it is mostly composed of limestone rock. Most soil put in the gardens for growing roses / other plants is brought from other places and looks like a fertile well drained soil to me.

best regards to

Khalid: thanks for the info. Limestone rock as the foundation is good stuff, that's what I have at the bottom: dolomitic lime (both calcium and magnesium), when I dig up roots that like it alkaline (Dr. Huey-rootstock or Radio Times) .. the root went deep into the limestone layer for nutrients.

Limestone (calcium carbonate) helps to de-salt the soil, thus good for drought. It's great that the top soil at Amman area is fluffy for best root-growth !!

Great to see these pictures of Amman . Thank you very much.

Here is a nice Elaine Ingham Video I enjoyed watching.

https://youtu.be/NuO9GQ94_JQ

Here is a picture of my bike ride this Weekend over the Great Sacandaga. No roses yet it is too cold so far.

Sam: Beautiful photography .. I pray that you are safe on your bike trip. I once joked with a guy about putting flags around his motorcycle for visibility, he said that ain't cool.

That's a cool place Sam, worth a bike ride. Me and my wife are in Budapest now. Not finding time to upload the pics but will do that as soon as I get time.

Best regards

Khalid: For reasons which I already messaged you, we prefer to hang out in your FaceBook page instead ... please message me & others as to how to view your travel pics. in your FaceBook. Thanks.

Thank you, Your photography is wonderful, very professional.

Valrose: Thanks for your comments. You have already seen this thread but scrolling through the pics again might be good fun.

best regards

Yes, I enjoy the pics. very much, and remind myself that limestone is good stuff for roses. I'm getting the bottom limestone layer out, and top roses with that to buffer against acidic rain.