Organic Rose Garden

Cindy Griffin

last year

I want to know what insect spray I can use.

Featured Answer

prairiemoon2 z6b MA

last year

last modified: last year

Hi, I've been growing roses organically for 10+ years. I haven't used a spray. The first roses I tried were a mess. A few David Austins and others. Foliage issues that would defoliate half the plant, blackspot, thripes? They would look pretty good until after their first flush of bloom and it was all downhill from there. 'Celebration' was one of the David Austins. I hate to look at bad foliage and when I couldn't look at it any more, I would just cut the rose back to a foot high. It would fill in and look healthy by Fall and then rinse and repeat the next season. Of course, no plant is going to tolerate that kind of treatment for long so after four years of that I removed it. Others didn't even last that long.

At that point, I regrouped and asked for recommendations for rose growers that produced healthy roses. I did research on the NY Botanical Gardens Rockerfeller Rose Garden that switched over all their roses to healthy, disease tolerant roses. I was buying the David Austins etc. at local nurseries potted. So I switched to bare root and ordered online from recommended growers after carefully selecting what looked like the most disease resistance. And to me that has been the key. Most of the roses I've grown since then have been great performers. Healthy. A couple of times I ordered something that was questionable and of course, I regretted it. But I'm happy with the roses I grow and being able to grow them under the conditions I feel comfortable to provide. If I had a problem that I had to spray for, I would replace the rose with something else. I can afford to do that because I have a small garden and I only grow less than 10 roses at a time. Even if the spray was organic, it doesn't matter to me, I avoid them. I used to use a home made spray of garlic, red pepper flakes and a drop of dishwashing liquid, but that's the only spray I ever used and that was for pinchers that I was overwhelmed with a couple of years in a row. That was a long time ago. It wouldn't help with rose foliage problems I'm sure.

If you are committed to using organic based sprays, the Rockerfeller Rose garden grows organically but they do use some organic products. You could check there and see what they recommend.

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Comments (13)

elenazone6
last year
Spinosad
Kathy: Central Valley CA 9A/B
last year
Pyrethrin spray derived from chrysanthemum.

Horticultural oil

Insecticidal soap or in some cases diluted dish soap

Copper spray

All are organic, but like most things, the lines are fuzzy and subject to debate. Where some prefer no chemicals at all and depend on rigorous soil improvements to promote vigorous plant health, some choose a little leeway.

As an interesting aside, I read last week that spray misting mildew prone plants early in the day will actually disrupt the fungal growth cycle eliminating the need for spraying. I plan to try this on a couple of pesky specimens.
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rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ)
last year
What insects are you seeking to target?
Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6
last year
last modified: last year
Yes, Kathy, wetting down the roses' foliage daily, has worked successfully, to some degree in halting powdery mildew. Stands to reason, powdery mildew proliferates in dry, cool weather, which conditions are frequently encountered here in the 'Burgh, in the fall....dry, hot days and cool nights in autumn particularly, with no rainfall....and lookout for powdery mildew popping up.

A local Rosarian a few years back wetted down his roses' foliage every day for a week when first signs of powdery mildew appeared, and great success was reported. If my memory is correct he directed a lawn sprinkler onto the roses to do the job. The sprinkler was left on for an hour or so, not just a 1 minute and done deal.

Moses.
Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6
last year
last modified: last year
You have to use organic insect/disease controls very carefully, because so many are oil based and can severely damage foliage if not very carefully applied. Also, oils, including neem and insecticidal soaps kill everything they touch, good and bad insects. So lady bugs and their ravenous larvae if zapped with neem and insecticides soaps die just like the harmful insects.

Moses.
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
last year
PM, can you reference somewhere that explicitly states that the Rockerfeller rose garden is organic? I've considered this an urban myth for many years now, but would love to be proven wrong. The most that I've seen them admit to is IPM.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
last year
last modified: last year
Well, here is an article about Peter Kukielski the curator of the PRRGarden - and how he grows roses there. I didn't read the whole article but I did a lot of reading when he first arrived and was changing over the roses. They had a list online of the new disease resistant roses they were changing to.

Meet Peter Kukielski
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
last year
So the urban myth is still an urban myth :(
Blue Mountain Girl Zone 8 Va
last year
For what it’s worth, my three year old garden gets no spray either! I can already see I will need to replace a few roses but most were chosen for health and stay looking pretty good. :)
dianela7analabama
last year
last modified: last year
My garden is spray free also and most of them look decent the entire season. I also have lots of perennials to cover the bare branches as needed.

I love checking out lists of gardens that are no spray. In that article linked you can click to see all the varieties in the garden and there is a Giant list of all my favorite Austin’s in the garden tracker plant that completely defoliate in my garden no spray. If that garden looks even decent after May I would also put in question the authenticity of any no spray claims.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
last year
last modified: last year
In the middle of June here, My roses are almost done with their first flush of blooms. All the foliage looks excellent. We've had a wet spring. No evidence of any foliar disease at all. No insect damage. I think it is early for beetles, but I usually get a minor amount of orientals that are easy to hand pick. The only problem I'm having is rabbit damage. They are eating the foliage on the bottom of a couple. They seem to have their favorites.

I looked at the PRockerfeller Rose garden website...and it's changed a lot from the last time i looked at it. They used to have the entire list of every rose in the collection there, but I don't see it now.
windowsill_gardener
last year
last modified: last year
I once had a question about a rose in the Rockefeller rose garden, so I wrote to the NYBG and the rose curator responded with a very kind and informative message. They even said to be in touch if I ever had more questions about rose care. So, if you'd like to ask about their rose list or recommended methods of pest/disease control, you could try emailing them at plantinfo@nybg.org.

I visit the Rockefeller rose garden a few times each summer and fall, and they've definitely held onto some older Austins that look like a hot mess foliage-wise by mid-summer, similar to what Prairiemoon has described. But in general, the plants look really healthy, and I've noticed they are pretty ruthless about pulling out and replacing under-performers.