In terms of the transplanting, your new pots and the canes on the roses look great. I'm not remotely in your zone and can't advise you about transplanting issues, but the roses in pots look happy. Expect them to sulk for the first few weeks after transplanting, and keep them moderately watered but not soaking during the recovery period. Don't feed them - that is mostly a stress - just put them in part shade if possible (or put a shade cover over them) and keep them hydrated.

Cynthia

I didn’t previously know about your anti-fungal spaying, Moses.

Did you recently start, or have you been for some time?

And now back to leafnose’s original questions.

Rifis,

I spray a fungicide along with an insecticide, and mostly succeed at following a good schedule. Although by now, finally arriving at the conclusion of my last, few year's long, removing bad black spotters project, which are replaced with 'clean roses,' there are still some MUST KEEP roses like Apricot Candy that do need minimal but regular spraying. Also, even ADR winners like Bliss and Dee-Lish will get some black spot if summertime heat stress is sufficiently intense, as it has been here for a number of years now.

I like to see as pristine rose foliage as is possible in my rose garden. Maybe I am excessive in this requirement, but nothing degrades the beauty of a nearly perfect bloom if black spotted foliage surrounds it. It's like being served a delicious looking meal on a dirty plate.

I have touched on my fungicide spray methodology in previous, recent posts. You brought to my attention in one such post about alternating fungicides so fungicide resistance can be minimized, which has caused me to study up on alternate fungicides. Thank you.

Moses.

Wow. Yes, that was less than 3 months ago. My sleep score was only 62 last night. I better turn in right now.

Leafnose, can you tell us what city in So. Calif. you're in? Or if you're too shy, a zip code? I'm in So. Calif. and as you probably know, there are a ton of different microclimates here. Are you wanting to plant the roses in the ground soon, or keep them in pots?

@susan9santabarbara

I'm in Ventura. I hope to eventually put them in the ground. The spot the pots are sitting on is where a large Magnolia was growing. It had to be removed, and even after stumping twice may take a number of seasons more to break down. It's the dream that these will find their way here.

My location is far enough from the Ocean that it gets warmer, but not as warm as Santa Barabara as a rule.

Just a note That Saw fly lives in the soil so either start with completely new soil rinsing your roots, or Use an insecticide Drench granules When you transplant.

Howdy (almost) neighbor! I prune from mid-December until Valentine's Day. If those pictures are current, I'd prune Yves Piaget to get rid of all that twiggy stuff. Apricot Candy sort of looks already pruned. The Sterling Silver might appreciate some pruning, even if it's in a 5 gallon pot. All three of those are great roses. I grow ~175 roses in 15 gallon pots permanently. If you're going to grow them in pots for awhile, 15 gallons is about minimum size for good performance. (I'm elderly, so I can't easily handle more than a 15 gallon!). I don't remove leaves when I prune unless they are diseased. I find that sawfly larvae are a bigger problem with roses close to fences or buildings (I always figured because my many birds don't see them as well?), but they're definitely a problem here. I'm ~2 miles from the ocean.

If your roses are in pots you can also put newspaper or Landscape fabric Down to prevent the sawfly Larva from emerging or falling into the soil. I've done that and it's worked pretty well. of course, they are Elsewhere sometimes so it's not foolproof.

Leafnose, I do strip off any remaining leaves after winter pruning, clear all fallen leaves and weeds around the base and then mulch with fresh compost. Apart from helping to induce a sleep state, I do it to get rid of black spotted foliage and hopefully suppress spores. BS always returns anyway, but I hope it helps a little. Plus I like leaving everything tidy and set up for the season to come.

Susan, I also find sawfly damage much worse next to walls. I always assumed it was because they liked the warmth and shelter there, but true they are probably less visible to birds .. and to me!

Vapor, I don’t spray anything, chemical or otherwise, but I really like your idea of inserting a physical barrier in pots (raised beds too) to prevent the sawfly larvae either burrowing down in the first place or emerging later. As you say, it wouldn’t be foolproof, but anything that reduces their unsightly and energy-sapping leaf damage would be welcome. I would think one would have to be careful with young roses tho, so as not to impede any emerging basal shoots.

Nollie, I like your idea that it might be the warmth that causes them to be worse next to walls and fences. Since I have no idea about the behavior of the sawflies, could be we both have a valid hypothesis!