Recent Activity
Chili thrips appear to be spreading in the USA. Reports of them showing up in North Carolina and New York have come in. Colder growing zones may not be the barrier that they once were believed to be.
Moses.
I live in North Tustin, Orange County and we have the large green fig eater beetles that most people call Japanese beetles. I think us Californian’s confuse these and call them Japanese beetles. I’ve only learned a few years ago myself that this was incorrect.
With Chili thrips, I’ve had them terribly every summer but ignored it until two years ago when I started spraying with conserve and another spray that I can’t think of right now. After spraying, I got rid of the chili thrips but then got other pests worse than before. I never get spider mites but I had such a bad case of it last year that the rose garden looked worse than before the thrips and my baby rooted cuttings died so quickly. I decided to officially stop all spraying started ordering in beneficial insects and already I’ve seen a huge difference! I would suggest going this route if possible. In Silverado Canyon, we run the PLNThouse nursery, and my roses there are totally pest free in which I’m assuming is thanks to being out in nature with tons of beneficial insects everywhere. We do no spraying here.
Thanks, @ocbrian1 for the info on the fig eater beetles. And for the confirmation on the beneficials being the way to go in fighting chili thrips.
Good news, Dianela. I hope their replacements, even though still in the pots that they have been growing in, have minimal jostling about during shipping, and that their packing by Heirloom was done as carefully as possible. Keep us posted.
Moses.
Thank you very much Paul! Will skip the summer ordering from now on to avoid that happening again.
This happened to me twice this year. One with a bare root rose that never broke dormancy until early summer, once it finally did send up one little green shoot that did nothing. The canes finally turned black and died. I did contact the seller regarding the rose not breaking dormancy, but since it was still green nothing could be done. By the time it finally died their warranty period was over.
The second time this season was a rose from J&P that arrived dead and moldy, this was due to the heat and I did receive a refund. Its hard not to take advantage of the summer sales.
Thank you for confirming my suspicions.
I don't think that the USDA can keep up with plant inspections from overseas shipments. The volume is overwhelming. This is even more serious if the roses in question are brought into the USA illegally.
Moses.
Prairiemoon,
Plum forgot about my list of top perennials. Here goes:
1. Malva moschata 'Alba' - a myriad of small, single, white blooms from early summer until autumn. ~30" X 20", nicely proportioned plant, pretty firm in the ground, no staking needed. Zone 5, no sweat. Can be a reliable reseeder, which comes in handy because this is a short lived perennial. Transplant only young seedlings growing as volunteers because older plants, except container grown ones, transplant poorly because of sensitive tap roots. 3+ months of continuous bloom.
2. Malva alcea fastigiata - all the same attributes as M. moschata 'Alba', but tall and columnar in growth habit. 4' X 2', pale to medium pink blooms in abundance from early summer to autumn. Zone 5, ditto as above. Same traits regarding rewarding volunteers, short lived 2 yrs., maybe 3. Blooms wonderfully the first year from an early sowing inside the house.
3. Heliopsis 'Summer Sun'. Other cultivars are also v. good. Yellow daisies, 2.25" in abundance from early summer to autumn. Dead head spent blooms to keep them coming. 36" X 28". Very hardy. Self supporting.
4. Salvia 'May Night,' other cultivars bred from S. 'May Night,' very good, too. 16" X 12", long bloom season, from mid spring to autumn. One of the few perennials that make fresh basal break s throughout the blooming season. Must be dead headed to encourage lateral spikes as well as basals.
5. Coreopsis verticillata'Moonbeam'. an older variety, but hard to beat. 14" X 14". Pale yellow 1" single daisies cover the plant in an informal, pleasantly relaxed growth habit. Some dead heading will help the long bloom period, from early summer to autumn, perform at its best. Quickly becomes a dense patch that needs division almost every other year, but who's complaining. Some newer cultivars may equal C. v. 'Moonbeam', but not likely surpass it.
6. Coreopsis v. 'Zagreb', this cultivar is rigid in growth habit, short, 12" X 8",_and rich yellow in bloom color. A nice complement to C. v. 'Moonbeam.'
7. Prunella 'Loveliness', 'Pink Loveliness,' and 'White Loveliness (hard to find),' is one stellar perennial often overlooked, but for a short, ~12" X 12+" clumping, heavy flowering perennial, it's hard to resist its continuous supply of blooms from early summer until autumn. Spent spikes must be dead headed to keep it pumping blooms. The newer varieties 'Bella Blue,' and 'Freelander,' are even more heavy flower ing than the 'Loveliness,' series.
8. Achillea ptarmica, 'The Pearl,' 18" X 12" is a joy to grow. Its double, pompom-like 3/8"-1/2" blooms are produced in abundance from early summer to autumn. A dwarf form, Achillea ptarmica, 'Ballerina,' which reaches 10" X 8", duplicates,,'The Pearl,' in every way, but diminutively.
9. Echinacea 'Magnus,' or 'Ovation,' are older varieties of Echinacea in the original genus, mauve, to toned-down fuchsia color, but wider, horizontally held petals.
10. Phlox paniculata 'David.'. What a great perennial, huge panicles of pure white flowers on 36" stiff stems that are awesome to view. Nothing says summertime better than Phlox. Blooming starts in late June and continues until autumn. Don't forget the fragrance, too.
11. Hibiscus.
(to be continued if a response to this post ensues.......)
Moses.
rifis, if you meant Lavender Crush gets blackspot in heat & humidity...yes she sure can! Neither one of them have it right now though, which is amazing to me. I had Lavender Crush at our old farm and it did get black spot. It was from a Walmart body bag and I dont recall if it was grafted or not. I'm sure these 2 new ones will get bs too given time but I think they are still worth it. I don't spray at all, so others might have less disease if they do.
Moses, I doubt you need it, but adding FF (Alaska brand, amazon) wouldn't hurt but you are probably wasting money.
All of your responses confirmed what my guts were telling me, and I am very appreciative of your responses. If it isn't broken, why fix it?
I switched to feeding ONLY Osmocote Plus 6 month feed a couple years ago, and nothing else because of the simplicity of applying it and its effectiveness. The commercial growers of container roses seem to unanimously use Osmocote, or another less expensive commercial version of it that employs the same principle.
I used to apply well composted pigeon manure from my loft in late autumn for years, but got away from that recently. Seems that the Osmocote covers all bases pretty well without it.
I do mulch heavily with small sized pine bark, topping off every early spring to maintain a consistent 2-2.5" depth. This keeps the soil cooler, less spikes in heat, weed subdued, less watering, and it looks nice. The pine bark mulch decomposes very slowly, also it keeps soil compaction minimized since I have to walk into my bed which is about 4 HTs (slender bushes) deep, to work the roses.
Thanks for sharing your much valued responses.
Moses.
Good choices, Jim.
My True Passion is a champ. Not a spot of the dreaded black spot, flowers whose intense tomato red color almost hurts my eyes to look at, blooms, although a little small, 3", come in abundance, no dead heading needed........are all its strong points. True Passion can get tall.....perhaps 6+' at maturity.
Being a third year now, it would be much taller at this time near the season's end, but I over pruned it at spring pruning because it had gotten to about 4' last year, in its second year. True Passion didn't like my decision and decided to send out many canes that widened the bush. Now it's about 3' tall, shorter than this time last year. I predict it will be 5' easily next year. It bloomed its head off this year.
You will really like True Passion, but site it carefully because it can get tall.
Moses, thanks for the advice much appreciated!
Judi,
Roses Unlimited sells roses in gallon pots. If I am correct, they are trade gallon which are not true gallons. Trade gallon pots are 3 quart, or 3/4 true gallon volume. Ken recommends a FULL 3 gallon pot. 3 full gallons would actually be a 4 gallon trade pot. So, putting a 1 trade gallon pot into a 3 FULL gallon pot would be increasing its available growing medium size by 300%. If roots came through the drainage holes my estimation is that they will be very thin and severing them would not have too negative of an effect on Hot Princess.
Moses.
Judi,
Moot or not, whenever you post your positive spirit always leaves a good vibe. Much needed in these unsettling times.
Moses.
Ah, Ken, that’s how you do it. Sounds like a very sensible plan and your garden photos show that you’re an amazing gardener. Thanks for sharing those details!
Moses, what a kind thing for you to say.
Thank you Judi. I don't consider myself anything special. I'm just a retired construction worker (drywall) that really enjoys being outside sucking fresh air. I'm not to wild about sitting in front of the tube. I enjoy doing the little things thay make things work correctly (a carry over from my days in the Army).
Yay! What a blessing to see fresh life when things looked so bleak. I hope that this time next year, your Orange Moss looks more robust and beyond just recovered, but thriving like never before.
Moses.
Tree roots...I have experience with that, and it is not about pots, but about one street tree and one of our large (about 8 ft by 25 ft) garden bed, which is separated from where the street tree's trunk is by a sidewalk. The tree is a California sycamore, and the City planted it 10-20 years ago. We irrigate the garden bed in the summertime, as in our climate it gets exactly 0 inches of rain from May through (usually) Oct or Nov. Well, that is one happy sycamore tree! Now when we walk into that bed (it has roses, some sort of South African daisy ground cover, and loads of bulbs, and of course, our generous volunteer Jupiter's Beard, which comes to visit & stay no matter what you do) we have to be very, very careful, as there are sycamore roots at least 8 inches in diameter either right under the surface of the soil, or with the top third of the root sticking up out of the soil (sometimes hidden by the ground cover foliage). So far, no one has broken an ankle trying to navigate that bed, luckily. (Actually, I think the roots keep pedestrians from the sidewalk from walking on, or taking their dogs on, the garden bed - a good thing). Meanwhile, all of the roses and bulbs and other plants do not seem to be affected at all, and are still happily growing and blooming. "Our" sycamore is of course twice as big as the next one down the street, which is on a corner and gets no irrigation.
Jackie
I'm glad OM has survived, Kim. It's a pretty thing and an important cornerstone of Ralph's search for mossed miniature varieties. It is in the background of varieties like 'Rougemoss' and 'Dresden Doll'.
Moses gave a very thorough response. I would only add plant maturity. the
more established roses generally having better resistance. Enjoy them! Clean roses are a rarity for me at this time of year!
Yes, important point, Markay. First year black spot issues are not a reason to grab the shovel. Two or even three years of trialing a rose is recommended. Most organizations like ADR trial for three years.
Moses.
Jim,
Take a look at the next to the last photo, #51, of OSO Easy En Fuego of the photos of it at HMFR. It's from a location in Italy, taken in April, 2020. It's blooming there to perfection.....very impressive. The flowers glow with an inner light in this photo. I hope yours becomes one of your favorites.
Moses.
That will be a gorgeous rose Jim . The foliage looks perfect and the bloom color is a great pop of color
ElfRosa,
That's good to know. You can't bear the financial burden on your back alone. Once a good thing starts taking form the right people come along to help lighten the burden. Many hands make a project of epic proportions come down to size.
Moses.
Me too, Jacquiline. A lot of pleasant surprises, variety wise, are in store for us. Fortunately, winter damage does not appear to be an issue at all. With ElfRosa's capable care, the garden should thrive. It could be that the among the unique varieties there, some may be the only representative left.
Moses.
Encouraging to see the new cane emerging.
The google photo history shows very clearly that the water line to the roses was broken or disconnected. The grass was green while the roses were dry as a bone in the May 2026 but before that, both were healthy green. I hope the city will fix the water line.
@apple_pie_order it's not a water line, it's a soaker hose - which of course is very fragile and was damaged. I've been pulling piece of it out of the berm all summer long.
The grass stays green because there are in-ground sprinklers, but they only reach some of the roses and don't stay on long enough to be of much benefit.
Jim,
I think you have the potential for one more flush this season. Your bush is looking great, nice and healthy.
Moses.
We have 3 more very warm days coming then it drops into the high 70's & some low 80's.... Yep our weather is reversing..lol
Your Dudes looking good!
9/10/26
Own Root
This is the size of "The Dude" this year so far.... Stayed on the small side... But its doing well... Bad winter plus I pruned it 3+ weeks late....So partly my fault....
Last year (2025) "The Dude" did reach 3ft X 2.5ft (pic below)
9/10/26
9/10/26
9/10/26
2025 Pic...Last year... It did reach 3ftx2.5ft
Sorry, I should have included that. I am near the border of Texas/Oklahoma, north of Dallas. We have expansive red clay here, hot summers, mild winters. I should also mention I have many other roses and none of them are doing this.
Is there a possibility that some toxic (to a rose), spray hit the foliage in question? In the same vein, has there been a recent application of anything liquid poured upon the soil or dry, granular substance (fertilizer, insecticide, etc.), applied upon or nearby the soil?
Another thing, has there been a lessening in the amount of hydration through: irrigation, hand watering, etc., that has occurred recently?
The excessive recent heat may be contributory to the reason for the foliage problem.
If a rose is over liquid fed, followed by a slacking off of watering, the stressed new foliage will show a strange growth pattern.
Moses.