I have about 150 and they did great. I have soaker hoses and watered a lot. Fed them once a month and sprayed every 2 weeks. I am looking forward to a rest.

I guess I'm too lazy for roses.

Hi Loretta! It was a typical summer, I think. Most shut down entirely after a terrific spring flush. The only ones that kept blooming were Attache, Conundrum (the mini-flora that ate Monmouth County), Incognito, Bee's Knees and Honey Perfume (which went into single form and flew fast, but had a lot of blooms). Late August, they all were in bloom again, and looked pretty good. Now, there are Miami Moon, Conundrum (natch), very nice Tiffany, Moonstone, Honey Perfume, Our Lady of Guadaloupe and Gemini. A couple of other random blooms here and there. Of course, the watering system was in full force, and I sprayed a lot.

No, No, No! I will not allow you to SP them!!! Rose Tone monthly next year! See if you can find kelp meal or liquid seaweed. You and your roses will be happy happy!!!

My roses did great. I have two rugosas - don't know the names - one old climber (at least I think it's a climber that I'll bet has been here 40 years) and two ground cover roses. The ground cover roses are still blooming. I've not watered any of them more than 3 times throughout the entire summer and they are all healthy and I don't feed them at all. Maybe benign neglect is good for them.

Gee NJTea, with a name like that, I always pictured you with a huge rose garden heavy on the antique side! Now you say you have 5 roses and none of them are teas. Lol!

Sally D, you sound like you have a beautiful garden!

Diane, I have the Neptunes Harvest, Rosetone and fungicides in the shed. Does me no good there I know. But I am really chicken when it comes to shovel pruning. So I will probably just hem and haw about it.

If you remeber the rose thread we had early this spring, I mentioned I was taking out a New Dawn. Well I cut it down but never took the last step and dug up the roots. Now it is bigger than ever.

My'Iceberg' looks great!It started blooming again two weeks ago.

I have 6 Knockout shrub roses that did just fine. Just occasional supplemental water.

My knock-out experienced some dead canes after last winter, but seemed to recover fairly well. The New Dawn's had strong spring bloom, hardly any after that! Zepherine D. is still hanging in there, not my best performer ever. Banshee was reliable and always a favorite. My new favorite was LaMarne this year, she's still blooming! I don't think it has stopped blooming this season, need to check if its an artificial plant at this rate! Russeliana in its second year, beautiful blooms, it grew so big this summer, cannot wait for next spring's once bloom!!! The 7 sisters ate my shed, I need to get out there and tie up the new canes! I have several unknown varieties that did well and I hope to get names for them next year. Of particular interest is a rose I took from Cooperstown New york in August, I managed to get new growth! The owner of the cottage I stayed in said the rose had been in his family 100 years, had no name for it! I took 2 babies that were coming up next to it, only got a tiny bit of root but it has new growth and I am so anxious to keep it alive in the garage this winter!! I have been giving it bottled spring water, hah!

La Marne is a great one that I haven't seen too often. I guess because the bloom is small and they have newer patented roses for sale. It's almost like having two roses. Sometimes the blooms are bright pink and sometimes they fade to a soft pastel. Another great attribute is that it doesn't have many thorns. Mine is on the North side of the house. It might get some direct sun at certain times of the day and certain times of the year. Still it blooms reliably and never goes completely bald. This is an own root from Heirloom Roses in Oregon.

Hi, not only do I use rosetone once a month, I also use 20-20-20 and spray weekly with miracle grow. I am going to start with the Alfalfa next spring as so many people swear by it. I used the soaker hoses 3x a week. Besides the Japanese Beetles my roses did very well. I did make the trophy table at the district show this year with a rose named Passionate Kisses floribunda. What a bloom machine.
They are so much work, I am glad fall is here so I can take a rest.

I knew you showed roses when you said you use rosetone once a month! Your roses must be incredible. Do you spray?
My roses are just coming back to life now that it cooled down a bit. I see a few buds forming ...
Hi Neighbor has this big luscious flower that just lasts forever. Wish my camera was working.

Loretta, your Lamarne pic is beautiful! Mine is about the same size, received from gardenweb member about 2 years ago. I do like the contrast of the closed buds being that deep pink against the lighter open blooms. looked up passionate kisses and was intrigued! But does it have to be sprayed? I am looking for 2 roses that are 4 to 6 ft mature height and will behave in NJ for a new bed. My roses get manure, seaweed, coffee grinds, banana's and egg shells. karen

I just wonder how many you water the rose or the rose garden. When we were in Texas, we had a bed of roses under the lawn sprinkler. The large ones (like Mr. Lincoln) grew to 8-9 feet tall in 2-3 years. Right now, our flower beds are not watered. Since the roses are always thirsty, I do not know if I can grow them there.

I do provide some water though I don't have a permanent system up. I would like to get something semipermanent going to make it easier.
I would think you might be able to do some of the hardier species, antiques or rugosas.

You're still going to have to water regularly, at least until they are well established. I have most of mine on a drip irrigation system. Some people use soaker hoses. Water is the most important "fertilizer" for roses. The only two that I don't water regularly are a gallaca and a polyantha that are in the backyard, and have been in place for 10+ years. In times of extreme drought, I carry water back to them a few times. In general, if you aren't going to water your roses, then think about growing something else.

OK so what is your secret? The deer eat my roses to the nubbins. I am so sick of deer!!

The deer aren't in my yard yet though they aren't far off.

No deer here. A friend 5 miles from here has clear fishing line strung between rebar posts at about 1.5 - 2' intervals from the bottom to the top surrounding her rose beds. Some fabric ties at the top so us humans can tell the line is there. I'll have to ask her if it works.