Double Delight - Hybrid Tea

Moonstone - Hybrid Tea
I got this one over the weekend from Nelsons and I think she has some thrips going on so she's under careful watch, Doctors orders for the next few days

Heirloom - Hybrid Tea
Another shot of Heirloom, I just wanted to post this one cuz the bloom is more open now and the morning light captures her violet color better.

Chrysler Imperial - Hybrid Tea
Another shot of Chrysler Imperial, the blooms get huge, almost 6 inches in diameter and the fragrance is intense!

Kordes Perfecta - Hybrid Tea
Last but not least is my rescue from Lowes - I was scanning the clearance rack and I came across this pitiful looking, bare 2 gallon rose for $2 and a tag that read "Kordes Perfecta" - I had no clue what color the bloom would be but I felt bad for the rose so took her under my wing. 4 Weeks later and lots of TLC she rewarded me with this bloom. I did some research on this rose and turns out she's an old school rose from like the late 50s. She has yellow undertones and her petals are white with pink blushes. Looks like Princess De Monaco and California Dreamin' may have some competition because I think she's going to be a lot of fun to watch :)

Oh my goodness they're beautiful. I love the size of the photos - makes them so easy to see.

Good golly Miss Molly!!!!

Carol

Many years ago I had Kordes Perfecta and it was a great rose-----

Keep the lovely pictures coming.

Florence

For all my roses I spray Ortho Rose Pride once every 10 days. Everyone usually tells me spray once a week but that's just too often for my busy schedule so I figure 3 times a month is fine. I buy the 16 oz concentrate liquid form from Home Depot for $13.97 and it lasts forever! I mix 1 TBSP of the liquid concentrate with 1 gallon of water and 1 TSP of Spreader Sticker to make sure the stuff sticks to the leaves.

I always spray super early in the morning like around 6 am or early in the cool evening around 6 pm because you don't want the hot sun to burn the solution onto the leaves. Using a hand-held spray bottle I spray a nice heavy mist onto the top of all the leaves and a light spray beneath the leaves as well. On average it takes me about 30 to 40 minutes to spray all 69 rose bushes in my back and front garden. For you and your 6 roses you should be done in 5 minutes. Easy peasy :)

Now if you want to be an extremist and go the extra route for show quality roses then you can also grab a systemic formula like Bayer Advanced All-In-One. It comes in liquid form and slow-release granular form. If you're interested I wrote a thorough review of the liquid product on Lowe's website that you can read here. This stuff is absolutely amazing for older (18+ month) roses but not to b eused on younger roses. DO NOT whatsoever use that stuff on newly planted roses or container roses. This stuff will severely burn or kill them. I made the mistake of using this stuff on all my roses and ended up murdering 3 of my newer roses which I feel horrible for :( Also I recommend cutting the dosage in half for your first application, then 75% on your 2nd, and 100% thereafter.

If you want to go the organic route I've read that insecticide soap is pretty good but I have no experience with it yet.

So far my biggest headache with growing roses in Florida are thrips. OMG I hate them !!! If you find that your roses have rusty brown edges those are thrips munching away on the petals, NOM NOM NOM - I tried using Bayer's $5 insect control for the thrips but it's a joke because I go through one bottle so fast. The systemic release formula seemed to be the only thing that worked for me. I would love to hear from others though if anyone else has advice on thrips!

Last but not least during the hot summer months I water all my roses twice a day. Once in the morning when I wake up and let the dogs out around 8 am and again in the evening when I get home from work around 6. From late fall until February I then back down to 2 times a week.

I can go on and on about my feeding and fertilizing as well but you specifically asked about black spot and rose disease so I figured I'd answer that question directly first. My apologies for the long-winded response. Hopefully some of that info was helpful :)

OH! I almost forgot, Most of my advice I got from Mr. Nelson, the owner of Nelsons Florida Roses and my friend Jim who tends to the roses at Leu Gardens. If you can't find Rose Pride at your local nursery or a box store,

Nelsons Florida Roses recommends these products for fungicide:

- Ortho Rose Pride ( Triforine )
- Ortho Orethenex
- Valent Triforine
- Copper and Maneb Combination Sprays
- Fertilome Lawn and Garden Fungicide
- Fertilome HALT Fungicide

For monthly Thrips control they recommend:

- Spinosad or Conserve
- Orthene
- Cygon
- Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower Insect Killer

For Spider Mite Control ( Upon appearance )

- Organocide

Kate