Hello HHG!
I love
roses. We live on the Oregon coast and have mild weather. We have 3 big oak containers with
roses in them and also some in the garden. We watch a show called Rebeccas Garden on HGTV. We've learned alot from her about gardening. You can go to your local library and check out her cd on caring for
roses.
I spray aphids using a soapy water mixture of 2 1/2 tbs dishsoap/gal H2O.(This is safe to use around animals) If you'd like to make another type of spray: a stock mixture:
1 TBS dishsoap, 1c. cooking oil. This is your stock. When you want to spray, add 5-8 TBS to 1 gal. H20.
Watering...
roses only need about 2" of water per week, a bit more in really hot weather.
Dead head the faded blooms. This will promote more blooms. When pruning, look down the stem til you find a 5 leaf stem. That is a bud union & your new bloom will come from that point.
Also,I've found a good online site for non-chemical pest control:
www.oisat.org Happy gardening!