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.

Dianela is a good pathologist, as well you know, rifis. But she's not a plant pathologist, which is much different. I dislike your snide comments. Diane

Great news dianela7analabama!

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.

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.

I love that color of your OSO Easy En Fuego. Below is a video in Facebook that shows its exciting colors: Facebook

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.

ElfRosa, your mystery coral rose reminds me a lot of Color Magic. I grew it many years ago, so I have no pics of it in my current files, but you might want to check the pics on HMF. It's a really nice HT that used to be really popular.

@susan9santabarbara thank you for this possible ID! My mind went to Tropicana but it's a bit different color. I actually think there might be more than one of these in the garden, so this is very helpful info!

@judijunebugarizonazn8 It's weirdly shocking to see insect life in this dead, dry space! It is nice to hear kind comments, see a few living things (that mantis was very exciting to see!) and just have the space starting to looking a lot more alive!

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

When I think of the knowledge contained in the brain only, not recorded anywhere, just retained in the mind of a brilliant person in any subject, an individual being beyond expert in their field, that dies with them when their body dies, it boggles my mind.

Moses.

Gwen Fagan was, in many ways, like a modern Constance Spry (whose book, Favorite Flowers, is magnificent!) a renaissance woman. Highly accomplished, marvelously creative and a delight to read.

I have "Roses at the Cape of Good Hope" by Gwen Fagan, and books by many of the other authors mentioned above. I like reading books by people who grow roses which originated in the UK or Europe in Australia, South Africa, Bermuda, etc. They garden in warm climates, which maked them relevant to me, and tell great stories about how specific roses may have gotten to where they live. My favorite story was by a Tea Rose Lady in Australia, Billy Tea-Bag, who remarked that a visiting rose expert looked at a rose there that was called "Countess Bertha". He thought it might be 'Comtesse de la Barthe', but said no one could have changed that name to "Countess Bertha". Billy's response was "Oh yes, Australians could do that!".

Jackie

Every year is different for no apparent reason at all. What we do know and have control over in some cases are: excessive heat (no control over), not enough rainfall/supplemental watering, and insect and/or fungus damage will take their toll.

Make sure you are generous in your natural soil amenities: compost, aged manure, alfalfa pellets, etc., applied every year, in addition to conventional fertilizers. Check your pH. Ideally, it should be slightly acidic at ~6.5 - 6.7pH. Adjust it accordingly if/as needed.

My fall flush last year was great.....this year almost a bust is expected. I know why so this year. They are the saw flies. Left unsprayed this year......I am paying the price. Next year I will be prepared for them.

Moses.

Rifis,

You said a mouthful! What a relief not to contend with the dreaded Rose Midge Fly anymore. This season, 2026, is the 2nd. year now. What was the worst part of Rose Midge Fly was that no matter how carefully and faithfully the roses were sprayed, there was 5-7% new damage that showed up at the next, every two week, spray session, so the midge kept on reproducing and kept on reinfesting, although greatly controlled.

You know, Rifis, since I stopped spraying a systemic insecticide, imidacloprid, for midge, the dramatic increase in damage of what I assume is the work of saw fly larvae, caterpillars, has become severe. They are not the destruction of mature leaves through chewing myriads of holes, and when tiny, just hatched caterpillars, making lace-work of mature leaves, but the damage of small leaves at growing tips, not the green developing flower buds, just the leaves only. The damage, although not really to the developing, green flower bud, weakens tiihe tip so that the resulting flower is usually undersized.

I will definatively have to commence spraying next year, 2027. However, a resumption of the level of intensive spraying as was required for Rose Midge Fly control is not expected. As you know, though, with roses.....expect the unexpected. I'm going to take a positive attitude, come what may.

I intend to begin spraying right away to help make a dent in the population and reduce the amount of over-wintering nymphs or eggs.

Another thing, I do not know for sure if the caterpillar is in fact a saw fly larvae! I have almost none of the typical saw fly larvae leaf lacing in my garden. My larval insects and photos of saw fly larvae look identical. I thought perhap that my caterpillars were the larvae of the cabbage butterfly which is commonly seen fluttering about here. Photo comparisons of both larvae look the same to me. When I find a caterpillar on a rose growing tip leaf (very hard to do), it almost always is a solitary caterpillar. Questions, questions.....

Moses.

Mike,

Please take note of what Rifis wrote above. Your sudden onslaught of symptoms may well be Rose Midge Fly damage.

Where do you live, approximately.....largest nearby city? What is your agricultural zone? Do you have any local expert to consult?

Moses.

Ler me explain. Just as I was reading through Mike’s opening post, I spotted Moses’ name in bold immediately below, and I ”knew” he was going to bring up midge. Then, when I saw he did not, I thought I missed something. I mentioned the ”good news”, as Moses has deep experience with this insect. Later, bugged by what I had been thinking, I asked the google search box about it, and that’s what it replied.

My garden is not doing well this year due to rain, heat plus midge. Will plant some landscaping roses next year for easy care & quick colors.

Straw,

My rose garden's soil is ~2' deep of black, loamy topsoil, no clay in it. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to gret it that way. If it had clay in it, it would be toned down from black to tan because my native clay is yellow, almost golden in color. Below the soil is a dense, cement like layer of yellow clay going down considerably, 10+' in places before it hits rock.

You sure have had major challenges to grow roses, Straw. That trench digger got a good workout. I'm sure it has paid for itself many times over going by the outstanding results you have achieved.

Your roses are grown to perfection. When I see a photo of yours of a variety I also grow I realize that I have to raise my standard to meet yours. Keep inspiring me.

Moses.

@jim1961 Central Pennsylvania Zone 6a

Agree that all gardens are different due to different soil & climate. I grew 2 dozen roses grafted on Dr.Huey back in 1997, and NONE had rust since it was fast draining loamy soil. But this previous garden had acidic soil with blue hydrangeas, so roses had bad blackspots and all those grafted-roses died through 2000 record snow, except for Queen Elizabeth. That garden was 40 min. away from my current garden.

In 2001, I moved to my current garden of POOR DRAINAGE alkaline heavy clay. In 2012 we had lots of heavy rain, and ALL the neighbors' roses (grafted on Dr.Huey) BROKE OUT IN RUST. That's the first time in my life that I saw rust.

Thank God I got into own root roses in 2011 and NONE of my roses got rust during 2012 heavy rains. Own root roses can handle tons of acidic rain better than Dr.Huey-rootstock.

My own root Angel Face was 100% clean, while the neighbor's Angel Face (grafted on Dr.Huey) was full of rust, and she got rid of it.

Below is a map of rain, showing rain is more acidic at pH 4.5 in my NW Chicago, versus less acidic in the West Coast (California) at pH 5.6.

Below was my OWN ROOT Angel Face, it was very healthy. But it died after 2 winters due to poor drainage clay. That's before I bought the 5 feet long trench digger to dig for drainage:

Below was a bouquet with Angel Face on top, white Borelo, and red Pink Peace. They were mulched with horse manure at pH 8 (stable here used agricultural lime for their stall, which UP the pH of the horse manure):

My garden differs even from one year to another. Last year I had lots of dill & cilantro in my garden and zero thrips. Cilantro and dill plants host beneficial insects like praying mantis, green lacewings, and lady bugs which devour thrips. This year I got rid of my dill and regret it, with my backyard's roses having thrips, but the front garden with tons of calendula (host beneficial insects) do not have thrips on roses in front.

I will be planting dill today since I like it in my salad.

I once planted my 2nd Wise Portia in an air-pot with bagged dense clay. It won't drain fast enough in heavy rain, and Wise Portia had the worst rose slug infestation. So I moved Wise Portia in a raised bed (after I broke up the soil with tons of pelletized lime for fast drainage). Wise Portia has zero rose slugs ever since, and NOT much blackspots even in month-long humidity at above 80%, pic. taken in August:

Nice Roses Straw! Same here so many variables season to season! lol

Some roses do well know matter what's thrown at them other roses not so much...lol

Just enjoy... :-)

Dianela,

I agree with Susan. It could be Sheer Bliss or Francis Meilland.

It looks like Francis Meilland to me. Everything checks out. Although FM is an ADR winner, the fact that your specimen there has foliage with a considerable amount of black spot is understandable considering it appears to not be getting the best care. See how those heavily spotted leaves are still green and hanging on? It's a black spot fighter indeed. Francis Meilland came out in 2009 in the USA, so its relative newness means whoever planted the bush more than likely had easier access to it commercially, than to Sheer Bliss.

Whereas Susan's thoughts that it is Sheer Bliss I believe is less likely, Sheer Bliss being over fifty years old, having come out in about 1970 from J & P Roses, puts it in the heyday era of, 'spray every day,' Hybrid Teas from back then. The roses from that era were black spot magnets and by late August, now, Sheer Bliss unsprayed out your way as around here, wouldn't have much foliage left that wasn't heavily spotted, turning yellow, and falling off.

Moses.

I can contribute a couple photos of my young Francis Meilland. It's a really great rose, wonderful scent, thick petals that make for long lasting blooms, healthy and vigorous.