With the last substantial rains being a distant memory, summer temperatures and low humidity are ideal conditions for spider mites – a scourge of the season for roses and lots of other plants. Spider mites are related to spiders and ticks. With eight legs and an oval body 1/20 of an inch-long, they look like […]
These pests love dry and dusty! Read More »
Grrrrr – while merrily tending my roses, I’ve come across another victim of the dreaded beast – the gopher. If this is not one of the gardening challenges you face, you can stop reading now. Since I live in gopher heaven, each season I have to deal with the damage from this voracious pest. And
With the first rains of the season comes the potential for Botrytis – the disease that can turn lush blooms into a brown, soggy mush. This common disease is also known as Botrytis blight, bud rot, gray mold, wooly mold and when growing on grapes, the “noble rot” where it can either ruin a crop
Nobel Rot on your Roses? Read More »
Thrips are generally bad news for the gardener, whether you have one type of thrips (the name is the same – singular and plural) or more. Not visible to the naked eye as they often feed within buds and furled leaves or in other enclosed parts of the plant, these extremely small insects cause damage
These Bugs are Bad News Read More »
A discouraging sight to anyone growing roses is that succulent new cane tip that suddenly wilts and dies. This symptom may have many causes, but one of the culprits is a cane borer. There are numerous borers – they’re generally the larvae of a beetle or moth that bore into canes, feed, and eventually cause
Wilting Roses and Cane Borers Read More »
It’s the time of the year when our national flower put on a dazzling show, cloaking plants with brilliantly colored, sweet-smelling blossoms. Are your plants bedecked with perfectly formed flowers, or by chance do you see what way too many gardeners do come June, roses with petals that resemble Swiss cheese, young buds that have
These Aren’t Ladybugs Read More »
What happens when you combine spring weather – cool nights and warm days, and a rain that lasts for a day or two? Well, besides the proverbial May flowers, it is the appearance of the BIG THREE fungal diseases of roses – powdery mildew, black spot, and rust. The bad news is that as long
The Big Three Rose Diseases Read More »
It’s March and hopefully this winter will be coming to a soggy close soon. Harbingers of spring – daffodils blooming, cherry and plum trees putting on a spectacular show, and deciduous plants begin bursting with new life – including loads of blemish-free green and mahogany-red foliage on roses. Along with this explosion of growth come
Rose Care for March Read More »
Cooler weather, dew on leaves longer in the morning, and the first real rains of the season, can bring with it a bane of the rose garden – rust. This fungal disease with orange, powdery pustules on the undersides of leaves makes rust easy to identify. They start out yellow to light orange and deepen
One Dastardly Disease Read More »
Those leaves with the striking green and yellow marbled patterns festooning one of your rose plants may look like Mother Nature as artist, but don’t be fooled. More than likely, it’s the result of rose mosaic virus. You may see yellow, white, or brownish lines, bands, rings, wavy lines, vein clearing or blotches on leaves.
Is it Mosaic Virus? Read More »