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 …
Have you ever seen these critters in your rose garden? Or worse yet, do you have any of these symptoms that they’ve been there? Roses with petals that resemble Swiss cheese. Young buds and stems that have holes or are broken just below the bud. Meet the really bad guys of the rose garden – …
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. …
Hot, dry and dusty are pretty typical outdoor conditions for this time of year. The last rains were months ago; late summer and early fall often features toasty daytime temperatures with low relative humidity. Most people, plants and animals don’t prefer it, but it’s ideal for pesky spider mites. More than 200 different plant species, …
You know the saying – a weed is any plant in a place you don’t want it. Are you seeing grasses, dandelions, bindweed and even wild blackberry, popping up among your roses, in your lawn, vegetable garden or other exposed spaces, even in teeny spaces between bricks on your patio? What’s a gardener to do …
I love roses, and there’s nothing quite as wonderful as strolling through the garden on a spring morning to peruse their abundant new growth and witness the transformation from spindly sticks to bountiful mounds of green sporting delicious new roses. But there, out of the corner of my eye, I see, oh no! Spots….and holes …