Posted by admin on April 30, 2009
I’ve tested and written about roses that stand out before. Many roses in my test garden are just bursting into bloom, soon to be written about for their terrific qualities. But, there are 5 that stand out as the most prone to disease so far for me. Yes, I am in the San Francisco Bay Area, so some roses are not as disease resistant here, but most I grow are. I feel if many roses can grow well here, then those that sit next to those doing well but can’t do well in the same conditions, aren’t preferable to me.
These 5 disease prone roses, and their problems in my growing tests:
- Honor - An older hybrid tea rose. This rose has a nice flower, and I have written about it before just for the flower. But, it has few flowers, easily wilts if not watered enough, and easily gets aphids, rust, and black spot on the leaves.
- Henry Fonda - A hybrid tea rose well known for bright yellow flowers. Although pretty, with a decent bud count, this rose easily gets diseased leaves.
- Climbing Blaze of Glory - A slow growing climbing rose. This rose easily wilts without enough water and leaves damage with disease and insects.
- Sundance - A grandiflora rose which gets a lot of leaf problems, including black spot and rust.
- Crimson Flame - A slow growing Floribunda rose which got many damaged leaves for me.
I hope this helps, and in the future as other roses do well, or don’t do well in tests, I plan to include photos of their leaves as well as flowers. Search for roses on Amazon.com.
Posted by admin on April 23, 2009
The Disneyland Rose is a clustered orange/pink Floribunda rose. This rose was bred by John Walden United States. There is a mild fragrance for this rose, around 30 petals per flower on average, a flower diameter of 4.25 inches, and an average mature height of almost 5 feet. This disease resistant rose is a rebloomer throughout the season. This rose grows in zones 6b through 9b. I have found that this is a great rose to grow. If this rose is planted in January bare root, it may bloom as soon as three months later. Search for floribunda roses on Amazon.com.
Growing The Disneyland Rose
Posted by admin on
Honor is a 1976 Hybrid Tea rose introduction, hybridized by Warriner. This white double, fragrant rose grows an average height of 5 feet. It is a repeat bloomer that grows as a shrub bush. It is susceptible to disease so should be cared for carefully. This rose can grow in zones 5a through 9b. I have not found the flowers to last for very long, and flowers bloom on new wood. Search for hybrid tea roses on Amazon.com.
Rose Honor
Posted by admin on April 22, 2009
Poppies are an amazing wildflower that have been around for thousands of years. Being a wildflower, they are easy to grow and are also drought tolerant. You can grow them from seed indoors (start 5 inches apart) and then bring outdoors after last frost, or start outdoors. Poppy flowers stand at a height of 12 inches to 24 inches on average. Poppies don’t bloom very long, and because of this I recommend planting them among other wildflowers or perennials.
They like well drained soil, half to a full day of sun, and intermittent watering. Often they can be seen on roadsides so it is clear they are easy to grow. But they are a beautiful addition to the home garden as well. Poppies come from many parts of the world, so are quite versatile. Poppies come in many colors, such as yellow, red, pink, and orange. Some are annuals and others are perennial varieties. Birds love poppy seeds, but they can also be used for cooking.
Poppies don’t like to be transplanted, so remember that the pot you start out with will be kept as is while they grow, or their whole root ball will need to be sunk into the ground intact. I would suggest fertilizing poppies once per month with an organic fertilizer. If you like, you can let poppies go to seed after blooming. Or, to promote more flowering, deadhead plants after each finishes flowering.
Growing Red Poppies
Growing a Pink Poppy
Posted by admin on April 16, 2009
Growing Cherry Bell Radishes is almost as fun as you can have vegetable gardening. This is a pretty standard radish, similar to Sparkler. This radish is disease resistant, fast growing, and prolific. I like that any bugs that get on leaves generally do not bother the radish itself. Many people choose not to eat radishes from the store since they are a root vegetable, so often higher in pesticides. But, at home these can easily be grown organically with an organic fertilizer
in the ground or in a pot. The roots do not generally go deeper than 4 - 5 inches, so if using a pot, it does not need to be too deep. In fact, if using a large pot, some plastic bottles or old containers from your recycling bin can be used in the bottom of the pot before adding soil to help save on the amount of potting soil you will need.
When potting, I would recommend using potting soil for sure, since it is lighter and better drained than many other kinds of topsoil. Here is a sample of a good potting soil.
When planting, I place seeds about 2 inches apart. For sure I recommend not putting more than one seed together, since as the radishes grow, they can compete and deliver a smaller radish vegetable. The space allotted for each plant is important. It is generally not a good idea to plan to thin plants later since radishes grow fast. Also, since the germination rate of radishes is generally high, and the germination speed fast, they deliver radishes fairly fast from seed to production.
Cherry Bell Radishes generally germinate within less than a week. You can usually harvest them within less than a month. If you want to make them larger by using more organic fertilizer and waterings, they may take a bit longer to mature. The longer one waits to harvest them, the slightly tougher they can get. There is a certain point where they are full size, and if not harvested, they may split and go to seed.
Planting Cherry Bell Radishes, I lay the seeds on the soil and sprinkle a centimeter to half inch of soil on top. If sprinkling a centimeter, then as the radishes mature, the red color of the radish can be seen above ground partially. If planted an inch in depth, the red on the radish cannot usually be seen from above ground. When harvesting radishes, I would recommend pulling off any soil and putting that back in the hole. After that I would recommend cutting off the tiny root at the bottom as well as leaves at the top and composting them.
To wash radishes before eating, they can be put in a strainer, or a handful rubbed/rolled together between the hands under water. Radishes can be used in salads, dishes, and eaten on their own. The photos below show radishes growing in a pot, and one radish pulled out of the soil. Purchase 600 Radish Cherry Bell Seeds from Amazon.com.
Growing Cherry Bell Radishes in a Pot
Radish