Dan's Papers - June 20, 2008 - Earthly Delights by April Gonzales

We've covered this before, but just last week someone asked me, once again, how do you do this?

Last week, I was resurrecting some geraniums that were suffering from a little construction flu and a lack of watering. They are up on a deck that faces the bay and frequently one has to dodge shells as the seagulls dine up there. I was almost done when the contractor working on the house called me from down below.

"What do you use on the roses," he asked. "They look really good." Roses always look good in June, it's July that's the problem. That's when blackspot, and powdery mildew set in, sometimes earlier if it's a wet spring and very humid. But you can count on their arrival after the Fourth of July.

We had already discovered the aphids earlier in May and dealt with them the way we usually do - with ladybugs. I always feel sorry for these charming beetles crawling around in their containers. Usually, they are conveniently located by the cash register at the garden centers, like candy and the Enquirer at the grocery store. Just in case you forget about their usefulness, they love to eat aphids and the kids like to open up the containers and let them go, frequently letting them crawl up their arms or adorning their hair with the delightful and hungry, black and red ladybugs. It's been suggested that we spray them down with sugar water to stimulate their appetite, but I've never bothered and they seem to find dinner quite well on their own, cleaning up the mess on the roses while they're at it. And they don't discriminate, they'll eat the aphids on the peonies too.

But back to the contractor. I answered his question by telling him about our rose care protocol. We use a hose end sprayer to soak the ground at the base of the roses with Compete, a product sold by Plant Health Care. It's a fungus that rapidly colonizes the soil and doesn't allow other fungi to thrive. This is important because blackspot, which infects rose leaves, is a problem type of fungus that lives in the soil. It comes up through the roots and the vascular system of the plant. This is why a systemic fungicide is necessary to combat it. But I found myself wondering, one day many years ago, if the systemic fungicide can penetrate the leaf, can't it penetrate my skin? Well, yes, that is why spray technicians use protective equipment. But I don't want to worry about that, I want to stick my nose in the roses and take a big whiff of their fragrance. Hence, the Compete, which knocks out blackspot in the soil before it gets a chance to ruin the leaves. But you have to start early and apply every two weeks.

To keep the powdery mildew at bay, we have a company spray the roses with neem oil or a derivative. It's a part of ayurvedic medicine and you can buy all kinds of toiletries from Indian super markets, like toothpaste and soap, that have it as their active ingredient. It has an antiseptic effect on the roses and helps to keep their leaves clean. It also keeps the Japanese beetles, aphids and rose chafers away. Old apples that are susceptible to fungus problems will do well with this same combination of neem and Compete, as they are distantly related to the roses.

The other factors in this particular garden's success are the location and airflow. It was built in baking sun, has drip irrigation and there is almost always a breeze. These are the ideal conditions for a rose garden.

After my explanation, the contractor confessed to using an old-fashioned systemic insecticide and fungicide combination. I suggested that it might be time for a change.

Plant Acidanthera murielensis for a late season bloom. The exotic common name of these wonderful flowers is Abyssinian gladiola. They can be tucked 4" down, in between the Alliums, which are just about done blooming. Or wait until after the Delphinium go by the wayside. The Acidantheras are almost fool proof and the grassy iris-like foliage comes up very quickly. Their flower is starry white with a burgundy center that can be used as a cut flower or left to linger in the September garden for its fragrance.