Garden

[dbeaud]

 I have been growing roses for 45 years and sadly, last year, I lost over 40 rose bushes to Rose Rosette. I have 3 bushes left and I doubt that they will be spared. PLEASE look up Rose Rosette and keep a tight eye on your rose bushes. It is very easy to identify and you must pull the entire affected bush, roots and all very very carefully to avoid shaking and spreading, and bag them immediately. The disease is caused by a virus and transmitted by mites and wind. Texas A&M University along with many many agricultural centers accross the U.S. and Canada are studying it and so far have not come up with any cure. I hope that QVC refreigns from selling roses, any rose, and The Knot Out Rose is NOT the culprit, it simply is very susceptible to the virus.

I will resort to plants like hibiscus, greenery and some flowers and I miss my rose garden......

[sweetee2]

I'm so sorry. That must of been devastating. What area of the country do you live in. I know a few years ago  our state had a huge loss of roses but it was from having a bad freeze to early in the year.

[blueroses47]

I had this disease attack my roses too.  I had planted 6 red knockouts along a white picket fence.  For 2 years they were so beautiful.  The third year at the end of the season, I noticed weird growth.  I knew something was not right, so I googled information about it, and saw pictures of the disease....knew right away that's what it was. 

We did pull all the roses.  I did leave the roses that were a different color, different  kind (climbing).  I had some knockouts in the back garden....they looked okay, and have remained okay, but I am expecting all these roses could be affected at any time. Maybe it's the wrong tactic, but I'm not pulling them until they look definitely sick.

Yes,  I was so heartbroken.  We had moved into this new house and I worked so hard the first few years establishing some kind of garden, then this disease killed many of my roses.

That, and the devastation that is happening because we have an ever-worsening deer problem (the deer are now eating so many of the shrubs I had planted and that were just starting to look SO nice.), well, sometimes I'm just literally in tears. Now they will even walk up to the steps of the porch, and pull out petunias planted in pots.  They seem to be fearless even though we've rigged up sensor lights and radios that go on really loudly with the lights.

One of the few annuals that the deer seemingly didn't like were begonias, so even though I had previously not been a big fan, I used lots of these for color around the beds.  Last fall, they started to eat even these.  I couldn't believe it.

I love gardening, it has aways been one of my joys, but this winter, I'm thinking I'm just going to have to give it up as a serious hobby.  I'll still plant and I'll still try , but my expectations will have to be zero to none.

Sorry for complaining, but it 's really a sore subject with me.

[esmerelda]

@blueroses47Can't you find something that will repel the deer?  I know there are things on the market.

I googled and there are some "recipes" you can make at home.

I know it's frustrating.  I had deer "prune" a rose bush and a couple hydrangea bushes.

Just three plants...I'm not going to sweat that.  Not yet anyway.

[blueroses47]

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@esmerelda wrote:

@blueroses47Can't you find something that will repel the deer?  I know there are things on the market.

I googled and there are some "recipes" you can make at home.

I know it's frustrating.  I had deer "prune" a rose bush and a couple hydrangea bushes.

Just three plants...I'm not going to sweat that.  Not yet anyway.

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Yes, I do use those deer repellants.  I buy different kinds from the home centers, and I have made my own from raw eggs, hot sauce, some other ingredients.  It smelled really disgusting.  My husband thinks that sprinkling lime on the leaves of the plants (like the hostas or lilies which are like the deer's favorite nibbles) works, and it does for a short while, then they must get used to it, or something and they chow down anyway.

The repellents seem to help IF you use them really almost every day, which I do when I can manage it.  I go around the entire yard (we have about an acre) and I spray everything.  Once you let it go for a few days, and the directions on these things say the effect lasts for weeks, or until rain), it doesn't work anymore.  The sprays are quite expensive when you are using them as much as I have to, that another factor.

Fencing is really impractical for the whole place, and who wants to look at ugly wire fencing propped up all over the place.  We have a lot of that now, around the shrubs for the winter.  Last winter the deer really destroyed the azaleas and even the hollys.

We have lived on this road for 40 years and always had deer, but they never came into the interior of the yard, never up to the house itself.  The poor things are being pushed out of the woods that used to be more plentiful around here.

When I'm really upset, I say I'd like to see them become extinct, but of course I don't mean it, they're beautiful creatures.  I just hate them now, that's all.

[Sweetbay magnolia]

Knockout roses are a victim of their own success.  Any time we start "monocultures", anything that can take them down will now take down gigantic numbers.  Impatiens have been afflicted by a very opportunistic fungus, and boxwood blight is rampant.  Plant many things!  Plant things that attract and provide nesting and shelter for wildlife.  Plant things that intentionally shelter the insects that feed the birds!  Insect-resistant is not necessarily an advantage!  We knock the natural balance out of whack all too often.  All creatures, great an small, make the world go round.

WHITETAIL DEER ARE A TREMENDOUS PROBLEM.  They carry ticks which carry lyme disease and feed on the tidy (monoculture) landscapes that we continue to plant.

They decimate gardens and landscapes, and take habitat away from other essential creatures that inhabit the woodland.  If you have never experienced the devastation, well then, you have no idea.  Humans contribute to the cycle but can also be important in getting the balance back.

Please do not spray poision.  Read up on natural controls and broaden your scope to understand the balance of nature.

[Kachina624]

How disheartening to work so hard on your landscaping and have it destroyed by foraging deer.  My sister lives near Valley Forge National Park, and the deer were so thick that you could hardly drive through the area in the evening.  Everywhere you looked, there were groups of deer.  It got so bad that they had to cull them.  They brought in some sharpshooters and in one week-end reduced them to practically zero.  It's a sad thing to have to do, but there couldn't have been enough for them to eat and they were a danger on the state highway that runs through the park.

[JustJazzmom]

Rose rosette is in many places. It is spread by mites that landed on wild Rosa rugosas & spread to the cultivated roses in our garden. But once when speaking with Ann Peck, a leading authority on RRD, via e mail said that there isn’t enough research money to rule out other sap sucking insects like aphids as another vector. 

A plant virus like this cannot get a ‘vaccine’ to stop it. As the OP said they must be tossed out, do not compost. 

The blooms seen will be smaller than normal. The red stems remain reddish & do not turn green or woody over time. You will see an increase in thorns (actually called prickles) on these affected stems. Sometimes only part of the rose bush is affected. So the symptoms might be seen on one side of the rose or one branch/stem. Even the stems affected might take on a ‘witches broom’ look. 

All I can say is be vigilant in your rose garden.

[Twins Mom]

@ Blueroses47
Sharing your pain and have been contemplating what to do with my rose bed. After 30 years deer started on my roses two years ago. With over 8 plants I had fewer than a dozen to pick last year. Such a disappointment. I also tried sprays, soap, etc but so little from effort. Two knockouts no longer pretty- witches broom effects- etc Simone came out last year. Other roses get stems, buds, etc eaten. Question is, what can I replace them with? So far Iris only thing they don’t like but the bloom is too short. Since bed faces neighbor who does not know what his yard looks like, I might just do Iris and give up.
Boxwood disease was rampant in Europe last year. Hedges in decorative gardens just eaten up. I just planted new ones in front last year. Hope we are spared.
Oh, the day lilies next to roses don’t get to bloom either because deer like them.
Thanks to all for assistance and suggestions.

[blueroses47]

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@Twins Mom wrote:
@ Blueroses47
Sharing your pain and have been contemplating what to do with my rose bed. After 30 years deer started on my roses two years ago. With over 8 plants I had fewer than a dozen to pick last year. Such a disappointment. I also tried sprays, soap, etc but so little from effort. Two knockouts no longer pretty- witches broom effects- etc Simone came out last year. Other roses get stems, buds, etc eaten. Question is, what can I replace them with? So far Iris only thing they don’t like but the bloom is too short. Since bed faces neighbor who does not know what his yard looks like, I might just do Iris and give up.
Boxwood disease was rampant in Europe last year. Hedges in decorative gardens just eaten up. I just planted new ones in front last year. Hope we are spared.
Oh, the day lilies next to roses don’t get to bloom either because deer like them.
Thanks to all for assistance and suggestions.

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Twins Mom,

I'm starting to think there is NO flower that the deer around me will not eat.  They left my annual begonias alone for the longest time, so I relied on those for some color in my beds, but last summer, they started chomping down on those.  They eat my daisies, lilies, roses, black-eyed susans, and my irises as well.  They eat the iris leaves.  I was able to have a few iris blooms last spring, but the rest of the year, they ate the leaves, so I'm not sure what will happen with those this year. The only flowers they didn't eat were the daffodils, cleome (spider plants) and some marigolds my husband planted.

I have one fenced in rectangular garden which started out as my herb garden, and I have now utilized one half to be kind of a cottage garden where I put flowers, and of course, those are protected, so it's okay.  But it's really a small section. 

Any of my flower and shrub beds around the rest of the place have no fencing, and really, it just wouldn't be practical or look nice if they were fenced, and my husband would never help me go to the trouble, so I can't really  have anything nice in those.  Some of the stuff survives, and I see a few paltry blooms, but certainly it's not anything like I would want it to be, or what it could be.

It just seems hopeless, unless I fence it, and that's not happening.

Oh, a funny thing.  When I looked up "deer repellents" and that kind of thing, I came across something posted that said "the only sure- fire deer repellent is a lawn chair, a six-pack, and a shotgun."  Sad, but I think that's probably true. 

And to think I used to love seeing those deer years ago, in the woods behind my house.  I never thought they would become such a problem.