Why I Oughta...

We're seeing the second flush of blooms from our Disneyland Roses (Floribunda Roses) that are planted in the sideyard (full sun) bed in mid-July.  This post is going up at the end of July, but they started to bloom right around the middle of July .  The first flush of blooms was at the end of May , so we're about six weeks apart from beginning-to-beginning cycles.  I've fed these three times this season (Right around the first of the month of May , June, July).  And, have been regularly spraying them with both a foliar insecticide and a stand-alone fungicide.  The granular fertilizer is a three-in-one systemic treatment (fertilizer, insecticide, fungicide), so they're getting treated for everything-all-together-at-once.  Or something like that.   I've fought various pests and diseases over the years on these roses .  Sawfly larvae.  Even what I think was/is some drought stress .  I tried everything.  Neem Oil.  Dusting the...

Over the years, I've adopted a multi-step approach to feeding and treating the (now) five Disneyland Rose bushes on the southside of our house.  These have suffered from pests and diseases in some years.  Sawfly larvae and blackspot.  At least, that's what I'm pretty sure was attacking them.  At the same time, I've read that Floribunda roses are 'heavy eaters' - meaning they need fertilizer to grow and bloom. The first step in my approach to keeping the Disneyland Roses healthy is a monthly application of a 3-in-1 granular treatment.  It is a 'systemic' treatment, meaning that the benefits get picked-up, overtime, through the root system.  I posted about this one year ago (May 2025) , when I talked how I was trying to get ahead of the problems.   I sprinkle less-than-a-capful around the base of the crown of each one this past week.  You can see the white granules in the photo below: The product I've been using is this Bioadvanced "All-in-One...

A few days ago, I applied my final (for this season) granular fertilizer application to all of the dahlias around the front/back/side yards as well as the five Disneyland Roses on the side of the house.  I (once again) used a three-in-one systemic granular that includes fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide from BioAdvanced.  I started using this stuff in May this season, so this marks the fifth application on the plants in 2025.   Here, below, is a peek at the base of one of the Dahlia tubers in the sideyard.  I use the cap from the bottle as the measuring device and dropped the granules at the base of each one.  Last year, I was getting blooms all the way up to the first frost in Mid-October, so this feeding will go for the next 5-or-so weeks.