May 6, 2024

Rose tree 'Olivia Rose Austin' is a first bloomer this year. This tree was planted in a pot and wintered in the garage. That is why 'Olivia Rose Austin' started to bloom so early as well as all "roses from garage". I pruned all new "garage stems" because stems were weak and thin but decided to save stems of 'Olivia' for experiment. Flowers are beautiful, well formed but smaller than usually. Thin stems cannot hold even these smaller flowers. Next year I am going to prune all "garage stems"!

'Olivia' is a very fragrant rose. Even a small bouquet fills the whole house with the sweet aroma of this rose.

Today is a pause between rains, so I  sprayed my roses preventively with insect and disease repellents.

However 'Ginger Syllabub' and 'Octoberfest' have some leaves with black spots. Both roses are very sensitive to prolonged rains. Every time it rains for a long time they suffer from black spots. So I am going to remove leaves with black spots and spray 'Ginger Syllabub' and 'Octoberfest' with disease repellent one more time in 2 days.

May 7, 2024

After some days of prolonged rains I found white mold on alfa-alfa under 'Olivia Rose Austin' tree and under 'Earth Angel' climber. I don't know if it good or bed, so decided to watch.

May 9, 2024

Sunny day! Finally! Found black spots on 'Earth Angel'. Removed leaves with black sports. Roses were sprayed against diseases 3 days ago, do I don't think I need spray more.

By the way, May is a caterpillar time! Caterpillars love Verandas most of all: 'Jolie Veranda' and 'Lavender Veranda'.

May 10, 2024

'Forever Busy' grew for 3 years in a large pot. The bush was small and somewhat weak. I think this rose is not good for pots. I transplanted this beauty in ground and very soon I saw absolutely different rose: bushy, with a large amount of new stems!

By the way, white mold under some roses disappeared as soon as the sunny weather came!