Rose (member) Garden  

Listing last updated on Wed Nov 2024

Long Island, New York
United States

http://www.moyesii.org
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It's amazing to look at my "Plants Grown" list and see almost 300 rose cultivars. I probably couldn't even tell you where many of those 300 roses were planted in the yard. But that was over ten years ago anyway. Most of them have disappeared from neglect or were simply unhealthy plants to begin with. Today there are likely about 20-30 roses growing in the yard, and I'm happy with the smaller number although there are several roses that I used to grow that I would love to grow again someday, such as 'Eden' and 'Belle sans Flatterie'. For now, I get a kick out of occasionally finding one of these roses still surviving in the yard after so many years of neglect. Just today I "rustled" the Buck roses 'Prairie Sunrise' and 'Winter Sunset' from the yard and transplanted them to pots where I hope to nurse them back to health.

I am very interested in growing naturally healthy roses and don't use any pesticides. When people spray fungicides or insecticides, they are basically trying to sterilize their gardens (which is impossible), and they always seem to be fighting a never-ending battle against diseases and insects. Insects are an important food source for many birds so I wouldn't want to get rid of them anyway. As for diseases, by selecting the right plants I find that I can delay the appearance of black spot on my roses until the end of summer, when the roses are mostly finished for the season here on Long Island anyway. A little black spot at the end of the season doesn't hurt the newer, better varieties of roses that are continually being introduced, nor the tried and true heirlooms like many of the Gallicas.

My favorite roses are those by the innovative hybridizers like Kordes and Sam McGredy.

Also, yes, I do grow rosa moyesii as well as some of its hybrids.