I am so glad I sprayed recently and put down some alfalfa tea for each and every bush. Why? Because in the last two days we received 1.5 inches of rain (mostly at night) and then 1.15 inches last night. With warm temps and all that moisture, the conditions are perfect for blackspot to take hold. So, thank God II sprayed some 3-4 days before all the moisture.

We are not quite halfway through July right now and already the rainfall has exceeded the entire monthly norm. That is very welcome, since the April-June rainfall was 46% below normal - a deficit of 4.87 inches. The paucity of rain has resulted in me doing a lot of watering, both the rose gardens and the lawn. Hopefully, that will lessen as we move forward. I don't mind watering the roses so much as it allows me to inspect each and every bush and assess how they are doing.

The Japanese Beetle battle continues. They are in full force right now but not as bad as I have seen in some years past. What is different this year is that they seem to be less selective in which bushes they are attracted to. Which means they have spread out to more bushes but not such high concentrations on their faves like Clouds of Glory, Touch of Class and Marijke Koopman. Speaking of ToC, I find it interesting that the beetles find the top foliage even more attractive than the bloom. Only on ToC though.

Lastly, I have not observed any midge damage this year. It looks like the Cyonara 9.7 treatment last fall really did the trick. Hallelujah!

Continuing with the theme, here are roses not doing as good this year as they have in the past. WD means "winter damage."

Hot Princess
Kanegem
Rio Samba (WD)
Signature
Paradise (WD)
Elizabeth Taylor (WD)
Robert Bruce
Clair Elyse
Louise Estes (WD)
Moonstone (WD)

The WD bushes still have time to regain their past glory, and they usually do that. All in all, even most of these bushes are doing well, just not as good as in the past.

Sprayed yesterday morning when the temps were in the low/mid-70s. Used propiconazole, Manzate Pro Stick. and Bonide Systemic Insecticide at label strength, plus liquid Kelp at 1 TBS per gallon for good measure. It took 6 gallons to cover everything. My Petra Tools sprayer works great but I wish it sprayed less product than it does - even though I have it on the lesser pressure settings. For the final gallon I used my Scotts 1-gallon manual pump sprayer. Immediately noticeable was how much less liquid came out even when fully pumped. Maybe I still need to refine my technique with the power sprayer.

Everything above I actually wrote yesterday (Tuesday 7/8) but I never posted it.

Completed my first Alfalfa Tea application of 2025 earlier today. All buses were given at least 1/2 gallon. To the tea I add some Epsom Salts and Chelated Iron (not too much of either - maybe 5-6 TBS of each to 32 gallons of tea). Bushes in need of a "pick me up" received two applications. The next alfalfa tea application will come in late August/early September and that will be it for the year.

I thought I would mention some roses that are performing better this year than they ever have before (most have been in the ground since 2021, so this is the 5th growing season for most of them). My initial list had 15 roses, but I have culled that down to 10. These are not necessarily the best performers, but rather those having their best season thus far. Here goes (in no particular order):
Julia
Rainbow Niagara
Grand Amore
Dick Clark
Crescendo
Eternal Flame
Bonica
Wedding Bells
Twice in a Blue Moon
Marlon's Day

Fertilized South Garden yesterday with Miracle Gro 24-8-16 using the Miracle Gro hose end sprayer. Did same for North Garden a few days earlier. Heat wave has continued. I'm watering lots every other day. Three days ago, I gave Alfalfa Tea to bushes in the south triangle of the South Garden (plus Black Magic, Chantilly Cream and Louise Estes). Fortified with 2-3 ounces of Chelated Iron and Epsom Salts. Have another batch brewing and will dispense later today or tomorrow.

I need to fertilize the Sally Holmes double on the South side of the house. Those are growing great but it's easy to forget those two since they are "around the corner" and not in the main gardens.

Had a decent bloom from Fred Loads - the best it's ever done. Still, plenty of room for improvement, however.

Need to spray.