Roses Arrived and Now Circle the Maple Tree. Going Postal on the Slugs

Paradise rose.

The bargain roses for Father's Day came, ten in a surprisingly compact box. The box was quite warm, which may explain why roses are so beat up and dried out when they arrive.

They came via Gurney's from Weeks Roses, a wholesaler. This time I received two of each, one in each pair a very large and well developed plant. In the last shipment, all 10 were very large, more than any of the other companies'.

The first shipment has burst into so much color, so prolifically, that I decided to get more for Father's Day. Our initial agreement was just out the back door, where I had soft soil and mulch. But no, Chris had a better idea this morning.

"Why don't you put them around the maple tree out front?" I said with muted cheerfulness, "Sure." In movies, that is when the sound track starts sound like "wree, wree, wreee, wree" or someone begins chanting in Latin.

Bride's Dream rose.

I knew digging among maple tree roots would be a major challenge, especially since they had been dreadful close to the house.

Experts suggest avoiding maple trees, but there it is, pruned back by our landscaper friend, who loved creating a mountain of branches, logs, twigs, and leaves. The objection of "not enough sun" is met by the bottle brush look of the maple tree. Secondly, I planted as far away from the trunk as I could manage.

Tuscan Sun rose.

The first hole dug was fairly easy and the second one started well - "wree, wree, wree, wree." I hit a block of interconnected roots that were the size of a small loaf of bread. I shoveled, sawed, pried, hammered, and finally dislodged the entire lump.

Meanwhile, I was checking the labels on the roses as I fished them out of the rainwater barrel. They had a long soak and stayed there until the next two holes were dug each time.

I always wanted to grow Europeana, and now I had two of these floribundas to add color to the front yard. The other batch  is mostly floribunda, and I really like the sprays of flowers they produce. So does everyone else.

The others are just as promising, all hybrid teas. I used the shovel to measure distance and 10 fit around the tree just right. Mrs. Ichabod said, "I told you."

Europeana rose has been one of the top floribundas for years.

Hybrid teas are the favorites for vases, but floribundas make good bouquets, too.  So far the floribundas have not had the same staying power when cut. but there are plenty to harvest daily, and this is their first year.

Slugs - Use Egg Shells, Clay Shards, or Diotomaceous Earth

Slug control

Slugs are sensitive to having any kind of cut or abrasion. Some suggest egg shells as free treatment for slugs. I used some clay pot shards around one plant. But I saw more slug damage around younger plants, so I bought a bag of diatomaceous earth.

As the link suggests, watering early in the day is one control. This area is so soggy that we have a flood watch with no rain. The waterways are so full that we could still have flash flooding. Therefore, slugs are well watered and plenty hungry.

On the good side, observing the Eighth Commandment, slugs are mostly underground, where they are moving bags of water. They can cocoon themselves during a dry spell too, so they contribute to the overall moisture of the soil, but locking up water, just as mulch, earthworms, soil creatures do.