An old article from my long defunct gardening column in The St. Pete Times....

http://www.sptimes.com/News/121501/Floridian/Roses_for_noses.shtml

Thanks to this chilly winter my roses from Denver have nearly all defoliated for some decent needed dormancy. My "Fairmount Red" has not bloomed in three years...fingers crossed it does this spring as it is a sentimental favorite of mine since 1991 when I discovered it in Fairmount Cemetery nearly dead. Amazing it grows here at all as in Denver it is a super-cold hardy once bloomer.

http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.30250&tab=1

My goal is to create a whole new race of roses resulting from crossing this species with various Tea Roses, maybe some Chinas.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.5366.5

Seedlings of Rosa multiflora coming up in Tampa with ZERO cold stratification!

I've been growing roses from seeds since 1991 so I am stunned but delighted....barely a week ago I sowed seeds of wild Rosa multiflora mailed me from Missouri. I left the pot out in that rainy weather and PLANNED to then slip it in a produce bag for the usual three months of cold stratification in the fridge....moments ago I noticed that they are already germinating!!! IF any of the seedlings of this cold climate species grow and BLOOM here in south Tampa, my intent is to create a new race of Multiflora/Tea hybrids. I am PSYCHED!

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.5366.5&tab=1

As I'd hoped, the nasturtiums are pushing up through the thick layer of chop-and-drop rose canes from when I hard pruned my monster 'Teasing Georgia' climbing rose. Soon the approx. 80 glad bulbs in that bed should emerge. The rose canes were VERY thorny and I had ZERO desire to drag them to the back yard. Plus the soil is getting sandy in that bed and I need to routinely add lignin and humus formers....I scattered all over it one 25 lb. bag of cheap unscented Publix cat litter, just $2.99, to add clay to the sand/mulch layer. By mid March this garden should be stunning! About two weeks ago I gave the rose about 4 gallons of a potent "nutrient soup" made from dried chicken poop, fish emulsion, trace elements, dolomite and animal feed grade urea that I let brew about 3 weeks...there is already a LOT of new growth emerging from the very hard pruned remaining canes.

I just got my water/garbage/sewage bill...due to some rain plus my perennial habit of using kitchen gray water on my gardens, my daily solar heated 1 gallon rain water showers in the back and retrieving that gallon, only peeing outdoors, deep mulching, relying heavily on home made Water Wise Container Gardens and rain barrels, the water use portion was just $6.27! Cool when I consider how many food crops and roses I grow here.