After finding all those aphids on the roses, I tried to buy neem oil or fine horticultural oil since these are friendlier to people and pets. I couldn't find either! So, I bought this 3-in-1 product with a tad bit of neem extract (which by the way, seems to be just a sales gimmick and apparently does not compare to the real thing, so I read somewhere):
You must follow the directions in the 3-in-1 product bottle. This is what happened to my clotilde soupert's leaves because I sprayed the product on kind of late in the morning. Also on the same note, I sprayed it on one of my moonflower seedlings, and it pretty much fried the young, tender shoots. I've decided to continue my hand-squeezing of aphids and put the 3-in-1 away, unless I get the plague.
In all, the clotilde soupert is doing great, here is a pic of the rose buds ready to open up - they smell delicious already, and I can see some bees already flying around them. Another reason not to use the 3-in-1, so I don't harm the bees!
The iceberg rose is not as vigorous in growth as the clotilde soupert, but it is also doing great, sprouting single rose buds:
The garlic that I planted with the roses are also growing, but I don't know how much of a bug deterrent they are, since they haven't really flowered and I don't think I planted enough of them... oh well, I'll try again next year.
About two weeks ago, I stopped by Starbucks for some coffee, and asked them for used coffee grounds. The staff was really nice, and promptly gave me all the grounds they had, then asked me if I was coming back tomorrow so they could save me some more. How nice is that?! Supposedly used coffee grounds help the ph of the soil... so I put some around the roses and on my jasmine plant - they like the acidic soil better. I also bought some Osmocote slow release fertilizer, and sprinkled a handful of the little balls on all my plants, and so far so good. I was concerned that it might be too much stuff (the coffee grounds, the fertilizer) in one shot, but doesn't seem like it. Doesn't seem to have harmed the plants, below is a pic of the new growth on the jasmine plant ~
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