Roses vs. Aphids

After planting my new plants, I checked on my roses:

The Iceberg looked fine, glossy green leaves popping out everywhere - I was a little worried about it since it had some noticeable "bald spots", but now it is filling out nicely. I only spotted one bud forming so far.

Iceberg's young bud

Now, the Clotilde Soupert is shooting up new leaves everywhere, growing really fast! I noticed a few buds forming, then I looked closer and... saw little green bugs all over the new leaves! I quickly ran inside the apartment and opened a book I got that I haven't finished reading: Complete Roses: Featuring 100 Easy-Growing Favorites, by Field Roebuck.

The book covers pests and common diseases, and there they were on page 92 staring back at me: Aphids!! Ewwww!!! Seasoned gardeners, feel free to roll your eyes but as a city girl, bugs and I don't go together and yes, I was grossed out watching them crawl and wiggle around.

Anyways, it was the middle of the afternoon and I didn't want to spray my roses with anything as suggested by the book and the various forums on the internet (potential leaf burning), sooooo, I had to resort to squishing the bugs with a tissue. Now, the bugs are tiny and the new foliage is tender. The tissue paper felt like a giant bed sheet, trying to grab everything. Soooo, I tossed the green-splotched tissue paper, and pursued them with my bare fingers. I was grossed out in the beginning, but then felt satisfaction as I squeezed the living crap out of them (while maintaining leaf integrity) and felt like I saved a couple of the forming buds.

Clotilde Soupert bud and bastard aphid

Of course, as I went indoors to chill, I felt like I had bugs crawling on my skin. Just so you know, those suckers squish quite easily - unlike a cockroach, there is no crunch. ;)

I heard and read on the web that garlic and some other herbs might help deter bugs from attacking roses - since I didn't think there was anything to lose, I planted some garlic (not the whole clove, just a piece) on both rose containers. We'll see what happens. I also had some eggs and banana (not together, mind you), throughout the day and also read that they are both good for plants. So, I chopped the banana peel and crushed the dried egg shells while thinking that I must be out of my mind for doing this, then proceeded to sprinkle the mixture on the soil of my roses. We'll see what happens with that one too. :)

Just so you know, I ordered my roses from Antique Rose Emporium - the plants arrived with lots of leaves in 2-gallon pots, some buds, each was about 12" tall (from the dirt up), and they had moist soil protected with wet newspaper. I was very happy with my order! I repotted them in plastic containers that are about 13" in diameter and height. I plan to repot them in a bigger container next year - this year is just a test to see if I have green or muddy thumbs. :)