Hmm...thanks for your input, Margie. I do hate balling; it can occur in my climate on a susceptible rose during the spring flush,because the weather at times is damp-ish then. The problem is that my rose garden is "all about" that big spring explosion of bloom; after that, anything else is just sort of the cherry on top. I don't have running water out there (my garden is on our woodland property, about 20 minutes from the house),and even if I did, I have far too many plants to allow me to irrigate; things have to rely on rainfall.What's more, the weather usually becomes unbearably hot and miserable by mid-June or so,and at that point I don't much appreciate being out there at all,so a rose that only produces good flowers later on in the season isn't very appealing to me.
