E-Rase

**Amy E Hughes a.e.hughes@verizon.net>**

Hi all,

So pleased to see so much activity on this list...I thought I would jump in,
too, with a question that's been nagging at me all summer.

I'm in Brooklyn, NY, gardening in containers on my roof deck. I think it's
Zone 5 thanks to the fact that it's windy up there and exposed. I have 5
potted patio and shrub roses (Tequila Sunrise, Pretty Jessica, Abbye de
Cluny, Happy Child, Dr. Robert Korns) as well as three "groundcover" roses
in window boxes (Carpet of Color, Green Snake, Sun Runner).  I planted all
of these in May this year, with the exception of Abbye de Cluny, which went
in in July.

I am a beginner, and my greatest amazement is how very different each rose
is. Tequila Sunrise has taken off like wildfire, profusely blooming and
getting bush-like, whereas Pretty Jessica, though healthy, is very small --
yet put out 5 or so hefty blooms despite its size. Happy Child is growing
pretty upright but has hardly ever bloomed; and when it does, its stems
can't seem to support the flowers, they bend and sag. I was hoping
rose-growing would be a science, but alas, it does not seem to be!

But the saddest thing is that one shrub, Dr. Robert Korns, has constant
powdery mildew. A rose created by Kleine Letunick (Lyda Rose) named after my
uncle, I've had it for 4 years or so. The poor thing survived in a small pot
on my window sill for the first three yrs until I moved into my current
apartment and gave it the big pot and outside spot it deserves. However, as
soon as I planted it outside, the mildew started. It breaks my heart.
Sometimes, so many of the leaves are infected I have to strip it almost
completely and cut back some canes. I have not seen it on any of the new
plants except a little bit at one point on Carpet of Color.

I started spraying a no-name brand solution on it, but that didn't really
work. Then I saw an ad in "American Rose" for E-Rase, a jojoba oil-based
solution. That has worked sometimes, and other times not. I was wondering if
anyone here has ever used it or know someone who does? What has been your
experience with it, and what's it's reputation? What other fungicides are
particularly good against pervasive powdery mildew?

Thanks, and please email me if there are other NYC container roof-gardeners
out there! (It's a tough and unique challenge.)

-Amy Hughes 

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