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One thing I wanted to ask you about was my roses, Flygirl. They're really giving me grief lately. I'm thinking it's what's splashing up on them when it rains that is causing a lot of the black spot and mildew.
What would you suggest as mulch? I usually use shredded cyprus. Is there something better? I was thinking of doing a low ground cover - Dragon's Blood Sedum - instead.
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Roses don't like water splashed on their leaves. Either from overhead watering or rain or splashing water. This does cause blackspot. As for the powdery mildew, this can also be caused by too much water and too much mulch around the base of the roses. I don't use too much mulch around my roses. I keep an area away from the roots. This allows air to circulate and keeps them from getting too much water and keeps the soil from staying wet. Roses don't like their feet wet.
I live in the high desert (3500' elevation) and my roses are in a bed with hot southwest exposure. They get about 20 minutes of drip line water each day and do just fine. We get about 10 inches of water a YEAR so as you can see, my roses are not water soaked at all. Last year, they were totally neglected b/c I was not well most of the summer. They didn't even get a good pruning and they just thrived! Neglect does them well!
My advice on roses - don't fuss over them. Fertilize them with a good systemic and prune them in the Spring, cut the flowers when you want something to look at, but otherwise, just leave them alone!
I've got a good au naturale recipe for aphids...