"Rooting" for success! Part 2

As expected, all of the rose cuttings I took a few weeks ago have died. They seemed to turn black from the soil line and rot from there.

After the first one died, I tried changing out the soil on the remaining healthy cuttings. I kept it moist but not quite as moist as I had before. This only delayed the inevitable. The last cutting that hung on was in the soil that I'd initially thought to be the worst. That is, while four of the cuttings were placed in a nice seed starting soil (the bag said it would optimize root growth) this last one was placed in a rather clumpy cheap potting soil that had some pieces of wood in it. I thought it would die first, but it died last and differently from the others.

Instead of turning black, it softened from the base and some small off-white fungi grew along the stem.

I'm going to try this experiment again, but this time I'm going to use two different kinds of roses and put them directly in the ground with a bell jar over them as described in the article I linked to in my last post. Right now, things here in Ohio are very dry and very hot, so I don't think conditions are optimal.

I do have two roses getting ready to bloom that should have stalks ready for an attempt in a few weeks. Oh, boy!

As a side note:
You know, after this super wet spring I've had more trouble with fungi than ever before! I wonder how many others out there are having the same problems. I don't want to spray fungicide. All of my hollyhocks were decimated by rust. (I've read it's not supposed to affect the blooms...but it sure did! After a good start, the blooms stopped opening.) I tried cutting out the affected leaves but it kept getting ahead of me. My peony didn't bloom this year and research showed that it was affected by a fungal disease called botrytis blight, so I plan to dig it up and thoroughly clean out the area this fall. Hopefully that will work because I love peonies, and missed it so much!

My beautiful black hollyhocks before the rust overtook them.

These are supposedly what Thomas Jefferson grew at Monticello.

One thing doing really really well: coneflowers. Those look fabulous this year. I think I want some more and in different colors. I already have them in three different flowerbeds. They're just so great! They've shown no signs of distress and I've barely touched them. They're doing well in half sun locations and in a mostly shady location. *swoon*

My coneflowers: 2011 saviors of my garden.