Treat the roses
A lesson learned last year is to spray roses in May to ameliorate the impact of diseases and deficiencies. Magnesium deficiency shows as yellowing of the leaves, and is caused by a combination of clay soil and dryness, which means that some plants cannot take up sufficient nutrients. I will spray a solution of Epsom salts onto the leaves. I do not like spraying for bugs, as birds are still feeding their young. Capsid bugs are a menace. Unfortunately, the damage they do emerges later. At the moment, on the surface all looks rosy, but they work away inside new shoots. The result is no flower buds, and holey chewed leaves to be revealed later on. One alien bug quite at home and very obvious at the moment is the scarlet lily beetle. I plunge into flower beds to squash the adults and, with gloves and newspaper, wipe off the faeces-covered larvae currently making short work of lily foliage.