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Earth-Kind® is a special designation given to select rose cultivars with superior stress tolerance (heat, drought, and pest tolerance) and outstanding landscape performance. The responses of Earth-Kind® roses to high salinity stress are unknown. A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate 18 Earth-Kind® rose cultivars (Belinda’s Dream, Cecile Brunner, Climbing Pinkie, Ducher, Duchesse de Brabant, Else Poulsen, Georgetown Tea, La Marne, Madame Antoine Mari, Marie Daly, Monsieur Tillier, Mrs. Dudley Cross, Mutabilis, Perle d’Or, Reve d’Or, Sea Foam, Souvenir de St. Anne’s, and Spice) in College Station and 10 of the same 18 cultivars in El Paso in response to two salinity levels at electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.2 (control, nutrient solution) and 10.0 dS·m−1 (EC 10). In both locations, ‘Belinda’s Dream’ and ‘Climbing Pinkie’ in EC 10 had no or little reduction in shoot growth, flower number, and leaf SPAD readings. The net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (gS), and transpiration (E) did not decrease in these two cultivars at EC 10 in El Paso. In College Station, ‘Mrs. Dudley Cross’, ‘Reve d’Or’, and ‘Sea Foam’ in EC 10 also had no or little reduction in shoot growth, flower number, and leaf SPAD readings. In both locations, ‘Cecile Brunner’ and ‘Else Poulsen’ in EC 10 had severe visual foliar salt damage, and they had the greatest reductions in shoot growth and flower number. In addition to these two cultivars, the lowest relative shoot dry weight (DW) and flower number was observed in ‘Madame Antoine Mari’, ‘Perle d’Or’, ‘Spice’, and ‘Souvenir de St. Anne’s’ in College Station. In summary, ‘Belinda’s Dream’, ‘Climbing Pinkie’, ‘ Mrs. Dudley Cross’, ‘Reve d’Or’, and ‘Sea Foam’ were the most salt-tolerant cultivars, whereas ‘Cecile Brunner’, ‘Else Poulsen’, ‘Madame Antoine Mari’, ‘Perle d’Or’, ‘Spice’, and ‘Souvenir de St. Anne’s’ were the least salt-tolerant among the cultivars investigated.

A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the response of four garden roses (Rosa ×hybrid L.), ‘RADrazz’, ‘Belinda’s Dream’, ‘Old Blush’, and ‘Marie Pavie’, to drought stress. Plants grown in containers were subjected to two watering treatments, well-irrigated [water as needed: ≈35% substrate moisture content (SMC) at re-watering] and cyclic drought stress (withholding irrigation until plants exhibit incipient wilting: ≈10% SMC, then re-watering to field capacity for subsequent dry down). Shoot growth and flower number were reduced in the drought treatment compared with the well-irrigated plants in all cultivars with least reduction in ‘RADrazz’. Drought stress reduced root growth in ‘Belinda’s Dream’ and ‘Marie Pavie’, whereas there was no difference in root growth in ‘RADrazz’ and ‘Old Blush’. Decreased SMC induced reduction in net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (gS), transpiration rate (E), and midday leaf water potential (ψ). Leaf water use efficiency (WUE) increased as SMC decreased in all cultivars. However, the relationship between these physiological parameters and SMC differed among the cultivars. At SMC between 10% and 20%, ‘RADrazz’ had higher Pn, gS, E, and WUE compared with the other three cultivars. Therefore, ‘RADrazz’ was the most drought-tolerant during container production among the cultivars investigated. With lower gas exchange rates and greater reduction in flower number at low SMC, ‘Marie Pavie’ was less drought-tolerant compared with the other three cultivars.

Organic horticulture producers rank weeds as one of their most troublesome, time-consuming, and costly production problems. With the increasing significance of organic horticulture, the need for new bioherbicides to control weeds has grown. Potential bioherbicides may be developed from pathogens, natural products, and extracts of natural materials. Fungal and bacteria pathogens are two important types of microbial agents that have potential to be used as bioherbicides. The byproducts of natural sources such as dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), corn gluten meal (CGM), and mustard seed meals (MSMs) have shown herbicidal activities in controlling many weed species. Some essential oil extracts have shown bioherbicide potential as well. The efficacy of a bioherbicide is the main limiting factor for its application, and it may be affected by environmental factors such as humidity and moisture, the application method, the spectrum of the bioherbicide, and the type of formulation. In addition to efficacy, costs and concerns about potential human health threats are also limitations to bioherbicide use. As the integration of bioherbicide technology into current weed management systems may help manage herbicide resistance, reduce production costs, and increase crop yields, future research should involve the development of more cost-effective and efficient bioherbicides for control of weeds, as well as the optimization of production methods and cultural practices with use of candidate bioherbicides.

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