well, Jacqueline, the UK is classed as zone 8 but our rose season only gets going in early June (apart from the early spins and species). So, we get a really good early summer season and then another late August/September flush if we are lucky, even with the most remontant roses. Of course, this can be pushed with generous feeding, watering and deadheading but by midsummer, who has time for that? Once bloomers generally have a much longer season than lilac, philadelphus, deutzia et al and as there is no reason to deadhead, we often get a really good display of heps - a bonus for us and birds.So Yes, choosing once bloomers is not much of a quandary for me - after all, I wait all year for the week of paeonies so a couple of months of Madame Gregoire or R.moyessii is a bargain.

Jackie,

Will be interesting to hear from folks living in the cold zones now, but for me the Japanese beetles were the clincher.

When I lived in western Massachusetts (Z5a), the Japanese beetles would destroy most rose blooms after July 4, so I replaced many of my remontant roses in favor of European once-bloomers because it was less heart-breaking. And, like you say, the blooming season was short anyway!

Debbie

I still prefer the remontant ones. And even the few of those I have only give me one decent flush in June with just a couple of sporadic blooms here or there after that. I also have a couple of once blooming seedlings that I've kept and they bloom for a couple of weeks in June and then zilch after that. My neighbor has a giant white rose bush(not sure which and she has no clue) that blooms once a season and here that's for two weeks in June and nothing else the rest of the season. There's a beautiful pink once bloomer on the next street and the same thing, two weeks in June and then nada. I know everyone says they bloom for a month or so but I just haven't seen any evidence of it around here. Two weeks and they're done for the year. At least with the remontant ones I'll get one or two more blooms sometime in the fall.

Thanks all - this is interesting. Need to hear from someone in zone 5 or 4. I am very surprised to hear, seil, that in your experience local once bloomers only bloom for 2 weeks - that is definitely NOT long enough.

Perhaps it depends on which rose it is, as usual? Would love to hear from anyone who grows any old European once bloomers - how long do yours bloom?

Jackie

In the past, when I gardened in zone 5b Michigan, I loved the old European once bloomers. Aside from their exquisite fragrances, colors and hardiness, one thing that I truly appreciated is that they were done blooming by the time the Japanese beetles came to destroy my remontant roses.

A short 2-3 week bloom season sounds about right. This is because of hot temperatures that invariably started as soon as the roses opened their first blooms. In a cooler, less unpredictable climate I can see how some cultivars could have extended their bloom 3-4 weeks or longer.

Now I garden in a different place with fewer JBs. I am mainly interested in remontant roses for my small urban garden, especially since the autumn blooms that many of them produce are even more wonderful than their initial spring flush.

That said, I still grow--and will probably always grow--the amazing 'Madame Plantier'. It was the first rose I thought of when planning my new garden.

I grow Albas and Gallicas here in zone 2b Manitoba, Canada(Ag. Canada changed us to 2b but I refuse to listen!). I also grow several Canadian Explorers, Rugosas and some modern roses. Even some Hybrid Teas do okay here, although they might not be permanent fixtures in terms of decades. It is currently -23 Fahrenheit but we have a deep snow covering this winter so things should be fine.

It's not true that once-bloomers have a longer bloom period here. All my once-bloomers bloom between mid-June and mid-July, and only the regular bloom period for each variety. It is true that we have a short growing season and we're grateful for our short, beautiful summers. The remontant roses that I grow usually have a large flush in June and a smaller one in September, with sporadic bloom in between. A lot of the less hardy roses that do "okay" for me will never get as big as they do down south.

We do have some things going for us though. There are no JBs, it's too cold for them. We also don't have RRD and rarely see powdery mildew. I have only seen blackspot once.

The positive for once-bloomers is that they are truly smothered in bloom when they're on, and the rest of the summer they tend to have very attractive foliage. Celestial is almost as pretty out of bloom as in.

And Ispahan, Mme. Plantier is my very favourite rose too. It absolutely takes my breath away. :)

I'm in eastern Washington and our frost free season is early June to late August. Our once blooming roses usually bloom from 4-6 weeks. However, if there's a really late frost or it gets hot too quickly, then that could be a much shorter window.

Celsiana is always pretty and Bleu Magenta has done surprisingly well. It's a zone 5, but it's done very well in our garden.

Reblooming roses don't do very well here and often have about the same bloom time as the once-blooming roses. We have very cold winters, but our summers are in the 80s and 90s and the reblooming roses just don't hold up well to all that dry heat.

Our best roses are usually old fashioned, Canadian hardy, rugosa, landscape roses and a few climbers and ramblers (like Veilchenblau). I just got an alba last year and the few gallicas we have are still small, but have produced some really lovely flowers. Hope that helps :)

Thanks so much for all of the input - it is so interesting to learn about how roses do in other places. I had no idea they did "okay" in zone 2b! Roses really are amazing. Lavender Lass, your response was about what I was guessing would be the case in zone 4-5; sounds as if the old European roses do actually bloom longer there than in zone 6 - who would have thought?

Jackie

Be sure you have the right "once-blooming rose" for comparison. Some of the once-bloomers do have bloom periods that last longer -- 'Gros Choux d'Hollande' comes to mind as one, and many of the hybrid chinas are claimed to have two months of bloom. For them, what I understand is that they start a little earlier, and last a little longer, than the gallicas. I'll find out for sure after my few hybrid chinas are in the ground (unfortunately, no room for 'Gros Choux d'Hollande' here).

:-)

~Christopher

mmm, it would seem that some of the really cold places also have hot and dry summers whereas the cool and damp english summer can extend the once blooming roses for several weeks. As Christopher points out, there is huge variation between roses - the sweet briars and moyesii are gone in an eyeblink but nutkana semi-plena will hang in there for almost 2 months.
And, I guess, much depends upon little microclimates and shelter havens.

Hmmm, I seem to remember Luxrosa spending a great deal of time and patience, listing bloom times of many roses, over a couple of seasons. Her input would be invaluable,I suspect.

A lot of the once bloomers start at a reasonably predictable time, then end whenever real heat starts. For here, that works out to about a month on most roses. The notable exception is R. setigera, which is programmed to deal with the heat.

However, unless they are watered copiously, the repeaters stop with the heat also. Then the Japanese beetles show up. And being much, much smaller plants, they can't produce nearly the number of roses that the once-bloomers can.

This is an interesting thread. I am gardening in zone 8 and don't grow any once bloomers because their bloom time is during rose curculio season and I would never see an undamaged bloom.

I do grow recurrent roses with summer temps in the high 90s to low 100s for most of the summer months which I dis-bud during curculio season to keep the dang bugs from breeding in the garden. I allow the roses to bloom after the end of June and have several flushes before winter hits. No, it doesn't get as cold here, in my micro-climate probably in the teens. I have had to search for roses with the necessary plant characteristics to handle the heat. The cold seems to have less of an impact on the roses.

Smiles,
Lyn

Campanula hit on why once-bloomers are an iffy proposition in zone 5 climates like mine. I have a few once-bloomers, some of which like Variegata di Bologna actually put in a little later blooming if chopped off ruthlessly after bloom. The trouble is unless we have an extended spring cool spell, their brief bloom period can finish astonishingly quickly. For the last two years, I've missed the blooms of both my lilacs and peonies that passed peak within a week before I could get out to sniff them on the weekend. The same goes for the once-blooming roses - either they get their only bloom nipped off by late frosts just before bloom or they wilt in unexpected heat that pops in without warning in our springs. Yoyo weather and once-bloomers aren't a good combination for me.

Cynthia