Luxrosa -- 'Georg Arends' did get hit with blackspot here in NJ -- as did almost all the others, with a few interesting exceptions, notably 'Golden Buddha' bred by Paul Barden, which has remained PERFECT save for the occasional mildew on a leaf or two (and this says A LOT about a rose in the mid-Atlantic), and the only spray I used was neem oil, baking soda and dish soap in water as a modified Cornell mixture a few times up until late June. 'Georg Arends' shed damaged leaves rather quickly, and did get to an "almost naked" stage once, but leafed out again rather quickly. Keep in mind that this is a rose that came only this Spring as a band from Vintage. I let it have only a few blooms, and yes, they were VERY VERY fragrant -- strong, sweet "old rose" that is said to be "pure Centifolia" but being as I've never smelled a Centifolia, I can't comment on the comparison. They were a monochrome, unshaded pure pink, shaped like a typical fat Hybrid Perpetual cabbage but with the folded-back pointed-petal look of a Hybrid Tea. Considering its ancestry (it's about 3/8 Tea and 5/8 Hybrid Perpetual), that makes sense. Oh, and the plant is completely thornless -- I still haven't found the first thorn. It's growing as though it will be a short climber, or at least something that would do best with a little support -- like against an open picket fence -- so I have it where I can attach it to the lower part of the deck railing as it gains a little more height. I think much of the vase-life is a result of it taking a couple days to fully open, due to how many petals it has. Once opened, it holds up another couple of days. I cut one in the "loose-but-closed" bud-stage, sepals fully back, and gave it to my neighbors who share the yard with me. They kept it in a vase inside right by the window where I could see it while working in the yard, and I watched it unfurling over a couple days. By about the fifth day, it started looking as though it was finally past its peak. And I can't imagine they did anything more than stick it in a vase with plain tap water. If you can't find a plant by Spring, let me know and I'll try rooting another piece of mine. I was hoping to interest Linda Loe of Long Ago Roses in growing a few rooted cuttings of some things I picked up from Vintage which don't seem to be available elsewhere, so at least they don't disappear from commerce. 'Georg Arends' was one of them, so I was going to root a few anyway. HelpMeFind has Pickering as one of the other nurseries carrying it, but it's not on their current HP inventory on their website (perhaps they used to carry it?). Hortico may be the only other way of getting it in the US, though once again, I don't see it among their current HP inventory. :-) ~Christopher When it arrived and was repotted, April 25, 2013: First flower I allowed to open, May 22, 2013: A pic showing 'Georg Arends' on the left ('Nouveau Monde' on its right), taken September 2, 2013. At this time, it's recovering from going naked. This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sun, Sep 29, 13 at 2:09

Accept advice from those of us living here in California with great caution. We don't have the summer humidity you face. While we do have diseases, our blackspot pressure is much less than yours. Many years I only spray once or twice at pruning time, and my garden is usually pretty healthy. In part this is because I remove any roses that need much more than this kind of treatment. Having said all this, I'll throw out my random bits and pieces. You can take them for what they are worth. When you say 'dramatic red', I'm not sure what you mean. Scarlet reds can be dramatic, and so can crimsons, and so can dark purply reds, and so can brilliant cherry reds,but putting them in a bed together without other colors to tone them down can be a disaster. Ask me how I know. Dame de Coeur and Alec's Red are both unusually healthy roses in my experience, but are a light, bright red, not a deep dramatic color. The healthiest fragrant dark red HT I have any experience with is Oklahoma. Also fitting that description is the HT Barcelona, but it is usually sold as the tea rose Francis Dubreuil. You can get that dramatic deep color from some of the HPs, but I can't imagine growing HPs unsprayed in North Carolina. I've had good luck with Austins Prospero, The Prince, and am now planting Tradescant, but these would probably need spray for you to grow them. The most dramatic healthy red climber I've ever seen was a mature Cl Etoile de Hollande. The most dramatic healthy red rambler I've ever seen was Chevy Chase. Both are stunning. Dortmund is healthy too, no scent and a brilliant cherry red. It is indeed dramatic, but would clash with most of these other reds. Now here's a trick. If you really, really, really want intense drama do this. Try out several different roses to see which you like best, and which is healthiest in your neck of the woods. Then do a mass planting of only one kind of rose. This is incredibly hard to do, and hardly anyone can force himself to do it, but nothing gives more impact than this. Rosefolly

What a great week we've had in the tea bloom department despite having a slight frost last weekend. We've had a steady flush of blooms on all the teas and chinas around here. The colors are rich and lovely because of the cooler temps. The Duchess looks especially lovely in her pink blossoms. Mrs. B.R. Cant and Mons Tillier are new to my garden this year. Still in pots, but oh, so fun. Ducher, Cramisia Superior (sorry about the spelling) and Sombreiul (sigh, gotta practice my French spellings) are having a nice late fall flush. My china, Mutablius, is bursting with blooms. Silly roses. We will have a hard freeze within the next couple of weeks. They should be going to sleep, not putting on new growth and buds. But I'm not griping. They look incredible. Hugs to the teas and their growers. Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

Hi Hidden, Welcome! I am in zone 6 in south central PA. Here Mary Roses seem very resistant as far as the pinks go. Beverly is too but her form is more traditional. Heritage is very David Austin in form and has a lovely scent. Here is something to consider though. I have planted the same roses in two locations on the property. One rose will get get black spot and one will not. Rather than blame it on the rose, I imagine it has to do with growing conditions like sun and airflow or the weather in general. Since BS and Powdery Mildew are the 2 banes of my roses I thought I would share this. I just re-watched Gardeners World season 2016 episode 22. Monty Don, my guru for organic gardening, mentioned that Powdery Mildew was caused by the plant being too dry. I had never considered that. So this year at the first sign of PM on my roses or clematis or honeysuckle, etc I am upping my watering frequency.