I grow Gingersnap. Both the color and fragarance are quite pleasant. However, it got terrible blackspot and was almost totally naked towards the end of the season last year. I am not sure whether this is a case that Gingersnap is prone to getting blackspot here in NJ, or whether it is me not taking proper care of the rose. Newbie mistakes: I overdosed on "Rose food" fertizier and did not give it proper air circulation by surrounding it with tall Zinnias. This year I have moved it into a pot on my deck, and so far it is blackspot free. Perhaps that someone on this forum can speak better to its disease resistance in PA/NJ/NY?

Hello dalez, There is a very good book on minis which came out about 2 to 3 years ago. The author is very well known. Just go to google book search. Here more details : "Secrets of the Miniature Rose by Abler, Elizabeth Secrets of the Miniature Rose is one of the first books devoted exclusively to miniature roses. This updated edition, which includes more than 75 color photographs of all colors and varieties, is a complete planting guide for these lovely and popular household and garden adornments. Written with the influence of the author's renowned expertise and..." I know the book well because there are a number of photos of my own hybridized minis in the book. Any good bookstore can get it for you, but make sure you get the latest addition. The first one came out in the nineties. Good luck George Mander Here is a link that might be useful: Roses of Excellence

Find your local library. There isn't one book that I'm aware of that covers all of your requests, and a lot of the books that come close are older. Just as there is a history of rose breeding, following changing tastes, there is a history of rose book writing, following changing tastes. In general, a current, generic rose book seems to be written for roughly Oklahoma. There is an entire chapter on irrigation, a sentence or two on winter protection, and mention of chemical fungicides. A similar book from the 50's or 60's says you should consider watering roses if it hasn't rained for a while, has a chapter on winter protection/hardy varieties, and a reasonable discussion of the fungicides current at the time it was written. The target audience is somewhere like suburban Philadelphia, with the understanding that some people live in colder places. The intervening decades saw the rise of the specialized rose book. Some are on specific rose classes. Some are on rose growing in certain regions. If they cover topics pertinent to your interests, they can be excellent. So in roughly chronological order: Roy Shepherd, History of the Rose - an older book, and not particularly one to sit down and read cover to cover, it is still an excellent reference book on classes and their development. Author is from northern Ohio. Jack Harkness, Roses - an at times hysterically funny, chatty book on the development of roses from roughly 1850 to 1950, or the period of time the author either experienced first hand, or could get stories from others. An English book that makes absolutely no pretense of being anything else, it is definitely the most entertaining rose book I have ever read. Suzy Verrier, Rosa Gallica, and Rosa Rugosa - more than you ever wanted to know about two classes of hardy roses, these books both start with a general care section, and then go on to list cultivars, most of them with photographs. When I did information tables for the local rose society, Rosa Rugosa was the book I had to watch because it was by far the one most likely to 'accidentally' wander off. If there is one book you should look at, I'd say it is Robert Osborne's. Hardy Roses was re-released fairly recently in an expanded edition, and renamed something like Canadian Roses. Unless you are interested in hybrid teas, I'd recommended avoiding the standard books at first. There just isn't any reason to learn HT care just so you can then learn the differences between HTs and hardy roses.

Here's an old photo of 'Mme Léon Pain' From Thomas & Easlea's The Rose Book, 1914, p.186: