Peachie, although you're a long way from RRD country, that sounds like RRD. Maybe Ann has some thoughts -- is there another mite that can carry a similar problem in your area? Not to hijack my own thread. For everyone else -- the Huey canes were already pretty thick by the time I bought this house. I already understood the "pull them off" part and why -- my point was that I physically canNOT pull them off, so then what's a girl to do. In this case, sounds like time for the shovel -- I hope I can dig it out, because it's also fairly hard to get to and there's a lot of clay in the danged soil. (And I have back trouble, blah blah woof woof!) Michael G, thanks for the explicit description. That came close to what I needed to know -- sounds like it's just too far gone. Especially since this guy's slightly down slope from where I can access it. It's REALLY hard to yank down when you're already up! At least I don't feel so bad knowing it's hard for other people when it's an advanced case of the Dr. Greta

Hello Susan, BS is not a real problem in my climate except when there is an unusual amount of rain and humidity in August and September, so I really don't do much to prevent it. I have had Fragrant Cloud for roughly 30 years, Tropicana for just a few years, and members of DW's family have had FC and/or Tropicana for years as well. These two roses have different strenths and weaknesses. FC has always had lots of blooms with good form, has one of the strongest fragrances, tends to get BS easily unless it gets all-day sun, pales out and shatters quickly in our winds. Tropicana blooms fairly well, moderately scented, blooms hold their color and form longer than FC, can get leggy, gets BS less than FC though it will get it. Cane dieback from winter is comparable, though that won't be a problem for you. Hope this helps, Gary

Will my experience in TN and NC do? Fragrant Cloud is still my favorite HT. Once established it is a robust plant with great bloom production. The petals have heavy substance and the fragrance is incredible. Must be sprayed for BS in the South. I've grown it both grafted and ownroot. Just Joey - I have two ownroot in my garden. I've had it grafted also. Its winter tender, spindly and not all that productive. It does have the most incredibly beautiful fragrant blooms. I have it still because it was my mother's favorite rose. I'm about to pull both out and buy Martha (a sport of ZD) as a replacement tribute to my mother. Cherry Parfait - a sprawling, very productive bush that just pumps out blooms even in heat and drought. It is really more of a shrub than a grandiflora in habit. I love all the color variations in the blooms. No fragrance. Must be sprayed for BS in the south, although it has decent resistance. Peace - I have (finally) a good ownroot clone. Although its currently unhappy because I moved it. The bush is sort of awkward, but its hard to argue with the blooms. There is a reason this rose is so well known, and it is the beauty of the bloom. It is a robust bush once established, but requires very regular protection against BS.

It's hard for me to say, since very few roses I planted AREN'T fragrant. When I was selecting roses, scent was the first thing I searched, though there's a handful I picked for other reasons and which aren't particularly fragrant. Consequently, I can't easily pick "the most fragrant" out of what I grow. Every time I think "oh, this one" I realize that it was just the most recent to bloom. What I have noticed among my pot-pet red HTs is that those I have which are descended from 'Crimson Glory' are particularly wonderful, and have only subtle variations on the same scent, which matches that of 'Crimson Glory' -- 'Big Ben', 'Chrysler Imperial', 'Heart's Desire', 'Mirandy', 'Mister Lincoln', 'Nocturne', 'Oklahoma', 'Red Masterpiece', 'Rose of Freedom' and 'Velvet Fragrance'. 'Orfeo' is a climber I have trained into a hacked-back Callery pear (and it has canes nearing 20' long going up into the tree now), and it, too, smells just like its grandparent 'Crimson Glory'. It's the only one of the "family" I have planted in the ground, with one white and one lavender-blue clematis using it as a trellis to get into the tree. I can't wait for next year -- this year, 'Orfeo' bloomed a little for the first time since I planted it last year, so I expect a show in its third year. Of the most fragrant OGRs, I'd be naming the usual suspects as the most fragrant of what I have from their groups -- three of my Bourbons ('Mme de Sevigne', 'Mme Dore', and 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'), six of my HPs ('Georg Arends ', "Grandmother's Hat", 'Monsieur Boncenne', 'Pierre Notting', 'Reine des Violettes' and 'Yolande d'Aragon'), both of my Damasks ('Botzaris' and 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux'), three of my Damask Perpetuals ('Indigo', 'Rose de Rescht' and 'Rose du Roi, original'), one of the Gallicas ('Georges Vibert'), both Hybrid Chinas ('Duchesse d'Angouleme' and 'Nouveau Monde'), and, of course, 'Rosa moschata' in its single-form, as well as "Secret Garden Musk Climber" (if you count that as an OGR). Of the Austin roses, I'd give the awards to 'Abraham Darby', 'Golden Celebration', 'Jude the Obscure', 'Prospero', 'Tamora' and 'The Prince'. That leaves 'Happy Child' as the only Austin I have which is not mentioned -- but this came as a band this year, and I've been pinching buds until recently, so can't really offer an opinion. Interestingly, the roses whose fragrance carries the farthest (i.e. "wafters") tend to be less intensely scented up-close (except, perhaps, for 'R. moschata' and "Secret Garden Musk Climber", which succeed at both). The winners here would be mostly Multiflora-derived (and my handful of Moschata-derived): 'Bubble Bath', 'Clotilde Soupert', "Darlow's Enigma", 'Marie Pavie', 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte', 'Perle d'Or', 'Reverend Seidel', 'Rosa moschata', and "Secret Garden Musk Climber". This was the second year in the ground for most of my roses, and already the yard was full of yummy scent in May and June. Supporting the roses was a small cast of scented Dianthus which mostly bloomed at the same time. Unfortunately, July and August here was not as knock-your-socks-off, so I have 25 each of mixed Oriental, Trumpet and Orienpet lilies coming with a bulb order in a few weeks which will perfume the yard until the roses rebound from their mid-summer sleep. And various stinky self-seeding annuals will be filling in the gaps. :-) ~Christopher