Hmmm...taking what Rosefolly and Campanula are saying, I find myself wondering why we're not affected by this problem here. I also have planted new roses where old ones were (I didn't know any better at the time) and some have thrived others not so hot. Some of the ones that were ailing, I replaced the soil which was a lot of work, and the same variety did not do well again. It's kind of a crap shoot for me actually. Now I don't want to derail my own thread, but a perfect example of this "some roses won't do well" syndrome for me was Abraham Darby. In December 2004, I bought and planted 12 (count'em twelve) Abe Darbys in a garden I was re-configuring: I had fallen in love with this rose. They were own-root plants from J&P. I had to shovel prune every last one, they would not grow higher than 18" for me after 4 years! Not to be discouraged (I'm pretty stubborn and dumb) I bought 3 more bare roots, from another source, these grafted....nothing. Terrible...they died. So I figure "I can't grow this rose, I give up!" Later...we're reconfiguring a huge new bed at the abbey, I order 3 Evelyns from an own-root nursery I swear by (best around) and they send me the plants, I put them in, they thrive and start to bloom like crazy - getting huge...but not Evelyn, mis-labeled roses, you guessed it, Abraham Darby. Summing up: after close to 17 tries, Abe Darby finally worked for me only from one of these own-root rose nurseries and I thought I was getting Evelyn. How I got onto this from specific replant disease is anybody's guess...but it felt good to get that off my chest. Happy gardening!

Most European OGRs bloom on old wood -- even many of those which repeat. So what happens is that new canes (thick shoots from the base) will grow this year, and next year will bloom on laterals on last year's canes. After the first flush, if you cut back the laterals on last year's shoots, they'll bloom again (if the rose repeats). Basically, they bloom on new shoots growing from last year's canes. This is the case for most of the long-caned Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals. Some of those with an extra dose of China or Tea will bloom on new shoots the same year, but 'Zephirine Drouhin' isn't one of those. So if this rose is new for you, don't expect much in the way of blooms the first year -- sometimes not much the second year, either. The rose first needs to grow its layer of canes which will mature and then flowerHybrid Teas and Floribundas have heavier doeses of China-derived repeat-blooming genes, and so they will bloom on new shoots their first year (hence their being able to take hard-pruning in Spring and still flower that same year). :-) ~Christopher

It may well be too late to think of it, but if you want something lower-growing, some of the Polyanthas might be your answer for generosity of bloom and low stature. In our area, China Doll has been used and used and used because it matches those requirements. For a red, there's Mutterdag (Mother's Day) and Lady Reading. Salmon Pink Margo Koster, and all the rest of the Koster sports (do "Contains" KOSTER in a HMF search, or check Vintage's catalog). I'd use any of those guys before I'd try a Knockout -- Not because I'm a snob, but because Knockouts would be such horses, and because I don't want anything that mildews. In a more modern vein, if you want something truly low-growing, I'd use Kim Rupert's lovely 'Lauren' or 'International Herald Tribune' if I wanted poiple. For White, I might use Pope John Paul (or try the white China, 'Ducher.') For Yellow, gosh, how about Julia Child? For red, I'd really go back to Mother's Day. Jeri

In Florida you should look at society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) and drumstick allium (A. sphaerocephalum). There also are some native species from Texas in cultivation like A. drummondi, and A. texanum, but I don't know much about them personally.