Kmama, Annie Laurie McDowell. Very fragrant. Very seldom without flower. TOTALLY without prickles, even on the leaf mid ribs. You dead head her by shaking the branches or hosing her out with a strong stream of water. She can tolerate a high level of shade, but doesn't require it. Old fashioned looking, but modern and very healthy. What's not to like? Burlington sells her (no, I don't make royalties on the sales) own root. Plant her in a can to grow on for a while and keep the flower buds pinched off to encourage her to grow instead of flowering. I'm having to do that with cutting grown plants of her right now. Once she begins to push growth, she puts it on big time!

As for one or two? How formal do you want it to look? Seldom do you find two roses which perform identically. One always out does the other, unless they are closely matched color sports. If you want homogeneity, formality, "balance", grow two of the same. Otherwise, plant one of two different ones. That' totally up to you and your taste. Kim

Flower bud forming on three and a half month old own root Annie Laurie McDowell.
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Here is a link that might be useful: Annie Laurie McDowell on HMF

Thanks, Kim. I almost added a question to my post that said, "Hey Kim... would AlMcD work?" Your picture of her in your yard on HMF shows it looking more, horizontal, for lack of a better word. Like more of a spreader. How would she handle climbing up a trellis?

And would she need more than a cattle panel arch? (The one I'm thinking of is about 3' wide made of this sort of rusty galvanized metal they sell at my local upscale nursery.) What I mean is, would i need to build her something more sturdy with 4x4 posts and concrete footings like a small pergola? (I imagine her sister Renae would need a framed cottage to climb over... and besides I like the look of the blooms on ALMcD better.)

One more question about pruning her... since she is hybrid musk, can you just let her grow with little or no pruning? That makes it an even *better* candidate.

Thanks!
-k

You're welcome! She's horizontal in that photo because I trained her that way. She'll grow in every direction. You show her where and how and she'll do the rest. I would definitely build a sturdy support for her so she can rest on it without problems from wind and gravity. I prune the one you see on HMF to keep her from growing too tall over the wall. She creates such a dense 'sail', it can pull her off the wall if the wind is too strong or continuous. If the support is large and sturdy enough, the only pruning she'll need is to prevent her from overpowering the support and to permit you to walk under her! That wall she's on is about five and a half feet tall. She now covers about twenty feet of it. I have cut over six feet of length from OVER the top of that wall. The cutting grown plants in the photo I posted were some of those prunings. Kim

Thanks, Kim. One other question... how would she handle a "no-shade" situation. She'd be in pretty full sun year-round, and we do get hot summers here inland.

The plant on HMF grows in Old Orchard, Valencia, Zip 91355, Zone 9b. It is on the north side of the wall, but that's really only important for the lowest part of the plant. The rest of it receives direct sun most of the day, pretty much year round.

The climate information I found is this:

Climate Valencia, CA United States
Rainfall (in.) 17.3
Snowfall (in.) 0.1
Precipitation Days 30
Sunny Days 282
Avg. July High 94
Avg. Jan. Low 35.6
Comfort Index (higher=better) 29
UV Index 6.2
Elevation ft. 1,214

Does that help? Kim

So she can grow however you want her to grow..?

i vote for two of the same rose. i just think there is no way to get an even response, and for that, i think balance is good.

yes, i LOVE when i convince DH to agree to expanding beds. one tip...ALWAYS talk about less grass to be mown!! that seems to always work!!

probably my favorite climber is LaMarque. lemony white, blooms at Christmas!! trainable, but does have thorns. i just selected two for a major visability area over six french doors (tore out the junky and wild wisteria).

Reve d'Or is a beauty too. thorns, but workable. I am almost tired of the blooming!! as i am anxious to prune her as i am reworking her bed!! but she won't quit! lucious creamy gold blooms. big buds. just delicious!

Madame Alfred Carrier is really flexible and hardly thorny. pale pink/white blooms. reliable. but, i guess in fairness, the blooms are not to die for.

Cornelia is really charming. strawberry pink blooms, no thorns.

your climate is vastly different.

one thing in planning. i have found major eye attractions, like this, do well with a color that welcomes the eye. for me, and this is highly personal. i don't like that color to dictate too much. (i think of it as a front door to a home). and LaMarque, with it's interesting white color, is a nice highlight that separates this area as 'special' apart from the rest of the garden. and doesn't dictate a color theme for the rest. (that may be my artist side of the brain speaking, FWIW!)

good luck! let us know!!

I think I want to move down south or west :) blooming at Christmas I really don't believe it! I could have blooms almost all year that sounds amazing!!!

How funny... it seems like now that I have his buy in on bumping this out, it's all I can think about. LOL
With climbers I have a whole new list of options previously not available to me. Thanks for all your ideas.

Whatever I do, I'll do 2 of the same rose because I want a balanced, slightly more formal look to this arch.

Yes, ALmD will grow up or out, as you instruct her. Give her the go-ahead and she'll eat whatever you put before her. I think two of whatever is the way to go. It's more balanced, more formal and has much less of the "patchwork" look, as if you've "landscaped" instead of "collected". Kim

Thanks, Kim. I'll check with Burling. She seems to be one of the only ones that is truly thornless that reblooms a lot. Some of the other recommendations have been, in my experience, still too thorny. Cornelia, for example, draws blood.

If you can think of any others that are mostly thorny that rebloom well, please let me know. I may have to go on a bit of a pilgrimage to rose gardens this spring (San Jose, Sac Cemetery, Vintage, etc. to see roses on arbors to get ideas on arbor construction.)

Would this rose work well in my area? Santa Barbara, closer to the foothills than the beach

I am going to "rediscover" the original entry way to the yard some time this summer, open it up, built some steps and put in a big fancy entry arch. It will get quite a bit of sun-some morning shade depending on jacaranda tree season and might get a bit of shade at the end of the day until I can "lower" the zapote (would love to lower it to the transfer station), but might be a bit windier on that corner, will have to watch and see.

I don't see why it wouldn't, Kippy. Kim

Kim, you don't happen to know if the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden (or other gardens in NorCal) have ALMcD? HMF says they do, but it's not listed in their database.

Thanks,
KMama

The last I knew, she was planted on the University Fence, but I'm not seeing her listed there. You might contact Jill Perry through the site to inquire. She would know where to direct you. It's been a number of years since I was last there. Kim