I have grown all of the Austins roses listed in the Chamblee's website at one time or other. They used to offer 'Spirit of Freedom', which is the one that would have been my top choice as a climber. I have 3 specimens that came from a single 1 gallon pot from Chamblees. They have growing to around 12 feet high or so in 4 years and have large, very full flowers with a strong damask fragrance. But SOF is no longer offered by Chamblees. Among the Austins still available from Chamblees, is Benjamin Britten. I am now growing Benjamin Britten and know that it can grow tall enough to train over an arbor. The canes are flexible enough that they would be easy to train. I have been to the David Austin Rose US headquarters in Tyler, TX and they have a number of the taller rose specimens on display that have been growing for a while. Benjamin Britten was around 12-14 feet tall and perhaps 6 feet wide. The repeat in my garden is not as fast as I woulld like. The red-orange flower color is interesting but would probably not appeal to everyone. If you consider Austin roses that are not offered from Chamblees, I would recommend The Generous Gardener and The Wedgewood Rose. Or two of the Meilland roses in their Romantica collection, Collette (pink) and its yellow colored sport, Lunar Mist. All of these have nice, full, medium large flowers with a good scent and repeat bloom with a reasonable frequency. Good luck with your selection, John

I can give you a little information on some of your unfamiliar roses. For Toro/Uncle Joe, it is a show rose that has been around a long time. It is a big, beautiful red, but do not expect a lot of flowers from it at any given time. The reason is that it has lots and lots of petals and really doesn't open all the way very easily. It takes the plant a lot more energy to make a heavily-petalled flower than a flower with fewer petals. Sugar Moon is one of the best whites to come along in a long time. It gets quite tall and has lots of very fragrant flowers. I could have more of this one without complaint. It also, so far, has withstood a late, hard freeze rather well. We may be getting another one in a couple weeks if the long-range weather forecast is correct. Garden Party has been around since its 1960 AARS award. It is a good white rose that has seen its day on show tables. It is one of the better whites with a tinge of pink on the petal edges. Perfume Delight is also an AARS winner from 1974. It is a fragrant, solid pink rose. I have not grown this one, so I can't comment on it other than its past history. Cl. America is a coral/salmon climber with hybrid tea-type flowers that are quite fragrant. It is also an AARS winner from 1976. I have not grown it, but I have seen it on show tables and in various gardens. If you know Fragrant Cloud, it was in the parentage of this rose. Chicago Peace is one of a number of sport mutations of Peace. It is quite colorful. If you really want to see this one look really good, just feed it a little blood meal if you don't already do so because the iron in the blood meal will make the colors light up, especially anything based on red. This is true for all the rest of the roses also. Like other sports, this one sometime reverts back to its Peace parent. Sometimes it is only half of the flower. Half is Peace while the other half is Chicago Peace. It is strange, but cute. Other sport roses, such as Winchester Cathedral, have done the same thing also. Double Delight has won a number of awards, AARS 1977 being one of them. It is colorful and quite fragrant, but it is prone to a lot of split centers, a no-no if you are into exhibiting. If you want it just for the garden or cut flowers, it should be fine. It is good for smelling. I hope these little comments help a bit.

I thought it was a good idea to try the local farm store but NOTHING organic there! Makes me wonder about the food we eat... And Lowe's no longer carries the fish emulsion, seems they are only carrying Miracle Grow organic now. I guess Walmart will be my next stop. Would hate to have to order it, but if so, probably will go back to peaceful valley and they have an excellent selection. I got earthworm castings from them last yr and kelp. (Their prices on plants are good but shipping worked out to be rather high.) Did not see any Espoma anywhere- never heard of that one before. Brandy

Hi springrose: deformed/damaged new growth with medium-sized insect sounds like midge-problem. Midge doesn't like it too dry nor too wet soil-surface. If you can get pea-gravel at local stores (tiny pebbles with a variety of colorful minerals) .. quick solution is to spread a very thin layer around Marie Daly .. that will provide a dry surface so midge can't hatch. Hopefully the high pH of pea-gravel will help fungal disease (black spot), and stop any insects from hatching from below. Pea-gravel is slow release, so it won't shoot up soil pH, plus its high pH will neutralize acidic rain. Last year we had over 49" of rain. I put pea-gravel in 2 pots .. zero mildew, zero blackspots for the entire year, despite in shady location & poor circulation.