It's timely that this conversation popped up. My husband is currently spending part of each morning pulling 'Silver Moon' down out of our old seedling avocado. It's been there for 8-9 years now, and in our mild coastal SoCal climate simply does not bloom. At all. So, it's got to go. And since the tree was just trimmed, this is a good time. He'd sort of like to put another rose up there . . . but we'll be more discerning, this time. It has to be something that will bloom here (which eliminates many Ramblers, if not all) and that won't mildew. Maybe 'Mel's Heritage,' since I just figured out that we have a spare one . . .

I have several budded hybrid teas planted by the previous owner of my home, Mrs. J, out in front of the house which I call "deer territory". Mrs. J was in her 90s when I bought the house and the roses had been neglected for decades. For several years, I neglected them, too, because I thought I didn't want to grow HTs and hoped they would just die. The deer pruned them annually both in spring and fall. A couple of years ago, I caged them, but still didn't give them much attention. They were lucky to be watered because I was planting my roses up on the house pad level in back of my house and working on the deferred maintenance of the house. Nope, they didn't die, but they did out grow the deer cages. So, this year I decided to give them some attention. This is where I disagree with Kim about cultivating the bed. Mrs. J had planted them in a bed that was 8" wide. Actually, the two tiers are the retaining walls to hold up the lawn and to keep the house from sliding down the slope. I widened the top tier from 8 inches to three feet, took out all of the companion plants, dug in a copious amount of compost and made the deer cages much, much larger and watered them regularly. (I used huge redwood planks milled in the forest to hold back the lawn and to make the slope stable.) I did not prune them at all. Not even a rejuvenation pruning. I wanted them to put on new wood. The roses have out grown their much larger deer cages twice in one season ! Yes, I had to keep adding more compost to the bed as the compost I dug into the bed decomposed, but it was easy to do since the bed was much wider. It's easy to say that the plants are successful because I am gardening in a warmer climate, but I don't think that is the real answer for these roses. My roses are subjected to freeze-thaw conditions all winter. My night temps drop below freezing and the day temps are always above freezing. I've decided the best answer is that it depends on the rose. I think if I lived in a colder zone, I would probably mound them up so that they don't die back to the crown. Dave Boyd has written about growing tender roses in zone 4 in Montana on HMF and seems to have had success growing roses that were supposed too be to tender for his zone. I wouldn't prune off any wood until spring. I used to prune the roses when they were dormant, but that's pruning off their food supply. The rose may die back, but it often surprises me how the plant will use wood that I thought was dead. Now, I wait. The one HT Mrs. J planted on the house pad level has had rejuvenation pruning. The rose is 'Tropicana'. It's huge, larger than any HT I have ever seen in an even milder climate. I tend to break many of the old pruning rules because I think I need to prune to get a plant well foliated to handle the high temps of summer. That means I only prune out dead or diseased wood and maybe crossing wood, but I leave as much as I can, even wood that looks like it might not be productive. With this pruning method, along with the spring dis-budding for the curculios, all of my roses are larger than the norm and have lots of foliage which I think allows the plant to put out more bloom. The budded HTs are 40 to 50 years old and are vigorous, viable plants with fantastic bloom production. The roses in the 8 inch bed did not go own root, but Dr. H sent roots out under the lawn. The lesson I learned from my neglected roses is that, if they can come back so strongly with a revitalized soil and a slight change in my cultural practices, I've been underestimating what they can do all along. Every year, I find myself surprised by my roses. Smiles, Lyn

I have grown both David Austin roses and OGRs in Southern California. I no longer grow OGRs, and I have become a David Austin rose addict. Many Austin roses now have exceptional health, very good repeat bloom and heavenly fragrance. While some OGRs are also strong in these same categories, I know of few that put all the qualities together in the same rose. What I have found especially lacking in OGRs (with the exception of the Portland Rose de Rescht) is a good repeat bloom. Many do not repeat at all, and of those that do rebloom, it is often just a light autumn bloom. I once tried to grow the once-blooming Damask Madame Hardy, and I don't think it produced more than 3 flowers in the 3 or 4 years that I grew it. I don't think it liked the lack of chill in Southern California. I finally removed it. In contrast, I find that many, but not all, David Austin roses equal or surpass the OGRs in their old-fashioned beauty and fragrance; and some are in almost constant bloom. My prime example is the Austin rose Tamora. The repeat bloom in my garden has been as good as any floribunda, and I find the myrrh fragrance to be exceptional. Some people complain that Austin roses are too big for ordinary gardens, but there are cultivars that remain relatively small. Prospero reliably holds to the size of a floribunda in my garden, and Tamora is a little bigger. I also am growing some new varieties that most probably will remain the size of a floribunda or HT: Young Lycidas, Olivia Rose Austin, Boscobel, Munstead Wood, Princess Alexandra of Kent and Heathcliff. Many of the bigger Austin shrub roses make good climbers, and there are repeat-blooming ramblers, as well. I am growing The Albrighton Rambler along my balcony, and I have been very pleased with its repeat bloom and health. All-in-all, David Austin roses are by far my favorites.

FD is new this year and I have her on her own root. No scent that I can detect yet, but truly, I have not bent these old bones down to where she is currently blooming to check and see. Plus, due to our heat and sun, fragrance is a fleeting thing here. The breeder, Burling stated she would get to be about 7 feet. I think she will exceed that. She has just taken off in our surface of the sun heat and she is in full, direct sunlight all day. Burling who bred this rose is about 60 miles south of me and is about 5--10 degrees cooler in the summertime than I am. I am about 5--10 degrees cooler than Las Vegas in the summer, generally, but for most of the summer, we have about the same temps and it doesn't cool off here at night very much, just like where you live. She is healthy and vigorous and I was a bit concerned that her flowers were starting to look a little ugly, (she is still very much a baby). Then today, I saw a Blue Jay attack the flower and eat it! No wonder they are looking a bit scrappy! I have never seen a bird eat flowers before. With this drought, they must be really hungry. Burling breeds her roses for health first and then beauty. I love FD. She is beautiful!