Hi Ingrid: I only have Annie, which I posted in HMF under "Chicago IL 5a". Annie loves hot temp. She doesn't grow unless the temp is above 80 degrees. She blooms at the expense of growth. Her blooms are very double. I have to pinch her buds off everyday.

Annie is very drought-tolerant and heat-tolerant. Her blooms didn't scorch when the temp was upper 80's. When the temp here reaches 100 degrees I was pinching her buds off to make her a bigger bush. Kim said Annie needs some afternoon shade for her MANY petals flower to last longer.

Her scent is psychologically calming, the most pleasant mix of lilac and lavender. I have both lilacs and lavender in my garden, Annie beats them both. Her scent calms and relaxes me. She leads the scent Hall-of-Fame both for the duration and intensity, regardless of the weather. My kid likes Annie's scent the most out of my 15 Austins and 23 fragrant roses (Jacques Cartier, Comte de Chambord, Mirandy, Crimson Glory, and Romanticas).

Kim Rupert selected the best seedlings of Renae and cross them to reinforce the scent and obtain the best qualities of Renae. Annie is the result of Renae x Renae. Annie's scent is special because it's a double-whammy of a dominant gene. If you have HMF membership you can trace the lineage of the long-lasting scents like "The McCartney Rose", Firefighter, and you can see the double-crossing involved.

I wrote a piece in Robert's English Rose Forum as to why Annie scent is so long lasting and powerful, based on what I learned from Genetics class in college. See the link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: The genetics behind long-lasting scents

Anything out of the Renae line can have crisp petals when it's 'fry time' out there as they have soft, very fragrant petals. Both of Annie's sister seedlings and Opal Brunner (not related, but similar in many ways) grown on the umbrella out back, fry when the direct, unrelenting, western afternoon sun fry them on hot days.

Annie has larger flowers; significantly more double flowers; has petals which don't crisp as quickly as Renae does in my climate; is not seed fertile, so to dead head, you simply have to either shake the cane and the dead flowers fall off or blast them off with the hose. Annie is a stiffer growing plant with less of the "flowers dripping out of the trees" Renae gave at Sequoia where it grew up into the trees around the office. Because of her greater petal count, her blooms last quite a bit longer than Renae's semi double ones do. If you want the greater flexibility in the plant to twist and torture it into conforming to what you want from it, Renae is a better choice. Her wood is more flexible, more rambler like. Annie's wood is stiffer, stronger and supports the weight of the heavier flower clusters very well.

Annie is much more OGR like than Renae. Renae is more hybrid musk looking due to the semi double flowers. Renae will require dead heading to remove hips if you don't want them. Neither have ever expressed prickles in my experience, though Renae did sport to a single flowered, prickled climber for Burling. It's linked below. Because of the greater petal count, Annie has more scent than Renae and it is longer lasting than Renae. I LOVE Renae, everything about her, but Annie takes the prize for being more like an Old Garden Rose. Her foliage is interesting because of the embossed texture with the "fuzz" you will encounter on many of her plant parts.

Renae is very pretty and rather "cottage garden" looking to my eye. Not to disparage her in any way, but Annie has more elegance due to her heavier, more matt, embossed foliage and larger, much more double flowers.

This is a six month old, two gallon, own root plant from a five inch flowering shoot I rooted this January. I've been disbudding it to push it's growth for a friend to plant in his garden. Both roses will flower at the expense of growing, so if you want a larger climber, faster, grow them in a container and don't let them flower until they approach the size of plant you want to put into the ground. Much as you should with many Cl. Teas and Tea Noisettes. Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Burling's Single Renae Sport

>> Annie loves hot temp. She doesn't grow unless the temp is above 80 degrees.

Would appreciate hearing from Kim about this. I have an ALM on reserve from Long Ago Roses for Sept. shipping. Am concerned about the above post from Strawberryhill. I'm in coastal Northern CA near San Francisco in part shade and we rarely get to 70 degrees. I've heard so many good things about this rose and am hoping she'll be happy in my garden conditions.

Diane

Hi Diane, Strawberryhill is growing a young, own root plant in a pot in Chicago. It's a totally different climate and it is not unusual for plants to behave quite differently in other areas. I have grown her in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys. Mel Hulse and a few others, grew her for many years in San Jose, and raved about her health, vigor, fragrance, and heavy flowering. They called her, "Super Renae" for years until she told me her name.

I don't know what Strawberryhill's evening temps are like, but ours have been in the fifties and sixties, with day temps between the low eighties to triple digits again today. Like any climber, she's going to appear in suspended animation until she begins putting out roots. If you keep her in a can, in good soil with good drainage, feed her well and do NOT let her flower, she will rather quickly fill the can with roots and begin shooting out growth.

The plant I posted above was literally the wood which held the flowers at the end of a longer cane. It was only five inches (the standard length I made them all from that batch for wrapping) when rooted. I have continually picked off flower buds to push it to produce growth. I had not picked those off just to see how many it would make. There were 17 flower buds on that two gallon plant! There is growth from every growth bud on the cutting. The purple bronze growth to the lower right of the plant is a new basal.

She will grow easily in lower temps here (all the cuttings I rooted started in low temps), just not as quickly. I wouldn't worry. Kim

Thank you for all the info; I'm heavily leaning toward Annie. The fragrance is a factor since I feel I don't have enough roses with a strong fragrance, but I also like the fact that she has more of an old rose look. It really is a pretty rose.

Ingrid

You're welcome. I think you'll enjoy her. I purposefully planted the one in Old Orchard where it is so the homeowner's husband could sit under it and smoke his cigars while throwing the balls for their dogs. He's not a garden person, but he's noticed Annie has never bitten him and she smells good. Kim

I got Annie from Bierkreek last fall, and planted it out in my garden because I don't have a good place for growing potted roses.This rose really has impressed me for it's determination to BLOOM!Admittedly it's too soon to make a real judgement,it's still a tiny plant (grafted),but I am also impressed with the foliage.It's in full, full sun in my very hot, dry garden. The flowers are beautiful,mauvy center surrounded by blush...wow!!!I've been trying to pinch off the flower buds,because I'd like it to grow into a big climber. I'm thinking of getting another one,since this first one, though so tiny, has made such a good impression on me, but I am a bit concerned about this plant's purported slow growth rate. Someone on HMF posted about how it took their ALMcD 3 years to become a climber, which seems about the norm for any climbing rose. Can anyone give me an idea of how long it might take for Annie to become a good-sized climber? As I said, I'd like to get another one but have to figure out where to put it...thanks, bart

Annie Laurie McDowell, right? (Not A Marie M)
Just in case anyone is trying to look her up at HMF

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie Laurie McDowell at HMF

Hi Bart! How neat you get to see and grow Annie! I'm glad she's there! Your plant will likely develop more quickly than the ones here in the States as long as the root stock is suited to your climate, soil and water. Ours are all own root, which admittedly, takes a while longer as it does with Cl. Teas and the Tea-Noisettes. Keep pinching off the flower buds for at least most of its first summer to push cane and foliage growth, and keep it well fed and watered to encourage growth and it should start to explode faster than most of ours.

We're really spoiled here with plant growth rate. We're mostly used to Dr. Huey budded plants and many explode their first year. Most own roots aren't as 'enthusiastic' and most climbers, period, do take a while to get the momentum going. I'm going to be very interested to hear how quickly yours produces the climbing canes. Please keep me updated! Thanks. Kim

Hi Diane (fogrose): My Annie got zapped by frost down to 32 degrees in April. It didn't kill her, but it stunted her growth. The frost made minis out my geraniums and tomato plants few years ago. When the temp. got above freezing, Annie was too busy making blooms to grow. If you give her plenty of water and food, she blooms at the expense of growth. I kept cutting her blooms for her heavenly scent, which kept her small. Some pics. of Annie Laurie McDowell:

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This is how Annie looks in 90 to 100 degrees very humid weather: zero diseases, completely healthy and 100% thornless.

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Thanks Kim and Strawberry Hill for your information and photos. I can hardly wait to get my plant so I can watch her grow. Glad to hear that my garden conditions won't be a detriment. I look forward to smelling my first bloom!!!

Kim, is Joyberry available in the USA?

Diane

Beautiful photos, Strawberryhill! I LOVE that rose! I knew she was special as soon as I saw the seedling developing. Better health, better foliage, more beautiful wood than any of her siblings. I love those fuzzy buds and growth tips!

Diane, Joyberry isn't available anywhere...yet. I finally have the plant in the ground and am pushing it to collect pollen. Removing the flowers for whatever reason, does the same to push the plant to grow. This one I'm collecting pollen from for breeding. I'm also keeping it well overwatered because of the soil type it's in and the all day southern sun exposure it endures. This blamed thing is actually suckering like a Gallica or something! Not invasively like bamboo, but out a few inches to make a thicket type plant. That will make it MUCH easier to propagate! I will do my best to get it out there and be sure to let you know where to find it.

I had originally not been that attracted to Joyberry as I had hoped for it to be thornless. It is not. But, it flowers so easily, grows so nicely and that fragrance! Wonderful! Thanks! Kim

Thorns don't bother me Kim. Fragrance is what I look for in a rose.

Diane

I'm sure you can understand holding yourself to higher standards than you do someone else, Diane. I've actually had a couple of people come back to be requesting permission to introduce seedlings I hadn't selected as they just weren't quite what I had sought from the cross, but they found them highly desirable. Not that they weren't "good", but when you're expecting a Tom Selleck rose and you get a Robert Redford one, you just aren't quite satisfied! LOL! I know Joyberry grows well in Oregon as it has for Paul Barden. I know it endures Rancho Mirage as it has for Robert Rippetoe and I know it's happy here in both Santa Clarita and Encino. How it will do elsewhere is anyone's guess so far. Kim

Thank you, landlady, for the correction. I know the correct name, but my synapses were not firing (again).

Ingrid

Ingrid,

I have Annie. So far, I've been very pleased. The blooms are beautiful and very fragrant. There is also something 'charming' about the buds as well. The foliage is a bit different from most of my other roses--more narrow. The best thing is that she shrugs off black spot--one of my most BS resistant roses.

The only slight negative is that she is rather slow to build size. She's so beautiful it's hard to wait for her to cover the arbor where she's planted. It's also really hard to pinch off the buds like Kim suggests. Probably why she's growing so slowly.

I strongly suggest Annie Laurie McDowell. I really think you'll love her.

Jeff

Thank you Jeff; that's a great endorsement. The fact of her slow growth doesn't really bother me since I don't have a huge amount of room anyway. I just want to be able to enjoy its beauty and other positive qualities, of which there seem to be many. I'm especially looking forward to the fragrance, which my garden could use more of.

I've ordered this rose from Burlington Roses. It's not available now but I'm on the waiting list for spring.

Ingrid