Hi there! I just HAD to post b/c I am in north-central FL too! Where are you located? just curious... Anyways, we have 3 climbing roses. Candyland, Angel Face, and Royal Gold. Candyland is the BEST by far!! I highly recommend this rose. We bought it bare-root last March and planted it. It is currently around 8 Ft. or so, maybe taller. It is healthy and blooms all season. Last month we counted over 50 buds. It has multiple blooms on each cane. The whole thing was covered w/ roses! We just fertilized it for 2 months in a row and now it has tons of green growth, which I think we need to slow down on that.... Royal Gold has been a dissapointment so far......There are hardly any flowers and when it does flower it blooms so quick and the petals fall off fast! Forget it withstanding any rain! We have an Angel face with a few flowers on the side of the house, it was supposed to have been a Blaze, but they tagged it wrong! :( It's pretty healthy but just doesn't compare to the Candyland climber!! It's raining outside right now but I will try to post a pic later.......

Chili thrips has been the diagnosis for roses here in Hawaii. If buying roses from the big box stores, which are usually supplied by local nurseries who get bare roots from the mainland, one must make sure to isolate their purchased rose and get rid of whatever problems it has (usually chili thrips and spider mites) before introducing to one's garden. Unfortunately our choices on the islands is limited if on a budget. Monterey has a smaller concentration of spinosad and is more readily available and affordable than the more expensive Conserve. I had mixed results with Monterey because I was following a regime of what i now consider chemical overload (imidacloprid, insecticidal soap, fungicide). Eventually split cost of the Conserve but have only resorted to using it once. I am half convinced though that using it plus the severe hot, humid sun and sporadic rain had caused damage to my generally healthy leaves. These past several months, since Feb or March actually, I've resisted spraying insecticide or fungicide at the first sign of trouble to let them get back to their natural state of defense. For me a steady schedule of chemical warfare doesn't make sense anymore so am glad I am off that cycle. If I get severely infested with chili thrips, I'll cut off the infected sections and use the lower concentration Monterey first. I prefer a foliar spray application because the damage is generally on the new growth and buds.

You have to be more specific than just "OGR" to find the ones which will do well in Florida. Teas, Chinas, Noisettes, and Tea-Noisettes are just four types of OGRs. 'Louise Odier' is a Bourbon, and while an OGR, probably isn't suitable for Florida. 'The Fairy' is a Polyantha, and with that Multiflora background probably isn't suited to alkaline soils found in much of Florida. Meanwhile, four you mentioned as doing well -- 'Duchesse de Brabant', 'Duquesa', 'Mrs. B. R. Cant', and "Spice" -- are Teas, and Teas thrive in areas with little or no Winter. I have a bunch of Chinas and Teas here in NJ, and they are rarely without bloom through the growing season, but get hit hard by Winters here. Check out Rose Petals Nursery or Angel Gardens -- two Florida rose nurseries -- and search under the Teas, Chinas, Noisettes, and Tea-Noisettes. These types do very well in warm climates, usually blooming all year. Other types of OGRs -- such as Bourbons, Hybrid Perpetuals, Portlands, or the once-blooming types -- likely won't do well for you, though there may be random exceptions. :-) ~Christopher

I have never defoliated before while pruning until this year. I can really see how that one step can make a big difference. Removing the bugs' comfy baby making areas will force them elsewhere. I'm excited about how all my plants are going to burst forth with new growth at the same time now too and flush in unison (or close to it). It was a lot of extra work, but I can see how a manual control like removing leaves can really help with thrips. Spraying horticultural oil will hopefully help too. The aphids are already appearing and there is something that looks kind of thrip-ish, but I just don't have the time to go out with a magnifying glass or loupes to check out what it actually is. I will be putting out some blue gloves coated in oil soon and whatever is caught on those I will send to the UC master gardeners so they can identify if they're chili thrips since they requested it. The bees were out too today. They have claimed my yard as their own, along with the hummingbirds. I haven't been out there as often lately since it's been raining... so they aren't used to me being out there anymore and I was not welcome today. They were pissed at me and trying to chase me out. The hummingbirds dive bombed me and I could almost hear this one bee screaming at me to get out of his yard. Little do they know that I am the one that created this little habitat for them! At least I know they like it!