Diane,
I may be wrong, but I doubt that Jeri grows BPR. More likely that she really appreciates the one in the cemetery.
Janelle

Thanks Janelle. Thought she did as her husband was the person who raved about it to me and sold me on it.

Do you think it needs a hotter drier climate than here on the coast?

So glad your UK trip was so fulfilling! Can't wait for pictures.

Diane

No, actually, we DO grow it.
And I can say that it is doing fairly well here.

Yes, in the worst of foggy springs, it will sometimes ball, but it is growing well now, and yes, seems to be less troubled by balling.
Of course, I am notoriously accepting of a tendency to ball in damp early springs if the rose in question will open later in the year. Or if I can help it out by peeling off the guard petals. I realize that not everyone is OK with that.

And I should add -- it has been suggested that BPR may be a very vigorous 'La Reine.'
We have grown 'La Reine' here -- more than once, and even the best of them are unhappy here.
BPR, while I can say it's "of the La Reine Family" is far better here than any La Reine.

Jeri

Thanks Jeri. I thought you did grow it. I had hoped that once into summer it might stop balling but hasn't yet. I'm not adverse to peeling the guard petals but the bud stays very tight till it starts to rot. Oh well, will wait and see if it will do better as it matures.

Diane

Many of my early BPR blossoms balled this year, and my rose is mature. In any spring, the first, terminal bud is especially bad at balling and I often just snap it off, which gives the other flowers in the cluster a chance to develop. This year, there were many more buds that didn't open, but Sacramento's spring was unusually wet and cool.

Last year, the foliage was a mess on my BPR, at least the first set of leaves. They were almost covered in black, and reminded me of what others here call "damask crud." Was it only black spot, or perhaps anthracnose? I have no idea. New, clean growth came later in the season. This year, oddly enough, its foliage was much better. HPs and HTs got terrible cases of black spot and rust in the cemetery, but roses at my house, five miles away, really didn't.

I do not understand roses. I keep learning, and think that I've finally figured things out, and then they do something else that I don't expect.
Anita

Oh, I'm with Anita.
The more you learn, the more you realize how pitifully little you truly understand (or at least, that's true for me).

This has been a very strange spring. Everything's topsy-turvey. Tomatoes are ripening here, but they're not flavorful. No sun and warmth. :-( The fig beetles haven't even shown up.)

Things I expected to rust really didn't, much.
Things that have always been bulletproof here -- blackspotted.
There is almost no sign of mildew (knock on wood).
Some roses here DID ball, but h*ll, I don't blame them. No sun. No warmth. Periodic drizzle. It drizzled all morning yesterday. Weird.

Jeri

June gloom extended to July? Can't be all bad. We're having triple digit heat. I'd take cool drizzle and balled up roses over scorching temps and crunchy dried up roses any day.

And it's beautiful and sunny here in Pacifica. Amazing that there was no fog until late evening on the 4th. It's ALWAYS foggy on the 4th.

Going to go check out BPR and see if the sun has helped.

Thanks for all your input.

Diane

Janelle -- You are absolutely right.
I'll take our cool and drizzle over scorching heat.

We were out in a local park, all day, Friday through Monday, bundled up in multiple layers of clothes, and happy to have it NOT hot.

Jeri