When temperatures get over 95 I just sigh and become philosphical. It's not pretty here in August and September. But you have more hot days than I do. Some roses really are more susceptible to the heat and dryness. I agree that Grandmother's Hat is one of them.

Oh dear! I have a baby GH in a pot that is growing well now but I have a very hot but very humid climate. I wonder what effect that will have on this rose. With all the praise Le Vesuve receives from different growing conditions, I'm thinking that is a rose I should definitely have in my garden!

Ingrid, in record-setting temperatures, it is a rare rose that is NOT going to crisp in your conditions.

I went around the other day, before the worst of the heat hit, and cut what I could. They'll last longer in the house in a vase than they do outside.

Heck, even my SUCCULENTS don't like this heat!

Jeri

Funny, I was just thinking how well my Grandmother's Hat was doing in my heat. It's just finishing a bloom cycle now. Temps today should be up around 95 in Livermore and very dry. The roses that are doing well are Grandmother's Hat, Pretty Jessica and my brand new Young Lycidas! I'm pretty impressed with him so far -- we'll see what he's like over the weekend of near 100 degree temps. He's right in the middle of a bloom cycle, not ending like GH is.

Mine are all on a drip system and are getting enough water to stay hydrated - I do add 5 minutes to the cycle when it's this hot then drop it back down when the heat wave is over.

Debbie

I'm sad to hear this. GH is on my to-buy list for 2011. Thanks for sharing your experience. I guess I'm not getting GH afterall.

Audrey

Most of mine are crispy, despite watering yesterday and today. That includes Julia Child, Marmalade Skies, and Double Delight. Pinkie Cl is doing ok, though.

It breaks my heart every year when the second flush is destroyed before I even get to take a photo. I keep saying that I will garden only for Spring and late Fall, but I can't help myself- I get excited when I see all of those rose buds in July. Then the triple digits hit. I feel your pain, Ingrid.
Renee

Crispy... yes. Scorched earth is a good phrase, too.

In the middle of my third year with roses, I think I can now considered myself somewhat "seasoned" - I have crispy, I have thrips, I have weird new growth (on just one, the weird growth, that is). It is July, and I am just going to roll with the punches.

Oh, yes, and my companion irises are awash with Iris Whitefly.

Actually. I have decided to blame everything on the strange Spring we had...

If ALL of my roses did this, I wouldn't have a problem but as I mentioned in my original post, there are those that hold up much better. It's the comparison that's so disheartening. However, I hate to be the one to discourage others from ordering this rose based on my experience, since it does so well for many who have it. Not everyone gardens at 2000 feet in inland Southern California with giant boulders and steep hillsides that throw off mega heat. It's such a vigorous and healthy rose, and the fragrance is wonderful. I'm not about to rip it out any time soon.

Ingrid

Sorry to hear about GH, but you do love her at other times. Yesterday I was admiring Clothilde Soupert about to burst into another flush. It had been dry for about a week. Today we had a downpour, and she looks like wads of wet tissue, some laying on the sidewalk. Oh, wah. Some days in the garden are just plain sad.

Buff, like the turtle, I knew you'd eventually get there. :))

Sherry

Sherry, are you referring to Le Vesuve?

Buff, yes! (Sorry I was vague.) I think everyone should have this rose - at least everyone in a warm climate. Haven't heard if anyone besides Gean grows it in cooler areas.

Sherry

Hi Ingrid. Everything crisps at the abbey in this weather (101 on Wednesday). Grandmother's Hat is one of the earlier ones to do so. Some roses are pretty seasonally for me, others year 'round. Some I opt to shovel prune (Eugene de Beauharnais - bye bye!) because they look good (literally) about 1 week out of the year and really ugly the rest. Others are so wonderful (and often) that I keep them and look the other way sometimes: Grandmother's Hat; Felicite Parmentier...

Grandmother's Hat here is always a lovely shrub, even when stripped of leaves and pruned (lightly) in the winter. When the blooms crisp, at least the plant itself is still nice here. The plant blooms a lot, and the spring flush is the best of any rose in the garden here bar none.

Jerome

Jerome, thank you for your thoughts and, incidentally, also the comments about EdB because I sometimes think about this rose, being such a lover of purples. I had it once before but moved away before I could evaluate it. Now I know it's not a rose that I would want. I will keep GH and evaluate her over a period of several years. I'm often ready to discard a plant quickly, but not this rose.

So nice to hear from you, by the way.

Ingrid

I don't think Grandmother's Hat is available in Europe. That is probably just as well as the temperatures in Crete, have been very high just lately.
In my little garden, the roses that do not crisp and seem unaffected by the heat, are;
Colombian Climber, Duchess de Brabant, Marechal Niel, Golden Celebration, Buff Beauty, Archduke Charles, Sombriel, Aimee Vibert, Blush Noisette, New Dawn, Gruss an Aachen, Abraham Darby, Souvenir de la Malmaison, and a rose that was sent in error which I am pretty sure is Cornelia.
The ones that do crisp are;
Archduc Joseph, Papa Gontier and William Shakespeare 2000.
Daisy

Ingrid, for me one of the better roses to survive 90+ week was Raubritter, it does not seem to be affected by heat at all, neither crisping, neither how long it blooms. I heard it can have bs and is once bloomer, but I love that rose and was surprised that it did so well in heat.

Thank you, elemire, but I don't grow once-bloomers and to tell you the truth don't care for Raubritter, probably because I'm not that fond of very cupped roses. I really appreciate your thinking of me though.

Daisy, it's so nice of you to send me your list, but I must have an even hotter location since three of the ones you mentioned that I have do crisp here and my previous Duchesse de Brabant actually even lost half its branches to the heat. I think for me it's simply going to be a matter of trial and error since my situation is so unique. Either that, or I'll have to content myself with about 80 plants of Le Vesuve....

Ingrid

Sherry, ALAS! In my coastal garden, Le Vesuve is troubled by powdery mildew.

Jeri

I hate crispy roses, half of mine are that way now. Ingrid, could you possibly post a list of your roses that dont crisp too bad? Or the ones that crisp badly, what ever is shorter or easier. ty
Tim

Tim, here's the list of roses that have done best for me:

Le Vesuve
Glamis Castle
Cottage Rose
Mr. Bluebird
Mme. Cornelissen
Souvenir de la Malmaison Rouge
Cels Multiflora
Wild Blue Yonder
Mutabilis (only morning sun)
Aunt Margy's Rose

Since I'm constantly discarding roses that don't do well here and buying bands to replace them I have quite a few roses I can't comment on because they're too small and I take the buds off to hasten their growth. If I discover that other roses are great in the heat I won't waste any time telling everyone about it.

Ingrid

Give it some time to settle in, it might improve a lot. A small young root system can't support rose petals in extreme heat, but a big one might be able to. (Not Abe Darby, though.)

{{gwi:298302}}

Ah yes, I remember that look on my Abe before it went to heaven. Having mildew, blackspot AND rust at the same time proved to be its downfall. Grandmother's Hat has never had any of those and she will stay for a good long time. Thanks you for the eye candy.

Ingrid

Oh, Jeri, you found the chink in his armor. I guess he's not perfect after all - everywhere.

Sherry

Thanks for your list Ingrid :-)

It's been in the high 90's for a week, and the roses are finishing their second flush of the season. The standouts in the heat are Belinda's Dream, Le Vesuve and Mme Lambard.

Thanks for the info Cass. I have LV and ML, and having been coveting Belinda's Dream, since I'd heard before that it does well in the heat, not to mention having big gorgeous blooms.

Ingrid