Woops....that was supposed to be posted in the Rose Gallery. Sorry all.

It's a beautiful rose! Glad I stopped to look.

Oh man! I just got hit by Cupid's arrow! I love this rose. It is so beautiful. Gotta get one. Thanks for your mistake!

A good yellow has been on my wish list. I am in zone 5 as well. How large will this bush get? How large is it now in its first year?

Hear! Hear! An Austin look alike with great perfume, colour and good disease resistance can have me on my knees LOL. My black spot pressure in the mid Atlantic region is much higher than yours, I suspect, but the enabling pitch and pictures Wow!

We have Well Being finishing its first season here....love it like you do! :0) Some of the blooms have a definite fringy kind of look, even moreso than your photos show. Very unique. Does yours do the same thing? Beautiful photos! :0) Phyl

Looks like I found the rose I was looking for. Needed a good yellow shrub rose for a mass planting 30 feet long along a white fence. I was almost decided on Easy going but I have a lot of Livin easy and wanted something different. Yellow austins just fry in summer here. I was looking at a buck, prairie harvest, but the blooms looked a little blah..this is perfect! Thank you for the pics!

I've had well being since last spring. The blooms are, really, outstanding. The fragrance is refined and lovely. The color is wonderful. Repeat for me has not been great but it's a young rose, only in its second year. I got mine from Pickering. There is no question that it is a keeper. The images above are beautiful. Here are a few images. I too, have lots more that I haven't put up in my album. Yes, I'd say get it! I have two.

And, another well being shot.

My sincere apology, Morden Man - I'm afraid I'm unable to bet my @ss, because my '@ss'...is worth more than your car, lol! However, I did order two of these roses already.

Thanks so much for posting :)

Hi Everyone,

I'm back online today and glad you all enjoyed the photo's. Thank-you for your kind sentiments.

I will try and answer each of your questions as best I can. However, since these are first year roses to me I can't provide as comprehensive a level of experience as I may have liked.

In total, I have four Well Beings. They are planted in a square cluster on 24" centers in a southern bed in an area where a large, mature white Potentilla used to grow. On one side of Well Being are two of the Ingenious Mr. Fairchild and on the other side are two of Outta the Blue. This garden bed is between the walkway to the front door of my house and the front lawn, respectively.

Jean5Il,
Harkness lists the size of a mature Well Being as around 4.5' tall and about 3-3.5' wide. Pickering lists it as 4'X3'. This seems like a pretty good estimate as mine are currently about 2.5' tall and 1.5' to 2' wide so far this year.

Roseleaf,
Yes, your BS pressure would certainly be higher in the mid-Atlantic region. My mother, who lives in PEI, Canada, will be ordering this rose this year after seeing them in my garden this summer and falling head over heels in love with it. I cut her a bouquet of this rose every week she was with us this summer. I'll know more how it fares in an Atlantic climate soon enough.

Phylrae,
Glad you love it as well. Yes, some of the blooms definately have a more fringy appearance than others. In fact, a few on the bush right now are exceptionally fringy. More so than in the summer. I'm wondering whether the cooler weather is doing this, or whether its just the immaturity of the bushes. I've noticed that the colours of this rose are also immensely variable pending temps, so perhaps it could be related. I've had everything from pure yellow blooms, to yellow tinted with orange and pink on the outer petals to predominantly a yellow/orange blend. It reminds me of Molineux and Morden Sunrise in this respect. How has your Well Being done for BS resistance?

Pappu,
Well Being might indeed make a superb hedge. The flowering ability and growth habit is certainly there for that. My only reservation I would still have at this point is winter hardiness. Even though my friend says it is fine witout protection in his zone 5 garden, I'd prefer to see how they make it through a winter here. Microclimates can play a huge role in cane loss, so to me at least, the jury is still out somewhat on the hardiness aspect. Regarding the blooms, our summers are very hot here, many days over 100F and they last a good 3 or 4 days on the bush in this heat provided the bush is well hydrated. The heat also brings out the fragrance more. The colours do slowly fade on the blooms and they drop cleanly from the plant once spent. Have you considered Morden Sunrise as a yellow blend to use as a hedge? It's a single bloom, but a beautiful one with variable colours as well. It is exceptionally hardy, completely everblooming, has a nice, medium strength scent and disease resistance should be just fine in your climate (it can BS badly in areas with excessive rain and moisture). Since you spray regularly, I would think you would have zero BS issues with Morden Sunrise, or minimal at worst. I have 4 Morden Sunrise too and they suffer only late season BS, but again, I do not spray.

Tivoli Rose,
Beautiful pictures as well. Thanks for supplementing and sharing! :)

Sumzie,
Ummmmm....ok. You really should have that insured just like J.Lo did. :)

Lastly, this post wouldn't really be complete without a little more enabling now...would it??? Some more pics. Sorry, but as I said, I literally have taken a hudred photo's of this rose...Enjoy....

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Seriously, Morden Man, how could a girl resist enabling like that? I guess this one's going on the short list. Hopefully, it'll stay somewhat compact here in the south. But even if not--I have plenty of pruners! :)

Love yours and Susan's photos! :0) My husband Gary sprays for fungus, so I don't know how bad the Blackspot would be without spraying. It is an absolutely stunner in the garden though. Yes, every bloom seems variable in color and degree of "fringe!" Phyl

Seeing as how I now am not going to get my much-wanted garden shed, I can now plant some more roses along the fence where the shed was going to go. Soooo, I decided to extend the planned DA's and other similar shrubs, like the Poulsen Renaissances and some of the Kordes shrubs. I was thinking of adding WELL BEING also, and I think you've just convinced me to go ahead and order it from Pickering! It's a beauty. Reminds me of a deeper-toned BERYL BACH, which is another Harkness rose that's a "must-have!"

Great pics Mordenman, first came across this rose about two years ago and never bought it. Someone on the Antique forum had posted pics and then I knew I had to have it! Wish I can remember who posted them so I could give credit to them? Well Being is now in garden own root planted last week so I'll have to wait till next year to drool :)
By the way, is there a website for the list of City of Nantes perfumed rose winners? Would like to see what other roses I need to get :)

Thanks, Jimmy

Why didn't I mail order this for spring, huh? What is wrong with me! This rose is gorgeous!

the_morden_man -- You and your amazing pictures are responsible for my buying this rose. I did get one this spring.

Today was our first bloom for 2007...so excited to see it again! :0) Phyl

Enabling at its finest. Congratulations. I'm seriously impressed. And I'm sold on the rose. Been looking for a reproduction rose with the same coloring as Peace and this cultivar sure looks like it fits the bill.

Thanks,

Patrick

Morden Man, your Well being(s) are gorgeous. Mine is kind of stingy. Is it possible that this rose doesn't like hot climate? Or, it is just the result of the drought; but, still, my other roses flower much more frequently.

Morden Man,
Every time you have posted your gorgeous pics of Well Being, I've nearly cried cuz I couldn't find a spot in my garden for one.

Well, I'm happy to announce that next spring, I too will be an infatuated owner of one. My neighbor finally cleaned up the minor jungle growing between his garage and my driveway, so now I have a nice sized strip in which I can plant a number of large bloomers--which includes Well Being. Hip Hip Hoorah!

Thank you for all your enabling.

Kate

Kate I too also have to say thanks to Modern Man.
I have ordered Well Being for my cousin's garden

After seeing Tim's gorgeous pics of WB, I fell in love with it.
The problem is I have no more space for any more roses and decided to plant it in my cousins garden.
Niecey

I am soooo glad that I just ordered this. I can't wait!

Oh darn, I said I wasn't going to order any more. That is gorgeous!

Good afternoon, Morden Man,
What a beautiful article on Well Being! I came across it while searching for good rose choices for an anniversary gift for my daughter and her husband, who live in Nantes, France. They live in an apartment on the third floor of a five-story building, with a front balcony facing NW, a little more N than W, and a smaller rear balcony facing SE, a little more S. The fact that this beautiful rose won the scent competition in Nantes gives it extra appeal, too. I wonder how it does grown in containers? Thanks,

Patti

Pickering is sold out, but it looks like Heirloom Roses may have. And disease resistant to boot.

My Well Being has very spotty foliage when few other roses do - they have PM but not bs or cercospora; I am afraid the Well being might got some downy mildew as well.
All in all, in coastal southeast this rose must be sprayed regularly.

ENABLED HERE!!! Heehee! Thanks Morden Man. I did not really need a new yellow. But your enabling has done me in. I an also a huge Harkness fan - already have six Amber Queen, but Well Being does look different with the pink tinges so it will have to be on my next Spring order. Hope Pickerings has more by then.

Thank you for the great pics and the enabling. Also for the stamp of approval of the special attributes of WELL BEING!

Much appreciated.
Pauline, Vancouver Island.