Hi Jeff, I can't speak to how they would do there, but here in an arid environment, moss roses, all of them, are prone to mildew. The prickles trap moisture and spores where they germinate readily. That has never stopped me from growing them because I've always been attracted to them. I didn't experience much black spot on them and I don't remember any rust, if those are issues for you.

The older moss which was the most reliable for continuous flowering here was Deuil de Paul Fontaine. Mine was own root and it suckered a little bit, never like a bamboo or Bermunda Grass, so it was never an issue, more of an advantage. The color was remarkable and it had decent fragrance from both the moss and blooms.

White Moss flowered quite well but was an enormous plant. Pretty, enjoyable but too much plant for most places I put it. Kim

I suspect that my climate is a lot like yours. I've grown Capt. John Ingram, Wm. Lobb, and that very beautiful, lax white one whose name escapes me just now. I've never had any problem with them in relation to the climate. ARE has sold Wm. Lobb and Henri Martin since forever, so I think they must be okay in z. 8 too. One of Wm. Welch's books recommends Salet as a repeater in the south and also says that he has heard that Deuil de Paul F. does well. Give all of this, I would say try any moss you want. My only complaint with them is that aren't as upright most other rose varieties (reflecting, I suppose, their centifolia origin.)

Soupert et Notting is a beautiful rose, and one I've coveted for years.;) Never grown it before, more for lack of opportunity than anything. Now I see Pickering has it in stock.

I'm not in your zone, gardennatlanta, but it does get pretty hot here (usually it is dry heat though). My experience growing moss roses is actually limited to one, Madame William Paul, which I've had for over 15 years. She has been disease free for me (except for a small amount of mildew *this* year after an unusual feeding trial--too much nitrogen I think) with clean leaves and very vigorous growth, very mossy, and she puts on a spectacular display reliably every year. A once-bloomer though. Flowers are packed with petals and extremely fragrant, rose pink in color. Sets lovely hips too.

Rinaldo I am interested in your comments about the mosses you've grown, and their growth habits. Madame William Paul is quite an upright grower, fyi, and you might like to try her. I think I might like to get another moss or two and will keep in mind the possibility of a different growth habit than I'm used to seeing in my one moss. Just means I will plan for a different location. Very useful info, thanks!

Melissa

That was one of the things I liked best about Paul Fontaine. He grew fairly upright and remained like a pretty mannerly floribunda type plant. He looked great beside Jacques Cartier, backed by Grandmother's Hat, Portland from Glendora, Constance Spry, Eugene de Beauharnias, Stanwell Perpetual and a huge Blue Skies Lilac with Silvermoon throwing itself through all of them. Quite a sight in the spring flush! Kim

Jeff,
I was given a large Rene d'Anjou last year. This year it looked great in early spring but later got some blackspot or crud. It has had very good repeat and is fragrant and vigorous.

My Deuil de Paul Fontaine is bs prone but mine is in part shade. I have a Henri Martin plant coming along and it seems to be bs free. I bought Wm Lobb this spring and it seems healthy so far. I have a Common Moss which is getting pretty big. It looks good for a long time in spring but later gets some ratty looking leaves.
Linda

I just want to mention a moss I'm fond of that I never hear about, Waldtrout Neilson. It's quite tall even self pegged as I grow it. The blooms are remarkable, huge cabbagey things somewhat like Constance Spry.

Thank you for mentioning Waldtraut, Pamela! Back in the 90s, a very lovely lady approached me at a Huntington Old Rose Symposium, asking if I would bud her a Waldtraut Neilson. I was propagating roses heavily for them as a volunteer at the time. The next day, I went to the Study Plot to see what I was up against and found an ENORMOUS, thorny tangle of very thick, extremely armed canes. I went to Clair Martin and told him of the request, also that Waldtraut had layered itself so there was an own root plant of it to be potted. I asked permission to pot it for her so she could buy it at the plant sale associated with the symposium. He, of course, said yes.

The next time I saw her, I asked what I'd done to offend her! She gasped, "Nothing! Why?" I continued that I'd looked at Waldtraut and figured trying to FIND buds among that proliferation of prickles, then trying to REMOVE one without serious injury must have been meant as penance for some accidental insult or injury! She laughed, saying she had a beautiful teenage daughter at home and thought Waldtraut the perfect "security plant" to place under her bedroom window. She was thrilled with the layered plant, purchasing it at the sale and, I presume, it enjoyed its security duty back home in the Bay Area! That was my "introduction" to Waldtraut Neilson. I grew it in Newhall for some time where it resisted every attempt I made to make use of its vigor and beauty in breeding.

Gabrielle Noyelle grew nearly as large and provided a regular offering of her almost apricot, pink, double flowers. She faded very early in that extreme heat and light, but remained acceptably healthy, other than the expected mildew when it was around.

Golden Moss was a bit shy blooming there and grown primarily for its historic value. Goldmoss, the yellow floribunda moss from Ralph Moore flowered much more reliably and was much more yellow. That and Rougemoss, remained traditional floribunda size and productive. I'd plant Fakir's Delight again if there were room. Bracteata-Moss with such dense, hooked prickles, you can easily grab a thick cane and move it anywhere you wish without injury, like a Fakir's bed of nails. Flowering regularly with peach scented, pale yellow tints in the many folds of the OGR shape, fading white. It would probably make a tremendous security plant, particularly trained along a fence for support. His Lady Moss is as elegant and refined as any moss you can imagine. Taller than most floribundas, but it blooms as regularly and reliably as you'd expect. Don't forget about Mme. de la Roche-Lambert. Remarkably fragrant with a strong spring flush here and a lighter fall flush in a rich crimson-purple.

I've always felt we should provide room for the more modern mosses to prevent their loss. Parkzauber, Blue Boy, Black Boy, Cee Dee Moss, any and all of the moss minis...they're probably far more endangered than any of the Nineteenth Century and earlier cultivars we can mention. Each is as suitable and healthy in the proper climate as the other and each has its own panache. Kim

Striped Moss is a weak grower here. Crested Moss (Chapeau de Napoleon, Rosa cristata) survived here about 20 years but was a gaunt grower. I loved it anyway - one of my favorites. Sometimes it is classified as a moss, because of the sepal proliferation, and sometimes not, because the "moss" is not scented. I have had Common Moss and its White version (sold as Shailer's White Moss and White Bath) both were stunning but survived only briefly, probably my fault. I've also grown Salet but paid little attention to it as it did not appeal to me and so have no useful information on it.

Cath

I too am interested in the two mosses you mentioned:
Soupert et Notting and Reine d'Anjou
and would ask, please, of those of you who've known or grown them both;
- which one of the two you would grow if you were given a choice?
Reine d'Anjou
or
Soupert et Notting.
I was going to buy a Moss this year and by coincidence the two were at the top of my list!

I did look them up at h.m.f. and Soupert et Notting' is rated as
Disease Resistance-Excellent
and had 12 favorite votes.
that being said I love the photos of Reine d'Anjou' far better and could see no obvious disease in the photos, though I don't know if the plants shown were sprayed or not

I live in the Land of Powdery Mildew, yet these Moss roses thrive in our no-spray gardens:
'Mel Hulse' large flat open blossoms remind me of the shape of an old fashioned powder-puff, in a brilliant hue of cerise-crimson. Very healthy. A short plant that can fit in nearly any garden, only c. 2 and 1/2 feet tall on his own roots.
'Eugenie Guinosseau' in my neighbors Luannes no-spray garden, very fragrant mauve-cerise blooms, clean foliage all through summer. a tall plant of c. 6 feet tall but narrow, only c. 3 feet wide. upright. very fragrant moss. She also grows that red Rochet rose I can't remember its full name but it is just as clean.
Gloire des Mousseaux. not as healthy as the other two, shows a bit of blackspot here, which would be worse, I belive in the South. The same is true of Salet.

Lux.

P.S. I just saw that on hortico.com website they say that Reine d'Anjou' is
-"very fragrant"
-"extremely healthy"

I've rarely seen the term "extremely healthy" used for a rose that wasn't an Alba or a Rugosa.
'Reine d'Anjou' sounds like a good rose to try. If you decide on growing it, would you be kind enough to post back about its health in your garden?

Thanks,
Luxrosa

Thank you for all your great input. I really appreciate it.

I've decided to get Eugenie Guinoisseau. I know it wasn't one of the two listed above but since it's one I've admired from a distance for a while and since I found a source for it, I went ahead and ordered for a spring shipment.

Maybe I'll regret not getting the others as well but for now, I'm just going to stick with getting one.

Well, if it's not too late to change your mind, I highly recommend Rene d'Anjou. It is very healthy and vigorous here, repeat bloom is pretty good, my favorite moss. My second favorite would be Salet -- more compact growing and a little more blackspot prone but repeats well. Soupert et Notting is also a compact rose, disease resistant, and repeat blooms. All three are very good roses.

Lori,

Well, I did almost change my mind. I went to Pickering's site to order and it's sold out. I guess while I dinked around deciding, others beat me to it. Made the decision easier, though.

Just to add a word or praise for 'William Lobb'. This isn't a practical rose for many gardeners, because it gets big and is once blooming. But it's really, really tough, always healthy (I have no blackspot problems where I live) and grows and flowers well in sites where other roses struggle for existences. Fine plant and bloom, of course. WL is also easy to propagate from cuttings.
Just thought I'd put in a word for one of my favorite mosses.
Melissa