Totally different soil and climate, but my healthiest white rose, other than Lamarque, is Paloma Blanca. Out of the Night is very healthy here and looks like what you'd expect an English Rose to look like. I particularly like the "peach scent". Snowbird is very clean here, but I think it would mildew for you. White Delight is very good, but would probably be pink in your cooler garden. Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Paloma Blanca

"Fair Bianca' was both pm- and bs-prone at my mother's place in Santa Rosa. She eventually dwindled away to nothing -- very weak grower (adobe clay). Snowbird mildews either not at all or just early in the season here in Livermore -- very floriferous, definitely a keeper. At SJHRG, it usually looks presentable, at least, and sometimes spectacular (why I got it). Has anybody got input on Mrs. Herbert Stevens in California? That is one I am thinking of trying. (I don't spray)

Sally Holmes can be grown no spray here in my mildew alley.

Thanks for reminding me about Sally, Kathy. She's a wonderful landscape rose in these parts. I just don't have her in my garden. Kim

Come to think of it, there are a few white singles that can be grown no-spray, no-mildew regardless here.

Besides Sally Holmes (which want to be a BIG climber) there's also Darla's Enigma (also a BIG climber) and Secret Garden Musk Climber (also a BIG climber) and Sharon's Delight (a nice little 2 foot shrub with full shape). Of the climbers, Sally gets the nicest spring flush, and Darla blooms the most consistently through the year. Secret Garden Musk Climber has the most fragrance, but Darla does okay on this count also. Sally has no fragrance at all.

Perennial White is looking like it will also join this "no-spray-needed" club, but it's kind of new here, and so far the blooms are small and scarce, but the foliage health and plant vigor are both great.

Darla and Perrenial White both do fine as cutting roses. You can't cut Sally or SGMC to any good effect.

So it depends what you want. All of my other fully double, non-climber white hybrid tea/florries require spraying for (usually) massive mildew, including Iceberg.

Again, a very different climate down here, but my happiest white (other than Iceberg, which is bulletproof) is Bolero. Heavenly fragrance, and a petite to medium size I find very manageable. And no spraying for me.

I don't have a lot of garden space, so the imperative here is Bloom or Die. Never had to threaten Bolero with Mr. Shovel, not even once.

Kay

Oh -- and I just went out and walked around and came up with a few more.

Crystal Fairy and Gourmet Popcorn are both terrific low-growing white no-spray roses that bloom all the time (no fragrance though), and Mme. Plantier is also a completely no-spray healthy white, but you have to be satisfied with one huge flush on a huge plant per year. And there's that little plant that we think is White Cecile Brunner -- that one's going to be a healthy plant, I can tell.

Be forewarned however -- I just gave away Frau Karl Druschki BECAUSE I could not grow it without mildew no matter what I did with the spray -- I even tried spraying it every day for awhile -- it STILL had mildew everywhere. The white Austins are generally needy of the spray also, and I'm about to give away Clare Austin for that reason also.

If you have room for a big plant, my favorite is Rosa moschata. It easily grows to be 8'x8' here. Technically a once bloomer, if blooms from July to October, a time when other roses may not have much going on. And best of all, it has a wonderful wafting fragrance. You sometimes pick up the scent twenty feet away. In my South Bay garden where mildew can be a problem, it gets no disease. I do spray (copper), but only once a year when I prune.

Rosefolly

White Cap does well for me and gets good reviews from others here in the east. Little White Pet is great for me every year, even this one - the worst year EVER for rose diseases/pests. Mme. Joseph Schwartz has done well altho' it's new this year, so we'll just have to wait and see.

I've had good luck with Darlow's Enigma. It froze last winter, but since it's 'own root' it's back and blooming again, under the plum trees.

For off white/creamy roses...I've had no problems with Madame Plantier and Trier. I don't spray any of my roses and these have all done very well :)

I agree with Roseseek - Dr. Buck's Paloma Blanca is a wonderful white rose. Another creamy white rose that I am loving is the Kordes rose Summer Memories. It must have some Austin in it because the blooms have that wonderful old-fashioned form. It is extremely disease resistant in my garden and quite a robust grower - not terribly tall but spreads a tad.

'Fair Bianca' stays clean here, but it's such a weak grower I would not recommend it. No vigor at all, even given luxurious care. 'Bolero' is much better with a similar flower.

Princesse de Nassau is clean and has foliage as beautiful as are its plentiful flowers.

Then there are the bracteatas, Mermaid and Alba odorata. Do you perhaps have a back fence available? An unattractive shed to be covered? Neighbors you wish to discourage from trespassing?

If you would consider yellow, Captain Thomas has clean, shiny foliage, which it passed on to its descendent Sun Flare.

I am so glad to hear others say 'Fair Bianca' wouldn't grow for them either.

Fair Bianca is a great rose in my climate (Arizona). My mom has it and it is huge and blooms all the time.

North of you by about 50 miles, my bullet-proof whites are: Kent, Swany, Pax, Sea Foam, Sally Holmes, Vogelpark Walsrode, White Dorothy, White Cap, Nevada.

I have never had to spray any of those roses.

White Meidiland is new in my garden but the flowers look quite old-rose to me and the foliage seems to be very tough and resistant to mildew. The flowers also seem to last quite well in the heat. It's a low spreading bush, something to keep in mind when placing it.

Ingrid

luxrosa,

I have Clair Martin's 100 English Roses for the American Garden out from the library right now. Here is some of what he has to say about Fair Bianca:

Fair Bianca is one that has a lot going for it: good foliage, short, upright growth; and pure white, cupped, fragrant flowers that cut well and last in bouquets .... The strong myrrh fragrance has a hint of fruit to my nose ...The canes are covered with prickles very much like those of Gallica roses; in fact, this plant reminds me of that class of OGRs, only this one blooms and blooms. Be prepared for mildew and black spot as this cultivar can have some early on. In some areas, rust can be a problem as well ... Fair Bianca is a good rose for the smaller garden, or to try in a pot. One commercial grower uses this cultivar for the cut-flower trade--it is cut in the bud stage and shipped all over the country. Removed in this way, the blooms open slowly and last particularly long.

I say give her a try and let us know how it works--or doesn't work--for you.

Jeanne d'Arc is turning into a real beauty of a shrub as it completes it's second summer in my zone 10 garden (just east & uphill of Venice Beach in LA). It's mostly coastal conditions here on the hilly streets of Mar Vista, and the past couple summers have been pretty cool, but J d'Arc is thriving, even in a position partially shaded by a sycamore in the morning. She's becoming a graceful arching open shrub 5-6ft high and blooms almost nonstop. The pure white flowers are about 2" & sometimes touched with blush pink, and there's no mildew on the leaves or branches- a real feat here as a lot of roses are covered in PM (Teas & Chinas, I'm looking at you), and the fuller flowered roses often ball and rot until late summer. Also, especially with our recent cooler summers - it seems like "June gloom" is now May -early Aug - there's simply not enough consistent heat and sun for HTs and Teas to really thrive. I'm running out of hot spots to baby prize roses, but Jeanne d'Arc seems to be happy no matter where she's planted here.

Well, Mudbird, you got MY attention with that glowing review, and our similar climates (I'm in a coastal canyon in San Juan Capistrano), so I went to HMF to look up that rose. There are four different roses by that name. To which are you referring here?

Thanks
Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: Joanne D'Arc search result at HMF

The 1848 Verdier Noisette was a gorgeous shrub in Newhall for years. Mounding and arching, frequently covered in fragrant flowers and I don't remember any foliage issues with it. There was room to allow it to do its thing there, not so here. I'm trying to create level space for Loyal Friend, Jacqueline Humery and Silver Moon. All three favorites I don't want to be without. Kim

"Darlow's Enigma"
'Nevada'
Rosa rugosa alba

Mrs Herbert Stevens. I have the HT (which more resembles a nodding tea rose than an HT) but I would assume the climber would perform similarly. Bloomed in lots of shade, strong fragrance, clean as a whistle where blackspot, mildew, and rust are all problems on rosey neighbors. I don't spray.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mrs Herbert Stevens