Until mine died during a freak winter where the temps. were in the 60's even during Jan., and then suddenly punged to below zero (fahrenheit) in early Feb. (which killed the bush outright) I would have completely agreed with Olga! THE YORK ROSE (Rosa x alba semi-plena) ROCKS OUT LOUD!! For what it's worth, I believe I've read that the Romans grew this rose in their gardens. It also is grown in those places in Europe where Attar of Roses is produced. The aroma of these petals is one of the ingredients in Attar of Roses. (Under normal circumstances it's hardy even into zone 3!) However, it only blooms once per year (in late spring/very early summer), but even after that it is a shrub with a "fountain" appearance. If that style of growth appeals to you, I heartily recommend it to you! (Oh, by the way, it also produces a decent crop of hips, so it also has visual interest in the autumn/early winter, and then later in the winter via its arching branches.)

Burlington Roses has Shadow Dancer, a striped climber by Ralph Moore. She also has Flamingo Dancer, similarly beautiful, but a lighter pink. Here's Shadow Dancer in a vase. Gigi is a miniature rose I purchased from Trader Joe's, but you can also find it at other stores that carry grocery store minis. Peppermint Kisses is from For Love of Roses. I'm looking forward to seeing Alakazam, a yellow and red striped miniflora rose available at For Love of Roses. I have no room for more, but my friend ordered two, so I can enjoy seeing them in her garden.

I am soooo confused. Exactly what is a sport? A sport is a spontaneous genetic mutation that has some quality distinctively different from the original. For example, someone in Chicago spotted a flower on their 'Peace' rose that was dramatically different in color than the original--that person rooted that bit of the plant, named the variant 'Chicago Peace' and it is in commerce today. Another mutation besides flower color would be growth habit--an example of a climbing sport would be 'Climbing Peace', which has the same flowers as the original 'Peace', but which has longer, "climbing" canes.

I keep eyeing this thread but hesitated about posting because I think it's still too soon to really comment about most of my roses, being as they went in the ground in 2013 or later. But the more I think about it, there are a few which stand out. Not in ranked order.... Best "Bermuda Spice" -- gets hit hard by Winter here, but comes back strong after removing damage in Spring. Thereafter, I don't touch it, save for snapping off faded blooms if the petals don't drop off on their own. No diseases at all for me, and hasn't been without at least a few blooms since it started back in late May. If I ever need a handful of blooms to give to someone, I always have some "Bermuda Spice" in the bunch. 'Marie Pavie' -- first of mine to bloom, then has repeated flushes with short pauses. It's blooming now. No disease through most of the season, but it's getting a bit spotty now -- in November, so I don't care. I've since learned -- thanks to 'Perle d'Or' -- that when deadheading Polyanthas, Teas, and Chinas, it's best to just snap off the blooms. Cutting bare candelabra stems back to the next set of leaflets just delays the next flush. Oh, and while not powerfully scented up-close, this one gently fills the air in the front yard with its fragrance. 'Golden Buddha' -- as with the Chinas, Polyanthas, and Teas, this one gets only dead bits removed in Spring for pruning, but has far less damage. Still, it remains small and blooms in wave after wave through the season. All I do is snap off blooms when the petals start to look dingy. It seems immune to blackspot here, despite my not using fungicides. It did start getting a touch of mildew last month, but very little. Oddly, I saw mildew starting last month on things that never had it before, so I think it was unusual (for here) weather that brought it on. 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' -- ok, this year I didn't get any Autumn blooms, but I also didn't give it a July haircut, which is what it seems to need to promote that last flush of the year. Instead, I watched to see what it'd do if given only a Spring prune -- and now I know. And what it did was have two or three flushes beginning late May and running through late July. Oh, and it also kept clean foliage. Even out of bloom, I enjoy looking at it as a sprawling shrub. This doesn't mean that everything else was just "meh" -- or worse. I keep in mind that I'm still "letting them grow wild" after their Spring prune, and am seeing which roses seem to need that haircut to trigger another bloom cycle. I've come to learn that the Chinas, Teas, and Polyanthas don't need this extra attention. Neither do the shorter moderns -- various Austins, 'Golden Buddha', my few HTs and Floribundas -- nor the repeat-blooming OGRs leaning more toward their Asian ancestors -- 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', 'Mme Dore', 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte', etc. But the larger-growing, longer-caned Bourbons, Damask Perpetuals, and Hybrid Perpetuals seem to need that "reset button" of a haircut to get them to set buds again here. 'Paul Neyron' and 'Rose du Roi -- original' had just a bloom or two after the main flushes, and were getting really tall. So I cut them back again to about 50% larger than I left them after the Spring prune -- and they responded with new flushes. Too bad I waited too long to do this to 'Yolande d'Aragon', because it's setting buds now -- the first since June. I also have a few more contenders for "best" next year, but they're still too young to say for sure. Worst 'Monsieur Boncenne' -- beautiful first flush, with another after a very short pause, then riddled with blackspot. I don't spray here, and this one goes completely naked by July. It keeps trying to put out foliage, but spots appear even before the leaves mature. 'Jude the Obscure' -- same as above. These two are side-by-side, so their nakedness is made all the more obvious. I'm considering a dormant sulfur spray before everything leafs out, then continuing the season with weekly Castile soap "rinses" via hose-end sprayer. Thus far, neither of these two "worst" roses have me eyeing them with the shovel. However, if either fails to improve next year, that situation may change. :-) ~Christopher