Probably Moonstone, all of the blooms on my plant have split centers, and I can't take it anymore. And two roses that I think are now Manetti rootstock, my beloved Ginger Hill (got a new one from Roses Unlimited) and Attache (sniffle). And I lost my Pope John Paul II and Our Lady of Guadaloupe during the season, I'll probably replace both of them.

On my list are "Wild Blue Yonder"...I have 2 and one is not in a good location, Intrigue-very few blooms on a very small 2 year old plant. First Prize-a one cane wonder that just looks bad all the time. Topsy Turvy- New this year and a bloom machine, I just don't like the odd colored red with the white reverse, it looks like tissue paper to me. Sunsprite may go in favor of Shockwave. Shockwave is a brighter yellow and the blooms last a lot longer. Lemon Zest will be gone as it has way too much blackspot. And last, a Yellow Ribbons tree rose that just doesn't too much for me anymore except take up room for a better rose.

I've already started culling the herd...two ROSE de RESCHTs went last week; they were absolutely huge JB magnets. Their foliage was also very hard to keep clean due to the damask-crud. CUTHBERT GRANT was also a huge JB magnet, had a very unpleasing form; RED SIMPLICITY (small, needed the room for better roses), & PINK KNOCKOUT also met Madame Shovel.

On the list also for next spring are Jeri Jennings and Oshun, but they most likely will be part of our Rose Society spring auction. They both have been sulky growers for me...maybe I've pushed the zone envelope too far for these two. This year it was mid-June before they even poked their heads out of the soil. Oshun continually balls and only had a couple of blooms. Maybe they'll do better for someone else.
-terry

I have started my SP list already, and here they are:
Imperatrice Farah--Stingy and small blooms.
Classic Touch--Disease magnet deluxe.
Luscious--Non-vigorous and hardly blooms.
Perfect Moment--Non-vigorous and hardly blooms.
Prominent--Small bush and mini-flora sized blooms.
Lady Bird--Small bush, few blooms, disease prone.
Glowing Amber--Boring--getting rid of 1 of 2.
Denver's Dream--sparse blooming, unattractive bush
Memphis Magic--Disease magnet
The Wright Brothers--Disease prone and few blooms. Got 2 keeping only 1
Summer of Love--Second year bush not growing. On the bubble depending on how it starts next Spring.
Malibu--Also on the bubble. Non-vigorous and few blooms. Depends on how it starts next Spring.
Princess de Monaco--Won't grow or bloom.
Big Time--Boring pink and stingy blooming. Small bush.
Catalina--Stingy blooms and small bush.
Cheshire--On the bubble--blooms very small and non-fragrant.
Golden Age--Non-vigorous, stingy blooming.
Ingrid Bergman--2nd year rose non-vigorous and never blooms. I know this is a good rose, I just got a dud...Wait to see how it starts next Spring.
Pasadena Star--5 year old bush started great but last 2 years it doesn't want to grow and bloom like it used to.
Let Freedom Ring--have 2 but one is not very good for some reason. Other one is very nice.

I have many that depend on how they get started next Spring. I most always give a rose three years to perform and if it doesn't it has to go.
This past Spring I SP'd 23 and wiped out my Pot Ghetto to replace them in the rose beds. Right now I have about 25-30 roses in the Pot Ghetto, so I have plenty to replace any that don't make the cut next Spring.

John

I think I will get rid of Wisley. This has been the first Austin that's been a total dud for me. A runt and full of BS. This was the Wisley purchased the year prior to DA announcing the new Wisley was "new and improved". I can see why he wanted to improve on Wisley.

Buck rose 'Serendipity.' It is a tall awkward plant with ringspot virus symptoms. The flower is not particularly attractive to me. It does have some practical virtues, but not enough to deserve a piece of my very limited rose real estate.

Well, let's see. 'Scentimental' is going to go -- not that much fragrance and not enough petals. Those Austin blooms have ruined me. 'Daybreaker' has beautiful blooms, but is tall and drops alot of its leaves (bs magnet) so that plant is not attractive. With no fragrance, it has to go. As does my 'Chihuly'. No fragrance, bs, and lots of thorns. Usually try to give roses a couple of years, but 'Out of the Night' has been a disappointment. All season long just a bunch of balling. Finally, here at the end of the season it is blooming nice. I've read that it and 'Golden Buddha' like heat. Not in my garden. In fact, the canes are bending back and away from the south facing sun. I may try and place it in shade. 'Braveheart' is going to go. Love the blooms, even with little fragrance, but its weird cane growth (laying flat on the ground) has been too much for me after five years. Veteran's Honor is on the fence -- tall gangly, rust and bs -- but such beautiful blooms. . . Happy rosing. CJ

I sp'd Eden, Mister Lincoln, Jeanne Lajoie and Granada (virused) on Labor Day.

Chihuly and Honey Dijon are both on my list...but have been all summer long, so maybe there is a reason why I have not done the deed yet. I might feed the dickens out of them in the Spring and see how things cahnge. Next year will be the third year for both.

I already yanked up Touch of Class and an unknown red HT. Oklahoma likely will not make an appearance next Spring.

Many, many more roses will need to be moved, most notably Austins. Almost every one of them are WAY exceeding their stated heights, and some are even first-year babies! They have just outgrown their spots. Crazy!

Boule d'neige and I had a wrestling contest this afternoon...I won. She was about 6'wide and 5'tall and took up too much room in the bed for a rose that only blooms once for me in the spring.

I have wanted to move it all year and today was the day. It was such a tug of war that she broke my shovel right where the wood goes into the metal part of the spade. But I was determined. =) She has moved to another spot in the yard and if she lives...she lives. If not...I'll get something else from Roses Unlimited in the spring.

I have a couple more that I am going to move to another spot that will allow them more sun and no competition from tree roots. If they don't do any better then...its off with their heads! They are:

Dark Lady (black spot)
Mary Rose (black spot)
Yellow Charles Austin (he has never gotten over 2'and is a two stick wonder)
Winchester Cathedral (black spot)
Molineux (I have 2, this one is small and not thriving)
Jude the Obscure (He will be allowed one more year to show his stuff)
Carefree Wonder (again...one more year)
Pat Austin (this one has been moved once...but I will try one more spot and then its decision time)

LOVE - I just cant take the thorns.. will give to mom.
JFK - ugly blooms that are never white and rot before opening
European - mildew
Double delight - rust, I have others that are great..
Sterling Silver - over 5 yrs and still wimpy
White Lightnin - more huey than anything, cant get control..
Joseph's Coat - black spot
Rio Samba - black spot

Just lost a Herbie & a Scentsational due to a new sprinkler system install.. will probably replace it I can find them.

I have some great roses on my shovel prune list, simply because they are not particularly good plants of really good roses. Perhaps I'll try a new plant of some. Going to the burn pile: Morden Blush (a really wonderful rose - perhaps mine is virused), Ambridge Rose, The Pilgrim and Pegesis (non-hardy rootstock is the problem with these - Wayside acquisitions before I knew better), a few potted hybrid teas that are too tender and too blackspot prone.

I've been getting rid of some all along this year, and a couple more are on their way out:

Already gone:
Out of Yesteryear: A balling nightmare. Neither it nor its children have done well for me.
Out of the Night: Brown balls of mush. Yech!
Golden Buddha: A lot of winter dieback, didn't like the color.
Niles Cochet (I think--it was unlabeled): Virused
Melody Parfumee: A really great rose. It was just too big for its location, and I wanted something a little less formal in bloom form.
R. Moyesii "Geranium": If it had really been Geranium, I would have kept it. Don't know what it was, but it was hot pink instead of red.
Intrigue: Lovely blossoms, ugly bush. A fair amount of blackspot.
Fragrant Plum: From a bodybag, it never did perform.
Lavender Delight: Turned a nasty orangy-pink color after opening.

On the chopping block, but might get another season:
Lemon Pearls: Another "Out of Yesteryear" offspring. Flowers are lovely, but plant is struggling.
Eugene de Beauharnais: Gorgeous flowers, wimpy plant
Jeri Jennings: Gorgeous flowers, nice bush form, TONS of blackspot (since I got rid of "Intrigue", it's the worst rose for blackspot in my yard.)
Souvenir de Philemon Cochet: Not in a good spot in the yard. The main problem, tho, is the absolutely stunning blooms start turning brown about 5 minutes after they open.

Jude the Obscure (He will be allowed one more year to show his stuff)

I've been sitting on the fence about him also for about 7 yrs. But since he is my only yellow and I don't plan on getting another yellow he'll stay for awhile.

Michaelg, we're disappointed with our Serendipity roses, too. The bloom color is beyond gorgeous, and we like the full-blown look. Plus, the buds are perfection. But the growth habit is hideous...typical Hybrid Tea, and the disease resistance is poor. They're huge water hogs, if you want to keep them foliated. And they're not the least bit shade-tolerant. But the neighbors love them (and us, for planting them)....so we're in a quandry as to what to do.

But most of our Don Juan roses will be shovel pruned in a few weeks. They're too frail for Mississippi.

Already shovel-pruned this fall:
Ingrid. Probably a lovely rose for cooler climates, but mine seldom had an adequate petal count or form. If cut early enough it could be pretty. Also, only so-so repeat.

Peter Cottontail. gorgeous antigue parchment white mini-flora, that nevertheless was a royal pain. As big a blackspot magnet as I've ever seen, despite a steady spray regime that kept the other roses clean.

Erotika. Gave to a neighbor. Another rose better suited to cooler climates, I think.

First Impression. utterly shapeless simple yellow mini. I didn't actually order this one; it was a mistake shipped from Nor'east. Oh well.

Lagerfeld. Intriguing, large blooms and plant and very fragrant. But a prima donna with a lavender so pale I finally decided it was more gray than lavender. Gave it to a neighbor.

Moore's Striped Rugosa. Just a shrub. Actually, openly resented being sprayed. Even the drift from anti-fungal spray to the other roses caused chemical burn. Shapeless blooms and not too plentiful. Someone with our local botanical garden took it off my hands. Maybe with a space to spread and away from spray it will do better.

One's I'm planning to ditch as soon as my next orders arrive:
Gem-O'the Rockies. ok color but nothing special. Shapeless blooms and not enough.

Luis Desamero. No what I expected from photos and catalog descriptions. Basically ivory white, very small blooms that blow fast. Nice and prolific, though.

Dancing Flame. Something's seriously wrong with this little bush. Keeps trying to grow but always looks fried. The blooms don't weather well either. much better cut. A show rose, perhaps, but needs better stamina in the garden.

On the waffle list/probation:
Sweet Arlene. terrific healthy easy care miniflora. But, I'm really picky and these blooms just are not formal enough for my taste. Rather shaped like the floribunda Angel Face. And they're pale similar to Lagerfeld; that is, barely lavender, really more silver grey. Form and color are both best in cooler weather--a winter rose for me here. It is just so robust, though, that I may find an unused spot to let it hang around.

Memphis Magic. Has the opposite issue. Form is terrific, but the plant is inconsistent. Gives me occasional terrific flushes of deepest blackcherry colored blooms. They the next flush or two will not form right and/or look faded and miscolored. I was battling chili thrips recently, though, so maybe that was part of the problem. Still on probation.

Even with all the roses I have, I rarely get rid of any unless they are duplicates or mismarked/un-ID-able. But there is one I really am thinking of dumping. BETTY PRIOR. I'm not much of a single fan, and she was really quite lovely the first yr. But she doesn't repeat well, and the blooms really are extremely boring. I dunno, I might just remove her from her prime spot and nestle her in amongst the perennial bed I'm planning to add just a couple of odd roses. We'll see.

Finally deciding to shovel prune a rose is so much harder than i thought it would be! Yesterday i performed my very first shovel pruning-these are the casualties:

Wisley-Wish it was a better rose but my experience was the same as Veilchen-wimpy bush, too much BS
Ambridge Rose-Beautiful blooms when they first open but not enough to make up for the terrible fade, poor vase life and BS tendencies.
Mademoiselle Blanche LaFitte-Not a terrible rose but has trouble keeping its leaves. Blooms generously but the flowers are small and age poorly.
Sophie's Rose-Naked, scentless. Performance might have been improved in a better location.
Frederic Mistral-Big naked octopus. Poorly formed flowers, queer scent. Some have said its just a bad clone...

There are a few more that should probably come out but i am giving them just a little more time ; )

Of course i am replacing the 5 shovel pruned roses with 12 from the pot ghetto. i know you will all understand that!

I rarely shovel prune anything. I just keep moving them around until they either improve or die off over the winter, lol! The only one that's finally going is my 5 year old Cl. Peace that has never bloomed. I've been trying to get rid of it for 2 years and he's finally agreed! I have already cut it to the ground in preperation for the shovel!!! YIPPEE!

Unless its red, I rarely get rid of a rose. I will either move it to the front yard where I know it will die or let it die on its own. With that said, I've been thinking of getting rid of Purple Tiger for two year now. Its a bloody bs magnetic, short and stingy with its flowers. Just when I've just about made up my mine, the damn thing blooms and I change it. So I moved it and see how real it does in its new spot. If its dies that then mother nature has spoken.

Piñata! Horrible thick reflexed petals that bleach out in the sun on the first day, look like reddish smudges on white, I don't even know what it's supposed to look like!
And The Fairy is just awful, tiny flowers fade to white then brown right away.
Rhapsody in Blue might have to go next year, unless it picks up in a new shady location.

Mauirose said,

"Frederic Mistral-Big naked octopus. Poorly formed flowers, queer scent. Some have said its just a bad clone..."

You must have a mutant. The scent is very sweet to most noses, and the flower form is very beautiful. True, it is susceptible to BS and a rampant grower that wants pruning all season (very deep deadheading).

I found another one to get rid of, altho it's in a pot, so won't actually have to be sp'd. It's yet another one of the many Hortico mis-marked roses. I got it last yr supposed to be DESERT ISLAND, a Dickson apricot fl, but it's some ugly looking semi-double lt pink thing that blows fast.

I used to defend Hortico all the time when people would slam them. But no more. The last two yrs, I've had nothing but mis-marked or dead roses from them. Their quality control has gotten worse & worse.

The only disappointment is Europeana. I did some reading and I don't know how I chose it..but I picked it for some reason! It is not hardy.

Really, I should dig all 300 of them up. We would save $200/month on water. But it would break my heart.

Hoovb, I so sympathize. All your roses look gorgeous, at least the ones I've seen pictures of. However, aren't there at least some you can eliminate without too many regrets? Most of us have roses we can't live without and others that might have been mistakes or that aren't especially healthy. Every rose in the latter category that you can take out would at least save you some money without your garden looking any less beautiful.

Ingrid

The only rose being dug up is Tea Clipper. Before I toss it, I've got to relocate it. The flowers are beautiful but it has too much foliage and not enough blooms. Maybe another spot with more sun will do the trick.

I was very surprised that I had elimated 6 roses on Sunday.

The ones I had elminated were:
1) A Shropshire Lad - it turned out this poor rose was root bound in the container. Unfortunately I don't have the patience to nurture it.
2) Summer Song - I'm sure it was virused. The Spring flush was fabulous, however.
3) Cinderella - the blooms lack scent.
4) Sidonie - Fabulous spring flush - but the blooms were tiny and lack scent
5) The Alnwick Rose - the blooms scatter quickly and lack scent. I find 'Mayor of Casterbridge' to be more attractive.
6) Unknown Centifolia (Reine des Centifueille). Strong scent, but I only have a small yard.

And I thought I couldn't without them. It's clear to me that I want FRAGRANT, BEAUTIFUL HEALTHY Roses!!
My backyard looks a LOT tidy now. Previously, the yard was cramped with too many potted roses that looked kind of messy.

I finally decided to plant 'Tea Clipper' and 'Mayor of Casterbridge' in the ground because they're both getting huge. 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' had just finished blooming. The blooms were nice - much nicer than 'The Alnwick Rose'. Tea Clipper hasn't bloom yet. I guess she's hungry, so I'm thinking of feeding her with a liquid fertiliser on a regular basis.

The roses that I can't live without are: Gertrude Jekyll, Nahema, Jayne Austin and Evelyn. Those four roses are still growing in containers. If I decide to move out one day, I will bring all four roses with me.

I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders - what I mean by that is, taking care of my 12 roses in the past was just TOO much work. Not only does it make the yard look untidy, but it's just dam expensive as well.

I don't think I will buy anymore roses for the mean-time. I have to start saving money for other important stuff in life!

After a month of rain, this week is supposed to be gorgeous, so I'm finally going to get around to sp-ing:
The Dark Lady
Heart O' Gold
John F Kennedy
Midas Touch
Love and Peace
Pink Peace
New Day

They're all together in a group and have steadily declined the last couple years until they look downright awful this year. I'm going to dig the whole area up and use it as an extension of my vegatable garden. I have plenty of "good" roses elsewhere.

Carol

After reading through this thread, I'm really surprised. I thought roses tend to perform much better in the ground then in containers. It appears there's not much difference.

jumbojimmy my roses do vastly better in the ground than in pots. In a drier climate with lower humidity I think that is true. Pots dry out too fast here.

My 'Tea Clipper' has been a poor bloomer as well. It's not really in a prime spot and has been disease free, so I've left it where it is. For now.

It depends Jumbojimmy. Here in Florida we have nematodes in the soil that eat the roots. So many do better in pots here.
I had to shovel prune 3 OLOGS. One I moved badly, one gave up trying to compete with tree roots and one just up and died. I replaced one with another OLOG. I also lost 16 Candles to an unknown death. Those two are my favorites and they were the ones that bit the dust. I can't find 16 Candles on fortuniana so I won't be able to replace it.
Nancy

I'm like Carol, glad to see a sunny week so I can plant the many roses I have in pots on the patio (that I wasn't going to buy because I have no room). Now towards the end of the fifth year of my new garden, I like most of my roses, as I already shovel pruned the ones that didn't do well while I was building the garden. Now I have to shovel prune ones that I am not really sure I want to. It serves me right for ordering more! Particularly, that is so because I have a few that I intended to shovel prune, and didn't, and they became wonderful - maybe just to show me my poor judgement!

I have given away several roses and I often get reports on how well they are doing. But, I shovel prune ones that I think others might not be able to grow, or they are in bad shape. My most recent: GRAND AMORE- it looked great the first year and has been in decline all year - don't think it bloomed once. And, it is in a bed full of healthy roses. STEPHANIE ANNE - this rose has had four years to give me a rose that isn't all burned looking on the edges. In fact, it hardly ever blooms anyway.

That's it for now, although I shovel pruned a dozen in Spring. I have some that I thought of shovel pruning, but they are putting out gorgeous blooms now, just to show me! So, I have reverted to digging up minis and putting them in pots and putting the floribundas that were growing in pots in their place. Not much of a solution!

A true solution would be to stop being tempted to buy new ones. I should only read posts on shovel-pruning!

It is funny to see roses that I have and love that others are going to SP because they aren't doing well.
Several Chihuly's were mentioned and I have two glorious bushes that do spectacularly. My two are in a bed of five orange blend floribundas and that whole bed gets alot of attention from visitors. I am planning on using my Chihuly bushes very heavily next year in some floribunda breeding. My two bushes set very nice hips with lots of seeds.
Fredric Mistral is a monster growing super healthy and heavy blooming rose. The flowers are super fragrant and large on long stems that make wonderful vase roses. They last a long time. My bush got so big I had to move it to a spot all by itself last year because it was crowding everything else out. This year it is 7' tall and probably 5 1/2' across--huge and beautiful.
DayBreaker is my favorite of all roses. This year it did struggle a little with Blackspot as did many of my roses. That is very unusual for me as I generally have no disease or insect problems at all on my roses. I got behind spraying early in the Spring because I was sick and in the hospital so much. Once you get behind it is very hard to get it back under control, but I think I finally am about caught up just in time for all the leaves to drop off for winter, LOL!! Anyway, at least they will be healthy going into winter so they will be that much stronger and winter hardy.
Double Delight is one of my most beautiful roses. The plant is super healthy, large, and produces beautiful, wonderfully fragrant blooms by the truckload for me.
This next Spring I am specifically SP'ng Classic Touch, LadyBird, Smoky, Catalonia, and probably Oranges 'N Lemons just because of their disease tendency. I think these are my biggest offenders and they keep the BS pressure too high on all of the roses around them. Like the bushes surrounding Classic Touch all have BS on the side facing Classic Touch. So, I think that getting rid of Classic Touch which was mostly defoliated all year anyway will help all the bushes in that area to be better.
John

I wondered about the mention of CHIHULY also, John. Mine is just gorgeous - one of my best floribundas - which all goes to show that there are vast differences in how roses do in different locales. HONEY DIJON is also a great favorite of mine, and so far LADY BIRD is doing fine. I guess it's just a version of the old saying, "One man's meat is another's poison!"

I love my Honey Dijon as well. I got some of the most beautiful parchment colored blooms this Fall that were absolutely huge and had wonderful form. It did get a little BS, actually alot, but it healed up quickly when I got back in the spraying mode so all is fine on that end.
I really love the Lady Bird blooms but that bush just will not keep any leaves on it at all. Maybe I will give it all of next year to mature some more and hopefully get a bit more disease resistant. I'm such a wimp.
Some roses do get better with age on occasion. Conundrum was such a PM magnet it's first year I grew it that I thought that was just how the leaves were supposed to look!! But now at four years old the bush rarely has any disease at all and is a much stronger bush.
This past Spring I went on a tear and SP'd 23 roses. My neighbors thought I was having a fit as several of them looked to them like good healthy roses. They just didn't realize that some of them had the ugliest flowers on them known to mankind like the pink HT Masquerade and yellow blend HT Magma. Both are Kordes roses I got from Palatine so of course the bareroots were spectacular. Masquerade grew like and octopus with huge long canes but few lateral stems. It was huge and healthy but the small,washed out and plastic looking flowers were honest injun the ugliest roses I have ever seen--absolutely HORRID. I just couldn't stand them anymore and I just got pissed off and ripped that huge monster right out of the ground. It almost killed me from the exertion but by golly it is GONE and good riddance. Magma wasn't much better except that the bush stayed relatively small so it was easier to send to rose hell than Masquerade was.
I will probably go on a similar tear next Spring as well and just start pulling out rose bushes by the dozen again because I can't stand having something like a rose frustrate me like ugly or sick roses do. I have enough frustrations in my life without those added on top of it all. I have about 30 roses in the Pot Ghetto now so I have plenty to take the place of the offenders. I have already ordered another 15 or so I don't have room for either for next Spring. I just need to give up and make another bed somewhere. I have 1 1/2 acres of land to play on that is mostly pretty flat so room is not an issue, but with 300 already I just don't know how many more I can realistically take care of.
I am a glutton for punishment.
John

I'll be taking out a pink knock out that is taking up valuable space. It has grown well and I bought it for a dollar. I'll be giving it to a neighbor. I need the space for a potted china.

I'll be taking out Carding Mill which is a rose that has bloomed consistently through the worst heat of this summer, has kept its leaves and is a trooper in every way. The problem is, I just cannot love the flowers. It may be the shape or the color or both, and I've tried hard to get attached, but it's no use. I'll be planting Le Vesuve, which is so great here that this is the fourth in my garden. Salet (which I planted September of last year and which still has not bloomed) will be replaced by a gorgeous Bourbon (Mme. Dore) and Angel Face which, although it has no disease, is a wimpy little plant) will be replaced be Souvenir de la Malmaison Rouge. I'm trying hard not to increase the number of roses I have and so am weeding out my least favorite ones and replacing them with (hopefully) much better roses. It's a never-ending process and I'm afraid my garden will never be mature if I keep it up, but I can't think of a better way to have the roses I want and not increase the work and water burden.

I'm still thinking about replacing Maria Stern next spring. I'm not sure though. I may give her one more year. She does have RMV, although it hasn't seemed to affect her yet. But, I too just can't get to liking her color. She is more a coral than an orange in my garden. Like a traffic cone color and it looks almost fake, like plastic roses! I wouldn't mind a good pink or a softer orange as long as it blooms abundantly and is disease resistant.
But she has probably one more year to prove her worth :)
I was thinking of an Austin rose or maybe Easy Does It, but maybe I will wait until others give their opinions about EDI next year.

When you sp the roses, do they die or can you save them? I've given some away in pots only, but the potted ones I don't like might do better if I plant them in the ground. Then if I still don't like them I know people who would want them, but how?
Ingrid, I've been thinking about Carding Mill... what is wrong with the color? Is it too pale?

growing2010, there really is nothing wrong with the color of Carding Mill, and it definitely is not pale, but basically I'm not a huge fan of apricot roses and the shape of the rose does not wow me. It really is an excellent rose for hot, dry weather but for me it's just not exciting. That's such an individual thing, for you it could be just the opposite. It is constantly putting out new buds, no matter how hot it is, although of course it needs to be watered regularly to do that. It's one of the best hot-weather roses I have.

Ingrid

I love my Carding Mill, but I can see why the flower form may not be everyone. I like the more peachy color (as opposed to apricot) and remarked the other day that the open flowers remind me of water lilies, which I thought pretty, but I bet is the not for everyone part. It is indeed a trooper for me, also, and was about the only one that kept pumping out blooms through the heat of the summer..

Thanks for your responses, now CM is going to the top of the list for this year! Ingrid, it sounds like you are recommending it, not sp'ing it :)

I find it difficult to kill a rose, although if one is definitely dying I cheer it on so I can use that spot for a better one. Instead I set up an area that I call the "sick ward" to give them another chance. But this is used for poor performers, not diseased plants.

After two years of illness and surgery and last winter's constant fluctuating temperatures I found that I didn't have to SP many roses; they did that for themselves. I lost most that were grafted on fortuniana (Jema :(, Brandenburg Gate :-))) - I hated that rose anyway, Alleluia, and some others). The last virused ones died or declined so badly that I got no arguments from DH that we should get rid of them, so off it went the two Peace climbers and Tiffany. I also lost my dear 2 Just Joeys and Special Occasions (on multiflora) though these were planted in protected spots.

Of roses planted last spring, I found only the label of Break o'day but not the plant two days ago - and that is supposedly a hardy rose.:-((( (True, last year I got very poor plants from Pickering; the newly ordered Gloire de Dijon was the most disappointing, that was practically DOA, but I tried and hoped...) Lucille Ball and Augusta Lousie are gone, they were gone by midsummer. All got plenty of rain last year, so drought could not be the culprit.

I haven't finished the inventory of the lost roses yet. It looks like I do not have to make any hard decision this year.

Can you believe it: Marechal Niel is alive and doing very well? Knock, knock (on my head).

About 6 weeks ago, I dug up a Hot Cocoa - nothing wrong with it particularly except I put it in the wrong spot and wanted to put something else there, poor thing - and tossed it aside. I noticed the other day that it has NEW GROWTH ON IT! It has been sitting in the open all this time, with it's roots exposed through the terrible freezing weather we had earlier this month! I couldn't believe it! I felt terrible....it's like it's trying so hard to live. I'm going to have to put it in a pot and try to give it away.

Lynn

HOOVB - does it really cost that much to water your roses? (you must really have a lot of them...? right?)

ingrid - since we are in the same zone, I'm very curious which 40 you sp'd!

(I'm curious about CM now... haha.)

"I felt terrible....it's like it's trying so hard to live. I'm going to have to put it in a pot and try to give it away. "
I dunno, seems to me it wants YOUUUUU!!!

Okay, aimeekitty, since you asked, here goes:

Carding Mill - is now actually going to a friend of a friend who is thrilled to have it. Angel Face, Jasmina and Salet have also been given away.

Either died or did not thrive, mostly because of the heat: Duchesse de Brabant (have replaced with a new one), Natchitoches Noisette, News, Bayse's Purple, Heinrich Karsch (three plants), Violet Hood, Princesse de Nassau, Baby Faurax, White Flower Carpet, Janet (two plants), Alfred de Dalmas (two), Heideroeslein, Ley's Perpetual, Mme. Jules Gravereaux, Secret Garden Noisette (two plants), Felicia, Lady Hilllingdon, Ebb Tide, Autumn Damask, Spirit of Freedom, Gruss an Aachen (rust), Gourmet Popcorn, Excellenz von Schubert

Did Not Like: Tamora, Intrigue, Cl. Cecile Brunner, E. Veyrat Hermanos, Huilito, McClinton Tea, Centenaire de Lourdes, Therese Bugnet and Mrs. Doreen Pike (not ideal for my climate but pretty), Winsome

Flowers Crisped Badly, Otherwise Beautiful: Clementina Carbonieri, General Tartas, Monsieur Tillier, Route 66, Angels Camp Tea

Roses I Wish I'd Kept: Sweet Nothings, Wife of Bath (now replaced), General Gallienni, Teasing Georgia, Carnation

Sadly, I now realize that I've disposed of 50 roses, although I only really regret the last five. I had no idea how harsh my microclimate was (because of increased solar radiation due to altitude, huge boulders and hot, hillsides) and only realized with time that I would have to be very choosy about what roses I bought or be prepared to lose them or live with unhappy roses. C'est la vie.

Ingrid

JFK
And
Intrigue.
I gave them 3 strikes and your out.