SH is very healthy here in blackspot heaven.
Good rebloom.
Sometimes needs heavy pruning in mid summer to keep in bounds; canes can go to 10-12 ft.
Surprisingly hardy here in z5, which is not an issue for yoo.

You have to spray SH, here, for BS, but she is a good rebloomer and will get as large as a VW, if you let her.

I've mulled this question for a while - why plant Sally Holmes when Darlow's Enigma looks almost the same, behaves similarly, but also has great fragrance? I'm also wanting to get SH or DE and am wondering the pros and cons of each. Can someone enlighten me?

My next-door neighbor grows Sally Holmes - it is huge! The blooms are really really pretty, they are individually big and come in big clusters. It puts on quite a show in bloom but there is little fragrance IMO.
Masha

Our Sally Holmes is probably one of the oldest plants in the U.S., planted as a small own-root a couple of years prior to its release in the U.S.
It's probably more like the size of two Volkswagons than just one. :-) In habit, it has become a tree (unf. shading some of its neighbors).
It blooms here most heavily in the spring:

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But after the spring flush, it continues to bloom through the year, at a lower level.
It does this despite the fact that it is never deadheaded, principally because it is too darned big.
It is wholly disease-free, here near the SoCal coast.
I, too, argue that it is more than "just a white rose," shading delicately from peach, to pink, to white, particularly in cool weather. The picture above does at least hint at the fact that it's more than white.
Here, it has even gone a soft yellow.

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In its maturity, it has become a central point in our garden.

Jeri

Wow! That is beautiful Jeri. I really like the looks of it, but I'm afraid it will be too large for my small garden. Thanks for the pics and info.

*** I really like the looks of it, but I'm afraid it will be too large for my small garden.

I hear ya, but in the interest of desperate innovation (after all, desperation is the mother of invention) can't SH & DE be grown on pillars and tripods - tall, narrow and billowing out of the top? Probably some work - maybe a lot - but worth the effort?

Sherry

Sherry, that is what we did.
Or, at least it is the way we began.
We built a tall, narrow tuteur. (Now, I would make a tall, sturdy tripod.)
In a mild climate, Sally will make a beautiful climber, treated thus.
Think of it as a nice, big, trainable climber.

Over time, our tuteur disintegrated, leaving the plant a self-supporting "tree."
It could easily be a much smaller tree, if space dictated. That should work FINE.
We just leave ours huge because at this stage it is much easier to do so.

In England, I am told, this rose is a 4-ft-tall (or so) upright Shrub.
So climate "matters" with regard to the size of this beauty.

Jeri

This rose is glorious but in Dallas, was 10' X 12' the first year, I've never seen a hybrid musk take off like that. It's a great landscape rose as its very showy. I've had Darlow's Enigma here & it looks a lot like a species rose; the fragrance is supposed to waft but despite our heavy humid air, it doesn't. It's a very very slow starter, only 2X2 in 2 years. Sally did great in the shade for me in Dallas & I'd plant her again. DE, maybe I got a bad plant, is going to be replaced. If you're looking for a healthy rebloomer that's 4X4 or less, covers itself with bloom and is very fragrant, check out Marie Daly, Perle d'Or or Marie Pavie.

salbalmatt,

I thought of these roses, for smaller size, fragrance and good health under our conditions.
'Maid Marion' is one of the most lovely of all Hybrid Musks, and it can be kept to c. 5' by 5', on its' own roots. vintage often sells it.
I had to leave Sally behind when I moved, but I kept a smaller Noisette 'Nastarana' from vintagegardens that grows to be c. 4 and 1/2 feet tall, on its' own roots.
A mature bush of 'Nastarana',in the garden, is to my nose, the most fragrant rosebush in the world.
The scent of Nastarana to my nose is of very fine quality, predominately sweet rose with an overtone of sweet musk, and the scent of a mature bush can easily waft to 3 feet away from the plant, to 6 feet distant if there is a breeze.
Though it is described as a white rose, the entire effect of a bush in bloom is nearly as much blush pink as white.

Luxrosa

Darlow's Enigma has smaller,pure white flowers than 'long tall Sally' -- ,(with wicked thorns) I don't think they look at all alike. I can tell Sally a block away.
Darlow might be one of a couple of once blooming rampant ramblers, except she reblooms...

My rose wish list is a bunch of post-its stuck to my desk and little notepad papers in stacks from notes that I jot down as I peruse HMF and read the Forum posts. Most of them have repeats from previous notes. I never throw them away for fear I will overlook the perfect rose for my nearly full yard. And for the very sentimental notion that I would be "throwing away a rose." I know I have thought about Sally Holmes and Darlow's Enigma for the west side of my house, but I can not find either one in my stack - probably I thought they were too big. I had planned to buy DE at a nearby nursery next Saturday since I realized it may be the only rose to do well in the limited sun location on the other side of my garage door from Mme Caroline Testout, CL, but this post has changed my mind because of the apricot/pink coloring of SH. Apparently, she will have no problem climbing the trellis and spreading across the chains we plan to stretch across the driveway. So I'm trying to add her to my Countryside order due to ship this week.

Hoping she'll make it into the box...

Sherry

---If you're looking for a healthy rebloomer that's 4X4 or less, covers itself with bloom and is very fragrant, check out Marie Daly, Perle d'Or or Marie Pavie--- thanks Barbara, I have Perle d'or and really like it and I plan to get Marie Pavie.
Luxrosa- I'm glad to hear about Nastarana- I have been considering it.
thanks

I've got DE in my north facing front yard, under a mature purple leaf plum. He blooms well but I never smell anything wafting or otherwise coming from him. He rips me to shreds when I try to work around him. If I had it to do over I think I'd try SH instead. I have to keep reminding myself that you can trim these back to control the size.