I can only talk about the small Bourbons (SdlM clan, Mme. Dore, Romaggi Plot Bourbon, Apoline, Leveson-Gower) in my hot, dry southern California garden. I haven't tried to grow the larger Bourbons except for Deuil de Dr. Reynaud, which is very young and has not bloomed yet. For me they're practically disease-free in my enriched decomposed granite soil in areas with ample sun but some afternoon shade. I fertilize only with alfalfa meal and maintain a mulch of leaves and other decomposed matter. All this seems very different from your garden but I offer it for what it's worth. I do water them frequently since it doesn't rain for at least 6-7 months of the year. I hope someone closer to your area will post a reply.

Ingrid

Ann, I have here good luck with some long cane bourbons. They require plenty of water in my experience and (the most important) require removal of older canes. Basically I don't keep canes that are older than 2 year old. They are not productive and always look sick, if you leave them. Each spring I cut older canes out completely to the ground. I give them some compost in spring and water at least weekly (more often 2-3 times per week). With this treatment they are quite happy. Of course, if not sprayed, they will get BS after first flush and defoliate completely, but what I found, they keep systemic spray (like Banner Max) in their system for very long time. Much longer than most other roses. So spraying them once in spring after pruning and than once every 4-5 weeks keeps them healthy. If you don't spray ( I don't anymore), they will grow new leaves after defoliation, get BS again, defoliate, etc. Several cycles per summer. However, thay manage to keep their vigor. I usually have good spring flush, than few flowers here and there during summer and another decent fush in fall.
I tried many different varieties and surprisingly the best for me are Mme Isaac Perier, Deul de Dr Reynaud, Mme d'Enfert.
Maggie,does not behave like other long cane bourbons for me and requires frequent spraing to grow successfully.
The short cane bourbons get a lot of winter dieback here and get more BS, if not sprayed. With spraying they are good, of course. they perform best in pots for me.
Olga

SDLM seems to like my climate as it is over 6 feet tall and blooms all the time except during our hottest months. It does get some mildew in the spring. It gets only alfalfa pellets for fertilizer and just keeps going. Great, easy rose.

I'm also growing Mme Dore which is still small but has wanted to bloom since I first got it. I disbudded for about a year and now it's blooming huge, fragrant blooms.

I have Maggie but she's still young but seems like another easy to grow rose so far.

I've grown Mme Issac Periere in the past and it was also an easy rose but seemed to bloom only in the spring. However it was young at that time. I have a young one in the ground now and it's also an easy rose to grow.

I would recommend these bourbons for my hot, dry climate. I wish I had room to grow some of the other bourbons.

ventilation - growing close to any wall causes powdery mildew and even plenty of water will not alleviate this....but, if the canes have a good air supply around them, the difference is astonishing (although I only have experience with ZD and Coupe d'Hebe). All the canes below the top of the wall mildew while canes arching away from the wall or over the top remain free of PM, even while the lower canes are milky white.

Jackie, your rose is so beautiful! It would be great to know what it is. I love the color and the shape of the blooms. Have you ever tried to identify it?

Ingrid

It's always risky to generalize about roses, but I'll weigh in here with my opinion about growing Bourbons (my favorite class, BTW).

I was unimpressed with Bourbons until I was educated on their culture by Michael Shoup (Antique Rose Emporium). His approach to growing Bourbons is synthesized in his & Liz Druitt's book, "Landscaping with Antique Roses" (thanks, Jerry!). Here's the most critical part of what they have to say:

"(Bourbons) tend to get some blackspot if planted in poor soil, but if conditions are to their liking, disease will rarely be a problem. Ideally, they want rich, well-drained soil, open air, at least six to eight hours of sun and periodic deep watering."

My preference for Bourbons results largely from the fact that they perform so well in the heat and humidity of the coastal South. Once I began following Shoup's advice, I found that they truly do have few disease issues here. I've also found that feeding Bourbons regularly is helpful, but does NOT compensate for poor soil.

Both Shoup and Companula note the importance of good air circulation to Bourbon culture. Attention to circulation is vital, I've found, not only as an aid in disease prevention, but also to lessen the tendency of the blooms on some varieties to ball in cool, damp weather. IMO, air circulation is a growth factor that is given far too little attention, regardless of the plants being grown.

I feel I should add that Shoup and Druitt write that Bourbons can successfully be grown through Zone 6, and possibly even colder (depending on the microclimate). They explain that Bourbons' China ancestry allows them to perform well in heat, and that the Damask element of their makeup makes them reasonably cold hardy.

Windeaux,
Could you share a bit more about your soils...are they emended top soil and if so, silts, sands or clays?

Ingrid, I do have a big bag of chicken grit (crushed granite) and I've used it under lavender for drainage.

Does deep watering mean that the area is thoroughly soaked and then allowed to nearly dry out? (Which fits a lot of plants from the MidEast). (Is there a word for plants that is the equivalent of estivation?)

I have only three Bourbons -- Honorine Brabant, Deuil du Docteur Reynaud, and Louise Odier. They are all quite different. Honorine is very healthy for me, Dr Reynaud suffers from mildew, and Louise Odier gets mildew plus some kind of cane dieback. I remove all the old canes from LO every year -- they start to yellow and look sick after a year or so. I do not need to do this with the other two, just prune them for size. Dr R and LO are in my most fertile soil in full sun and get weekly watering. Honorine Brabant is in well-amended but somewhat poorer soil, gets morning sun, and gets watered once every third week (we have no summer rainfall). Honorine is the healthiest but has the least repeat bloom. I have no idea if any of this translates to your very different soil and climate, and offer it for what it's worth.

Rosefolly

I'm in full agreement with Windeaux, Bourbons are my personal favorites as wonderful performers here in SW Louisiana, though Chinas and Noisettes are also excellent. I grow a large number of Bourbons in primarily clay soil (hacked-up hardpan that I'm constantly creating more soil on top of). They love the heat, and since our regional climate has changed to become hotter and drier, balling and BS are not nearly the problems I was warned they would be. I amend with alfalfa, Rose Tone when I feel like spending the money, a few shakes of Osmocote, composted barn litter, any other mulches I can get my hands on, and water deeply every several days during the fiercest of the heat. I'm hopeful that as they mature, I can ease off on the watering. I never let the soil completely dry out, but the heavy mulching helps with that. I don't spray and the occasional bout of BS usually sorts itself out, without total defoliation.

I have heavy clay soil too, don't spray my roses, and I have found bourbons to be very challenging to grow here. I have killed several of them. The ones that are thriving are the long-caned vigorous semi-climbing ones -- Mme Ernst Calvat, Zepherine Drouhin, Kathleen Harrop -- and once-blooming hybrids -- Coupe de Hebe. SDLM climbing also did well here, but the bush form winter killed. I have a couple of sports of SDLM that are alive but only 18" tall and barely hanging on. I have killed a number of less vigorous bourbons which I think is due to a combination of blackspot pressure and hard winters.

Most of my thriving bourbons are grafted on multiflora from Pickering. That seems to give them more vigor. The own-root Coupe de Hebe also seems to have enough natural vigor not to need grafting. But the SDLM sports are own-root and I think would be better if I could find a more vigorous grafted one. I give them the same culture as my other roses (though Mme Ernst and Zephy have a bit more shade than average and seem not to complain about it), just some organic fertilizer in spring, and mulch.

Ingrid - I did try to identify my mystery bourbon last year by posting here. Kim thought it might be Eugene de Beauharnais. I just compared it to the EdB pictures on HMF again. It does look exactly like some of the pictures, although other pictures show a completely different color. Also, there are hardly any pictures of bushes, which makes it difficult to compare. I guess the blooms are so beautiful that that's all anyone every takes pictures of!

Jackie

Jackie, I grew EdB for a while and it seemed to want to stay rather short. If your bush wants to get tall and lusty then perhaps it's another one. Also, looking at your buds and half-opened blooms it seems dissimilar to my EdB. Whatever it is, it's beautiful and perhaps its name isn't all that important.

Ingrid

Like others in the mid-Atlantic, I find Bourbons hard to grow here. They blackspot in a blink. I grew several in Santa Fe and they were happy as clams with a minimum of soil amendments. Here, I struggle with them. However, the second year I was here--before I realized Bourbons would have so many problems--I was the landscaper at one of the local country clubs and I planted two Louis Odier at the front entrance. They have done wonderfully. Lots of sun, each has plenty of space, and nobody ever waters them because the club can no longer afford a full-time gardener.