I live in the Washington DC area north of the city. I grow Felicia in a shaded area that only gets about 3 hours of sun a day. The rose is disease resistant with me and is well foliated most of the time in most years. On my subjective BS resistance scale I would give it about an 80 -85 on a scale of 100 and there are no 100s. New Dawn and Pearle de Or rate about 90 on my scale. It is upright vase like and about 4' wide and 5-7' tall with my minimal pruning and is own root and probably 15 -20 years old. It has great fragrance and enjoyed by all who pass it by. Since it tolerates my large tree shaded area without spray, fertilizer ( it survives well with just mulch most years) and not water, it would probably rank reasonably as an Earth Kind rose in my conditions. I am pleased that I have it in my collection of hybrid musks. Best, Nick

I have one planted under a Jacaranda. It gets morning sun. It's healthy, but suffers the most from aphids, the buds are covered in them. Mine is 2yo and is 4' high by 3' wide. The scent is lovely, by far the free-est in my garden. Sadly, the blooms only look pretty for an hour or two after opening, then the petals curl back and fade. I don't spray, but I do fertilize.

Thank you , titian and ogroser, for your information on Felicia. Haven't quite made a final decision (I've been looking at Penelope also), but I'm strongly leaning towards getting them both now. : )

Kate

Kate, I have a young Felicia and she is one of my most pleasing roses! I love her and she sparked my acquisition of other HMs. The fragrance is amazing. If I am pruning downwind in the mornings I can get a whiff.
She fades quite a bit in the heat of summer but is a pretty pink and blooms all the time! My most floriferous rose. She is in mostly sun all day...
She is so amazing she is worth taking a chance for!
Let me know if you order Penelope.....I am looking forward to seeing Francesca grow this summer.
Susan

I'm glad to hear good words for Felicia cuz I'm quite taken by her also. I'm pretty sure she will be one choice. At present, the second choice is now the Hybrid Noisette (usually listed as a Bourbon) called Boule de Neige--but I'm still waiting for more comment on that choice before making my final decision. If Boule isn't workable, I shall probably go back to Penelope for my second choice.

These selections will join my Buff Beauty (HybMusk) along the back fence (blocking out the alley beyond--but there are also lots of purple and purple and white clematis back there also. I will shut out the view with a wall of beautiful flowers!

Do let us know how Francesca does next summer.

Kate

Kate, I don't have much to offer since my Felicia is so new. I decided to try her due to poorbutroserichâÂÂs praise and so far very glad that I did. My Felicia was tiny when I got her late this Augustâ¦only a few inches tall in a one gallon pot. I potted her up to a five gallon and hereâÂÂs a pic of her this morning. Her pot has been in an area with a couple hours of morning sun and a couple of hours of early evening sun with shade the rest of the day. She'll be in more sun when planted, but shade hasn't seemed to bother her...she's grown like a weed and bloomed like crazy. That big cane just seemed to appear overnightâ¦if it had been on one of my modern grafted roses, I would have cut it off thinking it was rootstock. No disease issues so far and was never without the sweetest smelling bloomsâ¦I quit trying to disbud since vigor didnâÂÂt seem to be an issue for her. Color does fade quickly, but still beautiful.

Thank you, Pat, for that testimony to the vigor of Felicia--which I'm glad to hear. At my age, I don't want to be waiting around for years before a rose finally gets around to doing some actual blooming. : )

Kate

Hi Kate

Since we're in similar zones, I can attest that Felicia likes our relatively dry climates and blooms fine for me in part shade. I don't think she blooms as long or as vigorously as Wilhelm, and she certainly isn't as tall. I can't recall how old she is, but since I got her from Ashdown she has to be more than 5 years old, but mine hovers between 3 and 4 without any particular pruning. She is very disease resistant as ogrose points out, though not as tall for me, and her rebloom is good but the individual bloom beauty would make up for the less prolific bloom. My recommendation would be for something like Wilhelm or Cornelia to balance out Felicia, since Penelope has a more similar bloom to my eye. Still, they'd complement each other well and I think hybrid musks in our zones are a win-win combination.

I have a photo of my Felicia in another hybrid musk thread on this column so I won't repeat it, but let me know if you have other questions that I can provide an opinion on from a similar zone.
Cynthia

Thank you, Cynthia, for the additional info. I've definitely decided Felicia is a winner and I've got to get her!

I do have a spot along the back alley fence--on the other end beyond the gate--might be a good place to consider adding Penelope, but at the moment it has been growing rather wild over there and it will take some effort to clean it out. So I'm putting it off for now--since I'm not sure how much my aching back can still manage planting big roses. We'll see--and Penelope is on the reserve list. Thanks again.

Kate

Kate, I was surprised to read that Nippstress says Felicia and Penelope have similar blooms. i have them planted next to each other, and mine look nothing alike. As I've said before, my Felicia's blooms go raggedy within a couple of hours of opening (but I'm keeping her for the scent). Penelope's blooms are the most beautiful, fragile things, the palest peach, fading to white. They're a deal larger than Felicia, and mostly in large trusses. I would post a photo but my camera's given up the ghost.
It shows how differently roses can look in different climates.

Trish.

Trish, I will keep the difference in mind for future reference. Like I said earlier, I have a spot down at the other end of the back alley fence where I could plant another rose--after I get that spot cleaned out--growing kinda wild over there--couple tree-lets have tried to plant themselves there. Not sure how soon I'll get that corner cleaned out, but it will happen sometime next summer. : )

Kate

Kate, FWIW, I have Boule de Neige coming this spring. She seems to get pretty huge. Again, I am coming from a place of high humidity and low winter chill. Tammy Y on HMF has an amazing photo of the vigor of her BdN.
And Pat, I am thrilled *blush* that I recruited another Felicia fan! I cannot wait to see Francesca do her thing. And the Lens HM I ordered.
Susan

That's interesting, Trish - between those roses in my zone, I'd definitely give Felicia the edge in beauty, delicacy, size, and staying power over Penelope. In our heat, I don't get any of the peach hints in the latter, and she gets a bit mucky colored and scruffy looking in the July-Aug. heat. Just goes to show we need GW with input from people in different areas, to let the various roses show their best in the regions where they grow best.

Cynthia

I have both Penelope and Felicia...I say "have" with some trepidation in view of the -40 degrees in my weather forecasted for Monday, but I digress...

My Penelope I actually moved a 12 year specimen of last year (I got 3 as my very first 'OGRs' and moved 1 from my old home because I couldn't bear to leave them all behind) just because I WANTED the 2 next to each other. Imagine that, getting so emotionally attached to a plant. ;-) (preaching to the crowd here, right?)

They're are about 10 feet apart now. Felicia I got in 2010 as a band. The 2 are now roughly the same size after the hacking I had to do to safely lift and transport the 12 year old Penelope last year...so about 3 feet square.

The flowers are very harmonious next to each other. Penelope gets a peachy pink heart in my yard...and Felicia gets a lovely golden blush in hers. Sort of yin and yang thing going on. Felicia has larger petals than Penelope that, as already stated, are oh-so-delicate and fade quickly in the heat. I have mine in partial shade, which she likes (Penelope gets more sun, we'll see if the 2 argue about this as time goes on). Felicia's scent is by far my favorite of the 2.

The plants have very similar growth habits (at least my 2 do)...again, they are so very harmonious next to each other. Disease resistance very similar...both get some blackspot...both defoliate to some extent from said BS...but neither has ever looked like a total dog to me. But, as newer plants to my current garden, I'm not going to say that anyone else's experience would perfectly match mine.

I'd share a photo of the 2 blooms together in 1 image but I didn't get one last year since Penelope was moved just last year (a move I might well regret in a couple days, ugh). Separate it is.

Penelope
{{gwi:330992}}
May, 2013

Felicia
{{gwi:330993}}
May, 2012

Cheers!
~Anika

Here is a link that might be useful: GothicLibrarian.net

Well, I went ahead and order Felicia and Boule de Neige, so I'm glad all these postings are reinforcing my choices. You people seem to love your Felicia/Boule (depending on which you grow). That says something positive right there!

Thanks everybody.

Kate

Lovely photos Gothiclibrarian along with a thorough discussion of their relative merits in your yard! I'd love to see my Penelope looking half that nice. I didn't have photos posted of Felicia after all, so it's great to see them posted side by side in your post. They do have nice harmony and I'm sure Kate will love whatever she chooses.

Cynthia

I would also add that Penelope looks rather well in a 'wild' setting as it is a beautiful, but rangy creature (at least 7x7 feet), well suited to a bit of a battle between weeds and other garden thuggeries.....and absolutely topper on a supporting fence. I find hybrid musks in general to be deceptively tough roses, despite apparent fragility - they certainly are just the ticket in my chaotic tumble of unpruned and neglected corners of the allotment.

I love the HM's- I grow Cornelia and Buff Beauty (which is one of my all-time favorite roses), and would gladly plant any number of others. Prosperity and Francesca will most likely be included in my spring planting. (As if I NEED to plant more...)

BTW- Buff Beauty planted with purple and white clematis sounds like heaven.

zone 7/8, alabama, the pathway between insect heaven and rose hell, and felicia survives and does well.