The best way to keep roses healthy is to do some research and buy the ones that have a good reputation for being healthy. Roses have a wide range of disease resistance, as you've already found by comparing Knockout to Peace.

My husband is allergic to chemical sprays, so I don't have the option to spray even if I wanted to. I planted only the most disease resistant roses such as Knockout and Harlow Carr in the front yard, and they will keep their leaves without the need to spray. Most of the rest of my roses are in the backyard where they can lose most of their leaves without offending anyone. Gertrude Jeckyll loses all but the top 6 leaves on each cane every summer. But no one sees her and I grow her mostly to harvest the flowers for bouquets, so that's ok with me.

An example of a good red climbing rose is Dublin Bay. Here's a picture. This rose keeps its leaves and had at least a few flowers blooming all summer long for me.

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If you get the David Austin catalog, pay close attention to the rose descriptions. If they make a big deal over how healthy the rose is, then it might be worth the risk to get it. You will still need to grow it for a couple years in your own yard to see how it does for you before you make a final decision.

You can also lurk or do searches in the Roses forums for healthy roses and disease resistant roses. That really helped me when I first fell in love with roses. Now I have a lot of wonderful roses that I would never have known about if I hadn't gone there.

All the best, and hope you find some great new roses that make you happy.

Lois in PA

Lois has wonderful advice, and i wanted to add that someone posted on the roses forum that watering everysingle day made a huge difference in their roses. I usually water everyother day, and i never really focused on roses, just kinda sprayed the hose around. Next year im going to make sure i water everyday and be generous to my roses. And make a point to not spray the leaves. Are you using a granular fertilizer? I plan on using those and i heard something about a seaweed tea i might try. Good luck to you! I know i could use a little luck myself! :)

There's a bunch of people that will be happy to help you on the rose forum and the antique rose forum. I just started growing roses last year, so I ask a lot of questions on both forums. You can also check with nurseries and other gardeners in your area. You may have a Master gardener or university near by that can help you too.

Water is really important, especially if you have hot summers like we do here in eastern Washington. I'm sure you know it's important to water roses at the roots, not the leaves, so be sure to put the hose right around the bottom of the plant. Most of the roses do not like getting their leaves wet, especially when it's sunny. (Mine never seem to like it, but we don't get a lot of rain here in the summer.)

It's also important to know what kind of soil you have, whether it's clay, sand or a combination. I think aged horse manure is the best fertilizer, which I mix almost with equal parts of the soil when I plant mine. I have all clay soil and without manure and some gypsum it turns to cement in the summer. Your soil might be very different.

There should be a lot of roses that will do well in your zone 6 area. What colors do you like? What are your favorite fragrances? Do you like roses that rebloom all summer, or would you sacrifice that for a really wonderful damask or centifolia that only blooms for four to six weeks? It's important (in my humble opinion) that the roses you grow be worth the trouble, so make sure you find roses that you really enjoy :)

thanks so much for the info...I ordered a David Austin Catalog. I didn't know about watering the roses every day - I don't believe I do that - it's probably more like every other day. I'll definitely try that next season. This year we had 24 out 30 days of rain here in June, so I'm sure that didn't help.

I do use a granulated slow-release fertilizer, but also compost and sometimes alfalfa pellets. I do water from the bottom now.

I think I'll check out the rose forums - thanks again!

Estelle