I grow lots of the roses you list, but I do spray monthly and have no disease problems at all with any of them as long as I have had them and am faithful to the spray schedule. Here is what I have found out about these roses when I have been behind spraying for several months like last Fall when I was in hospital all Fall season. 23x Double Delight (creamy white swirled with strawberry red) NO MILDEW OR BS WHEN NOT SPRAYED-GREAT ROSE 23x Mr. Lincoln (dark red) CAN MILDEW WITHOUT SPRAY 15x Fragrant Cloud (coral red) CAN MILDEW VERY SLIGHTLY 13x Chrysler Imperial (burgundy red) FAIRLY RESISTANT 13x Gertrude Jekyll (rose pink) 13x Jude the Obscure (honey) 10x Crimson Glory 10x Lemon Spice (patel yellow tinted pale pink) 9x Abraham Darby (Austin, apricot blend) 9x Francis Dubruiel (dark true red) 9x Papa Meilland (dark red) WILL BS AND MILDEW W/OUT SPRAY 8x Evelyn (Austin, apricot pink blend) 8x Heirloom (dark mauve blend) VERY GOOD RESISTANCE FOR ME 8x Rose de Rescht (vivid fuchsia) 8x Secret (white tipped pink) WILL MILDEW W/OUT SPRAY 8x Sharifa Asma (Austin, pearly pink) 8x Sunsprite (bright yellow) GET JULIA CHILD INSTEAD!!!! 8x Sweet Chariot (purple blend) 8x Tiffany (pink/yellow blend) GREAT RESISTANCE/GREAT ROSE! 7x Angel Face (1968, dusky mauve) PM AND BS MAGNET FORGETABOUTIT!!! 7x Melody Parfumee (deep plum fading to clear lavender) VERY RESISTANT AND HEALTHY. WONDERFUL BLOOM AND FRAGRANCE. 7x The McCartney Rose (ruffled, few petals) FAIR RESISTANCE 7x Yves Piaget (Romantica, hot pink) 6x Granada (yellow, orange, scarlet tricolor) BS AND MILDEW 6x Just Joey (clear apricot) 6x Mirandy GOOD RESISTANCE 6x Scentimental (white striped with red) VERY GOOD RESISTANCE AND BEAUTIFUL FRAGRANT BLOOMS FOR ME 6x Secret Garden Musk Climber 6x Zephirine Drouhin (cerise pink) MILDEW!!!!!! MIGHT I SUGGEST YOU TRY JULIA CHILD, DAYBREAKER, OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE, AND POPE JOHN PAUL II FOR GREAT GARDEN ROSES? I DON'T THINK YOU WOULD BE SORRY.... JOHN

Hi Marlorena, There were a couple of threads a short while back about Filroses and importing their plants into the U.S.. I got some mixed messages about inspections and a quarantine that are required (or not). I am still totally mixed up, but my impression is that getting Filroses plants into, say, Canada, is a lot easier than into the U.S. Even Pickering in Canada has had recent troubles with U.S. red tape. I should contact Filroses and see what they say, but negative info about importing plant material has dampened my enthusiasm. Thanks so much for your comments, though. I still need that diplomat with the locking attache case, I guess. Diane

Re: Fragrance in Julia Child (and other roses, for that matter) Undoubtedly conditions where the rose is grown (weather, soil, light, etc) have something to do with the fragrance expressed. Nonetheless, our ability to detect fragrance is very individual, and varieties of roses smell different to different people. Some people can detect strong, appealing fragrances in tea roses, for example, while others think they smell about as fragrant as a piece of paper. Some people are devoted to the scent of Souvenir de la Malmaison, while others think it smells unappealing. I find that David Austin roses with a myrrh fragrance smell like chemicals to me, but others find them to be sweet and licorice-like. So whether or not Julia Child has a strong, appealing fragrance is going to be partly down to the noses we are equipped with. To me she smells like bananas (probably in part due to her color, which influences how our brains interpret scent).

Another fun comparison: Left: RU, Distant Thunder, Own Root, I’ve had it about 1 month. This plant had the thinnest stems of the three, also had smaller root ball than the K&M. Very healthy, put out a lot of new growth Middle: Wayside, Molineaux, Bare Root, Dr Huey, also had it about a month. By far the thickest stems, but of course being bare root had to grow new feeder roots. Good progress, there’s even a bud. Right: K&M, Buxom Beauty ,Fortuniana, just arrived today. Thicker stems than the RU rose, also had a very dense rootball. Was trimmed short significantly to fit in packing box so most of the mature foliage is gone, but lots of new growth remains, even 2 buds. I’m very happy with all three providers, and thankful that I’m able to get hard-to-find varities in mid summer in great health!