Pam, I don't think Chamblees would care now, they no longer offer 'Basye's Blueberry'. Hamp, I don't know why Chamblees decided to clear out their entire stock of BB at reduced prices a couple of years ago when I bought mine. Le Jardin, I removed my BB this evening when I got home from work. I planted a native plant in its place ... red yucca. I'll take your advice and send Chamblees a note. Masha, I am so glad your BB shows no signs of the virus. It's a very nice rose. Randy

You're welcome! It's not odd that cooler zones will report more fragrance from many than warmer areas. Those in the cooler places are probably smelling them when the oils and alcohols are most volatile and smell the most. We in the warmer areas often miss out because they evaporate faster as the heat increases. Also, as aridity increases, the scents burn out faster. The various components of each rose's fragrance evaporate at different rates, so one may smell very Damask at first, quickly morphing into orris or citrus, finishing a completely different scent before losing any detectable trace for the day. Any user can access the Advanced Search, but Premium Membership permits you to specify multiple traits and types, where basic membership only provides Advanced Search using one criteria. Kim

Celeste, I love my 'Basye's Blueberry' It's one of the very, very few totally thornless roses, and since it's also healthy and nicely fragrant, I consider it to be a "break-through" rose. The bright yellow stamens contrast so well with its shade of pink. Its blooms are typically a lot smaller than my Thomas Affleck's blooms. I prune mine in the spring, and it reacts very well to it. Without pruning, I found it to be a little awkward growing. It's a fairly upright and open grower when left unpruned, but with some spring pruning, mine looks a lot more compact and bushy. Its blooms vary in size, depending upon the weather. If not deadheaded in the fall, it will have lots of hips. Of course, Basye's Blueberry is one of the parents of 'Thomas Affleck'. Sometimes I can see traits of Basye's Blueberry in my 'Thomas Affleck', but it also has many very good traits of its own. For example, I never have to prune my 'Thomas Affleck', yet it maintains a perfect, bushy, even habit all on its own. I could not possibly ask a rose to do more than what 'Thomas Affleck' has done in my garden. Thomas is top notch, high quality, in my opinion. If it weren't for the fact that Basye's Blueberry is so darn smooth & nicely fragrant, I probably would like Thomas Affleck even better than BB. Randy

You're welcome Sammy. You have to remember that any breeder of any type of plant can primarily only breed for resistance to the pressures of his/her climate. Visalia didn't have extreme disease pressures for decades. Mr. Moore selected his seedlings based upon health (where he was), ease of rooting, vigor and ease of growth own root, attractive appearance then any special characteristics he sought. These included stripes, mossing, decorative sepals like crested mosses and eventually the Halo trait. A very oft repeated admonishment was, "Create a good plant first. It's always easy to hang a pretty flower on it later." He played with many species, most often utilizing them with his brood of favored miniature breeders. Those he created with the above characteristics firmly in mind. Even with all that said, diseases mutated, climates changed and the rose continued to change the rules on him. He created a striped Rugosa hybrid with ruffled flowers he sent to Week's for evaluation. He was surprised to hear their reports that it was plagued by rust as that wasn't an issue in Visalia. The rose didn't demonstrate that issue there for several more years when there was appropriate weather to encourage the disease. It was very much the same situation reported about Joseph Pernet-Ducher when, about his Pernetianas, he was asked, "But, what about the black spot?" He responded, "WHAT black spot?" They didn't black spot where he developed and grew them. Black spot was really only an issue in the nursery, where thousands of small potted roses were grown, crowded in nursery flats on the tables, and then, usually only very early and very late in the year. Out in the open, or grown in pots with more beneficial spacing, even with the constant overhead irrigation, black spot was seldom an issue. When he raised roses which demonstrated unacceptable disease issues for him, he discarded them. His initial Bracteata hybrids can be plagued by rust in climates which foster the disease, but for him, there, they were clean. Out of Yesteryear, Star Dust and Out of the Night remain the healthiest of the bunch, followed by Pink Powderpuff, an amazing and truly beautiful climber. When I moved into a milder, damper climate, I found many of my favored breeders were no longer as healthy as I'd always found them. I polled other breeders, nursery owners and rose growers whose opinions I respect for suggestions of what to use instead. Mr. Moore's Cal Poly and Magic Wand were unanimous suggestions on every list. Both have been as healthy here as Strawn's Pink Petticoat. Of course, YMMV due to many factors and depending upon what diseases you're considering. In my climate, Linda Campbell is extremely healthy, but in higher disease pressure areas, she can develop slight mildew on new growth and a little black spot on her lower leaves. His My Stars has been reported to be very healthy everywhere I've heard people speak of it. It's half Playboy and half Basye's Legacy, and completely thornless. Legacy has been able to provide the rust resistance Playboy completely lacks in these parts. Resistance is honestly a very mixed bag. Dr. Buck bred for arctic hardiness as well as health, yet some of the many dozens of his roses I grew in my old Newhall garden were regularly ill from disease. A favorite I grew was Wandrin' Wind. I found the plant to be of exceptional beauty, and it completely defoliated from rust twice a year, as did most of the Morden series for me. Only a small handful of Hybrid Rugosas are worth growing in much of Southern California, mostly because of heavy rust infection. Healthy roses remain very climate specific. Kim