I've been hoping some of the more expert rose growers would have an answer to your "disease resistance" question. Since you haven't had any input from others, I'll try to give you some hope. If you're from the interior of BC, you are most likely in awe of the disease problems plaqued by lower mainland rose growers, and I fear with the late damp conditions of late, this spring will be no exception. And of course there are few options for Canadian rose growers to use to combat disease. What I have found though, is that by carefully selection of cultivars, and some use of Safer's Defender (12% sulfur) I can keep blackspot reasonably under control. You may wish to check out the ADR roses on Kordes website. A few that I currently grow are Berolina, Eliza, Grande Amore, Aprikola, Lions-Rose, Rugelda, Alchymist, Moonlight and Laguna. There are many roses of course that exhibit reasonable resistance to disease. When choosing, I think it's probably best to go for the newer cultivars as they seem to be fairly disease resistant for at least the first few years. Please keep in mind, that I'm not expert in the growing of roses and this only my observations. I don't what class of roses you are interested in, so I'll add that the Gallicas are pretty much bullet proof in our climate, and of course it's always nice to have a few of the reliable species roses too. Here is a link that might be useful: Kordes Rosen

gertrude jeckyl does that.. darker pink in the middle, lighter pink on the outside swirls. I love the blooms on this rose. Disease resistance.. so so.. it blackspots, but not as badly as some others I have. Marleah

I am new to this forum. I have several different varieties of roses. I love roses, and I try to buy "extremely disease resistant" because of our moist climate. I find that the plants invariably end up with black spot. I carefully remove all the leaves I can find, sometimes leaving the plant with hardly any leaves! I am going on three years now, this year I think a couple of them really look much better but I am about ready to give up on them I am so tired of going around taking off all the diseased leaves! And yes, I do wash my hands between plants and I clean my pruners (learned that the hard way!). I have a climbing variety (don't have the name handy at the moment) that started out looking pretty good early on this year (I've had it for 3 years). It is fairly shaded, but when I bought it I searched for a climber that could tolerate shade. It is putting out tons of blooms and looks good from a distance but up close it is a mess! I have put so much work into that plant, but it is beating me down! Any tips for the winter, other than building up the mulch at the base? Any tips on a good "fertilizer" or treatment that doesn't stink, preferably organic? Also, do roses that are supposed to be shade tolerant every really shade tolerant? Also, the aphids. I bought tons of lady bugs the last couple of years, let them go in my gardens and when I look for them a week or so later, they are nowhere to be found? Any suggestions on that one?

I think the advantage that David Austin has compared to other specialist rose nurseries is that they able to market their roses better and their brand is very well known and stands out. I do love the green logo and the fact they refer to their roses as "English roses" which conjures up images of drinking tea outside the garden. A lot of the Kordes roses don't appear to me much because they lack the defined shape and form of English roses. What I mean by that is when you look at the shape of David Austin roses, they look fascinating! Their appearances look like a piece of art : delicate petals and the complex arrangement of petals inside a shallow cupped blooms. Yes, most of them are not as healthy or bloom as much as other roses but I don't mind. It gives me work to do in the morning - keeps me healthy and fit. If a rose bloom too much it can ended up being boring so a shattered blooms here and there makes me look forward to see it bloom. Having said all that I do noticed a lot of their latest releases are very similar to their older varieties. Unless they change the look people will end up trying out newer roses from other companies. Take for instance Boscobel looks a bit like PAOK... but I love the name Boscobel and usually refer it to a "he" and I needed a "male" rose in the garden. If this rose was named something else like "The Endevour" I don't think I would have fallen in love with it.