I am in Pinellas County, but I guess it is a similar climate for roses. I have Don Juan too and it's great. Last year I planted Our Lady of Guadalupe and it is amazing for me so far. Tons of scented pink flowers. The only rose I have that is blackspot free without spraying is Louis Philippe. It is own root but has been a slow grower. My list of other roses (I still have them so they are at least somewhat good)All on fortuniana unless otherwise noted: -Gold Metal -Belinda's dream -Scentimental -Neptune -Iceberg, Burgundy *gets lots of blackspot but springs back -Chihuly -Hot cocoa -Queen Mary 2 (on Dr Huey/5 years old and still very vigorous) -Natchitoches Noisette (own root 2 yrs old) -Tiffany -Elle -Celine forestier (own root 2 years old) -St. Patrick -Souvenir de la malmaison -Cherry Parfait -Double delight (I am giving it one last chance) -Gruss an Aachen- (brand new, I don't know the rootstock) I removed these duds from my garden: -Mister Lincoln (I planted 2 of them in the same spot, the definition of insanity) -Lime Sublime (very disease prone) -About Face -Teasing Georgia

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

Welcome Minirose1 and Bunny6! The Ozarks forum has been kind of slow lately. I don't know about everyone else but I'm having a reeeally hard time keeping up with mowing and pulling weeds. All the extra rain we've had is making it impossible to catch up. I LOVE roses but only have a couple. I have been wanting to get some disease resistant varieties but my Japanese Beetles are increasing every year so I've been putting it off. Here's a photo of Sevillana, a Meilland shrub rose, click to enlarge: A few years ago, I gave up on spraying it to get rid of black spot but this year it doesn't have any spots on the leaves (so far). I was going to just let it die and replace it but it's still around. I think it started doing better after I decided to let it die. Must've scared it. lol My hubby bought a Double Knockout rose for me for Mother's Day this year. I think knockout roses get some criticism for being overused but I would much rather have something reliable like that than something unusual that takes a lot of care. I had a Fairy rose for several years but the late freeze last year killed it. : ( Here's an article at the Missouri Botanical Gardens website that lists some disease resistant roses: Here is a link that might be useful: Mobot - Black Spot

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.