As I recall, the true "American Beauty" rose is a deep pink shrub, and a very finicky grower, but so beautiful that other similar looking roses were called "American Beauty" to ride on its coattails. So there are other roses out there called "American Beauty" but they aren't necessarily the same thing. Frau Karl Drushki was called White American Beauty because a) calling anything "American Beauty" increased sales and b) we were at war with Germany at the time so German names were a big no-no in the American marketplace. HelpMeFind does not list any North American nurseries selling White American Beauty, Cl. All the ones that do have it are in Europe and are selling it as Frau Karl Drushki, Cl. Buying one in the US seems to mean getting an imposter. But if you're happy with it, who cares!

I'm back from a weekend in Charlottesville and seeing Tufton Farms, which was lovely! It was great to see you Connie! It took all my willpower not to buy more roses after your talk. Ann, almost all my peonies bloomed except for a few I had transplanted or newly planted last fall which hadn't settled in. Christopher, I got my Quatre Saesons Royale from Sherando roses which is no longer doing business. Randy thought it was slightly different from the Four Season Rose hence the name, but I now forget what the difference is and don't have the other to compare. This one stays small (it does suffer from blackspot later on and is runty) and I just snap the buds off and not prune it back, but I could try to take some cuttings for you. Gringo, I think Munstead Woods is my favorite red! I would recommend it. Thanks La vie. My roses have picked up in my absence and are almost fully bloom now! Here's a shot with Cornelia, Constance Spry, and The Generous Gardener

I am the original poster of this message. I haven't had a chance to take photos yet but I will do that soon. I remember when I looked on the ground around the base of my roses, it was as if the leaves had just disintegrated. The leaves weren't even in big enough pieces to see what happened to them. As I said before, I had been distracted with houseguests and other things for awhile so I didn't notice this problem until it was way too late to look at the leaves and try to diagnose what happened. The leaves just seemed to have ended up on the ground as a sawdust-like material. I will look tonight to see if there are any new signs of leaves. They have been without leaves for a long time now. I did think of one thing that I did differently this spring. In addition to an extremely steamy, humid and wet spring and early summer, I put down a heavy layer of shredded wood mulch from Southern States. Not sure exactly what it was comprised of. I usually use a thin layer of pine chips.

Usually, roses drop foliage due to water stress or disease. If the plant isn't able to absorb enough water to keep growing and flowering, it sheds the leaves to stop transpiration, sweating, which generates the siphon necessary to carry water and absorbed nutrients from the roots to the cane tips. Loss of foliage means the plant can't feed itself as there is only the photosynthesis going on in the green cane parts. If the sun and heat are intense enough, the canes can be scalded, sun burned, which can kill them outright. The other common cause is due to fungal attack. Are you seeing abnormally high levels of black spot or rust infections on either plant? Are these grown against hot walls where the reflected/radiated heat is "cooking" them? Are they surrounded by hard scape, side walks, patios, etc., which may also be cooking them with unusually high reflected/radiated heat? How is the drainage under these two plants? Does the soil stay moist or does it appear to dry out completely? Perhaps they aren't receiving enough water to battle the heat they experience, or the soil is so porous it doesn't maintain sufficient water reserves to keep the roses leaved out successfully over the hotter period? It is quite common for larger plants, climbers in particular, to have "bare knees". The foliage at that level is older and often that portion of the plant doesn't receive enough light to maintain healthy, productive foliage so the plant sheds them. If your plants are bare up where they should have productive, healthy foliage, you have some serious issues which need diagnosing and correction. Good luck! I hope something here points you in the right direction to fix your rose problem. Kim