Do not feel guilty about taking out any rose that has gone to rootstock. It will eventually take over and kill your rose anyway. You're just speeding it along. For the others, life is short, do not waste emotions (let alone time, money and resources) on a rose you do not like, is unhealthy or unhappy. That is something I'm working on too. I always give those stupid one cane wonders another chance because they survived another winter and they inevitably fail me. Thankfully I lost nearly all of them last winter. And you know what? I didn't miss a one of them! The rest will go this spring and clear the slate for some new ones I've had my eye on but had no room for because I was hanging on to a bunch of dead horses. Be free of them and get some things you really love!

Two roses that have done really well for me in the summer heat are Carding Mill and Bishop's Castle. Carding Mill especially is a great bloomer and really tolerates the heat. Neither one has had disease in my garden except for an occasional touch of mildew on BC.

Have you considered Reve d'Or as a climber? Rather few thorns, beautiful blooms and a vigorous grower. Every warm-weather garden should have one.

Ingrid

Can't kill any roses, I just keep growing them. I have one 8 yrs old rambler called Blushing Lucy only blooms once a year in my cold zone, in other zones it's a re-bloomer. I thought about pulling it out in the past, but don't have the heart to do so, I planted a Renae next to it last year, so they can grow together and Renae will be blooming more in the growing season. So there is no need to get over it, just grow over it. :-)

You might consider offering the destined to be shovel pruned plants to a local gardener or garden society.

Thank you so much for responding. Nice to know that I am not the only one who considers these roses to be my kids and has trouble letting go.

Ingrid, the roses you mentioned are beautiful. I will give them some thought. I want everything on its own root as I have to mulch deeply due to heat and water restrictions.

Another rose that has always captured my eye is Dainty Bess. I think there is a book out which goes into the names of roses. I know certain ones are named after gardeners. Would love to know how Bess got her name. Whenever I see or hear of a Sally Holmes, I think of someone in blue jeans who rides horses, a country woman. Sorry for the hyjack here. It is just that kind of a day. Beautiful outside and I can't get out there and tend to my garden as I popped a rib falling this week at the gym. Ouch!

This is a bit off-topic, and I know it'll invite an unintended argument, but your tackling of roses which have "reverted to rootstock" is why I am happy I switched to own-root. I realize there are roses which some "must have" and simply fare poorly unless grafted/budded, but none of those (currently) factor in what I "must have." So that's one thing I'm happy to avoid.

ANYWAY, I've ripped out plants which I didn't want anymore. It's not like I'm driving a cultivar to extinction -- surely many more clones have perished under poor treatment, bad weather, disease, etc. We toss sentiment and adoration toward the members of our garden because of the joy their colors/scents give us, but at the end of the day, they're just plants -- and they are not capable of returning the feelings.

Certainly, if there's something salvageable about a plant you don't want -- and someone else wants it -- it's a good thing to "pass it on." If you're really generous, you could cut it back severely, pot it in a used nursery pot, write a sign saying "free for the taking" and set it at the curb. But if it makes you feel better, you can think of them as simply "pruned bits which were allowed to grow for a while" -- since essentially, that's what a clone is. By removing it, it's like you're saying "ah, nevermind" a few years after the effort.

;-)

~Christopher

^..that makes me feel a whole lot better...

With age, I find it increasingly difficult to just ditch things like I used to, but I still retain the capability... When the fateful day arrives I like to get the job done quickly and into the recycle bin. This is done the day before the men come to empty it, so it's not hanging around too long.... in case I change my mind...and I've done that before...
equally... I feel a huge sense of relief when I retrieve it in the nick of time, repot it and delay the decision...

..I really don't like having this kind of power...

Just list them on craigslist or facebook, & people will be thrilled to come get them, even digging them up.

years ago when i first acquired a "large" garden and discovered Roses of Yesterday and Today i decided that heritage roses were for me. after 4 yrs i realized my garden would never be big enough for those once a year bloomers. 30 magnificent perfectly healthy roses hit the street and since then i've never had a guilt problem. the plants are here for us, not we for the plants. although i don't believe in torturing them to death, but sometimes it happens.:-)

One life on earth, we are keepers for everything we own. There is always a good reason for a rose to show up in my garden, to grow in my soil , and everyone of them comes with a blooming tale, a tale scattered my journey with hundred and thousands beautiful blooms.......that's the reason I can't let it go even it only blooms once in a year, and shys away for all the other months. :-) Find the rose a new keeper if you're ready to let it go, it's not a hard thing to do if you ask your local rose society, or gardeners down the street, and it's always delightful to make someone happy to grow one more..... :-)
Anyway, off the topic a little to make you guys be the keepers for more lovely things. :-) IKEA (USA only) has STRANNE lamp on sale this month, it's not a normal lamp. It goes really well with any rose/flower bouquets for your table, or any garden parties by your roses at night/under the moonlight. It makes your life extremely dreamy! Check it out for yourself. :-)

AquaEyes, I am right with you on own root roses. The ones that I have on root stock I got before I knew better. In the climate where I live, it is hot, hot, hot in summer and we have water restrictions. I have to mulch deeply so for me, own root is the way to go.

Mustbenuts, W.E.B. Archer, who raised Dainty Bess, and quite a few other roses, used to dominate the RNRS rose shows with his daughter. Bess was Archer's wife. As you've no doubt read, you don't name junk for your wife. In his eyes, at that time (1925), in Britain, Dainty Bess was the rose which spoke to him as representing all his wife meant to him. Nice. Kim

That says a whole lot since it's one of the most beautiful roses I've ever grown! As I've said before, there is more elegance and beauty in those 5 petals than in most any other rose with 100 petals.

There is in MOST other single HTs. Lulu has wonderfully elegant buds. Irish Elegance is light, airy, elegant and simply gorgeous. Cecil is like a lemon yellow candle flame. White Wings (daughter of Bess) is like huge, tropical butterflies. Ellen Willmott (also daughter of Bess) often has scalloped petals and wears much better "clothes" than her mom. Frances Ashton has enormous, deep pink petals also with maroon "eye lashes". There are quite a few gorgous, elegant single HTs with rather large flowers. Real beauties, all of them. Kim

I give mine to friends or take them to the garden club" for sale" table. People think I am very generous!! If only they knew. Roses should give you joy. If they don't, give them away and bask in your friends joy.

I love my Dainty Bess, but another single that is quite elegant and growing more so with each year is my Morden Sunrise. It's not a hybrid tea, but it is plenty lovely and just as tough as "Dainty" Bess.
I just wanted to mention how much I admire Seil's positive attitude about the terrible loss of 67 of her roses. While some of us (me) might just give in to pessimism, Seil sees the positive side of this loss-a new adventure with some new roses that just may be a whole lot better than some of the old ones, plus she gets to enjoy picking out all those new plants.
Here's a pic of Morden Sunrise. Diane

Oh, thank you all for your history lesson and suggestions. I have to run off to work but can't wait to get home and take a look at the suggestions and see if I want to try one of them instead. I do love Dainty Bess and want to see her offspring!

Does anyone grow Madame Driout or Mrs. LJ Smith?

I can tell you that Madame Driout is not an easy rose to grow. I recently decided to try again after I lost the last one to disease. Perhaps she'd like zone 9 better than zone 8. We can have serious problems with Downy Mildew in wet winters.
I rarely pull out a rose. I'm patient with their imperfections. I also have a lot of room. You should never feel guilty. There are plenty of those roses alive. Giving them away would have been nice, but more work too.

My experience with Mmd. Driout was similar to Pamela's. I WANTED to like her as she is striped and a different type than the other stripes in that garden. She was extremely sensitive to aridity induced mildew, requiring much more attention to regular, more intense waterings than the other roses around her and her flower petals were just too fragile for the heat, sun and wind extremes of that 9a, mid desert garden. She is a pretty rose...elsewhere. Kim

Your garden should be a place of beauty and joy, and eying roses that you don't like or aren't doing well is not conducive to that feeling. This is your domain and the garden police will not be coming around to chide you. Make your garden a place you love, and don't agonize over the mistakes that we all encounter. My garden right now has only 58 roses, and a malingerer is going to be noticed, by me if no one else. This is one area in our lives where we can be creative and have fun, and why ruin that experience with roses that lessen the overall impact of the garden? To me that would be a false economy and actually rather depressing.

Ingrid

If it is a robust, healthy plant, just not to my taste, I do try to find it a new home. Often I can.

If it is disease prone or unsatisfactory for some other reason such as sparse bloom or awkward, unattractive growth, I feel no guilt in discarding it.

Rosefolly

I feel guilty about roses I know are comparatively rare in Sweden or given to me by the original rustler or a friend. I feel it is my duty to try to keep them. I feel less guilty when I lose a rose after the end of the national five-year investigation of found roses when1500 roses were planted in a trial field in the south, including my found roses. But I still have a few good clones of well-known roses I feel responsible for. My comfort is that most roses are available in other countries if not in Sweden.

I also feel bad about losing a rose I have imported with some cost and trouble but have to accept that the rose probably was not a good choice for my climate.

Photo from the trial field in the Fredriksdal rosarium with the curator of the rosarium and a gardener.

This post was edited by mariannese on Mon, Jan 12, 15 at 6:14

Thank you all for your advice and pictures. I just LOVE them! After a weekend of being laid up again (fell off a machine at the gym and totally wrecked my back but am finally feeling a bit better now), I am hopingto get out there and prune this coming three day (can you say YEA!) weekend! Still on the fence about my climber as she is throwing out all sorts of laterals right now so this could be a good bloom year unlike prior years. She may have just had to have more time to come into her own.

However, I am seeing that there are all sorts of little oak trees and other plants coming up through my rose bushes due to the mulch and birds. UGH! I may have lost my Sharifa Asma because of it if I can't pull them out. I have a feeling my garden is going to be very sparse this year due to a bunch of new roses going in to replace my old ones. Evelyn and Ambridge are reverting back to rootstock, so out they go. I have oak trees growing up in my Sharifa Asma as well as Evelyn, Mary Webb and now one of my Brother Cadfaels! I also have another unidentified bush growing up in my Peach Blossom. So it looks like I pretty much get to start from scratch all over again. Looks like an expensive year!