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

jerijen I'm just saying that soil & water pH may not be the problem, it might be the type of rugosa that she has. I was commenting about the heat only because of what you said you had experienced recently. I love many things about KS, but the heat plus humidity in summer is not one of them. Not having to use A/C sounds wonderful. I think michaelg is right. Get rid of the plant. There are others (other rugosa hybrids or other types of roses) that should do much better for her. Wal-Mart isn't the best of places to get roses. As you found out bug_girl deals are not necessarily all they're cracked up to be. So what kind of rugosa did you buy or did it just say 'Rugosa' and you don't really know exactly what it is? We're all here trying to help. Spraying it might not be doing it any good either. Rugosa don't do well with spraying. Shovel pruning the rose is a good suggestion. I'd listen especially to the advice given by those who live in CA.

I second Rotesmeer and would also suggest Schneekoppe. It is white with a hint of lavender, one of the Pavement series. Said to only reach 3' x 3' I'd have to say mine reached 4 feet in only a couple of years. The Pavement series in general are dense, healthy roses that are good for low hedging. Most have semi-double blooms that look good all year. I once tried to catalog all known Pavement roses, here are the ones I've located: Pierette Pavement, aka Yankee Lady - light pink - z3b Purple Pavement, aka Rotesmeer, Exception - purple crimson - z3b Snow Pavement, aka Schneekoppe - white with a hint of lavender - z3b Foxi Pavement, aka Buffalo Gal - deep pink - z3b Pink Pavement, aka Showy Pavement and Rokoko - orange-pink - z3b Pristine Pavement, aka Schneeberg - white - z6b Scarlet Pavement, aka Rote Apart - med. red - z6b Snowflake Pavement, aka Schneeflocke - white w/pink edges - z4b White Pavement, aka Snow Owl - white - z3b Dwarf Pavement, aka Zwerg, Rosa Zwerg, Admiration - med. pink - z3b Scarlet and Pristine Pavements may not be hardy for you as they are rated to z6b. Another rugosa hybrid whose blooms alway look fresh to me is Jens Munk. It is one of the Canadian Explorer series.

In answer to your questions about lopsided plants, the reason everyone has been cautioning you to only cut back the dead parts not the actively growing parts of your rose is that you don't want the plant to put on a big growth spurt now before winter. That tender growth is likely to die when true winter hits, then the rose has spent energy needlessly rather than saving its strength for the spring push. Roses tend to grow fairly enthusiastically after pruning, sometimes starting from the point where they are pruned. So in the spring (not now) you could trim the last remaining cane on that second picture down a little and it should respond by branching out from the cut point and filling out a little more fully. If you add some alfalfa to the base of the plant under your mulch (or scratch it lightly into the soil) in the spring, you may promote some "basal breaks". Basal breaks are new canes sprouting from the base of the plant, and those could replace the dead ones you're needing to prune out now. Rugosas are pretty tough roses, so keep things as simple as you can. In your zone, you shouldn't worry about winter protection for rugosas beyond some mulch to keep out the weeds. You'll be fine! Cynthia