Can't tell you about rose growing in Florida, but I wanted to assure you that Scepter'd Isle is not really a big rose. It has slender canes that arch over so that it doesn't appear to be more than 3-4 ft tall l-- well, in Kansas anyway. Not what I'd call a space hog at all--and the loveliest delicate pink blooms. Good re-bloom also. Mine gets several hours of shade in the afternoon--that helps.

Good luck--wish someone would give me such a birthday gift!

Thats great to hear. I do have "the Shepherdess" and she's been well behaved and remained compact. I also have heritage and its not been too bad so far. But Evelyn has been a monster. And Jude The Obscure wants to be a climber too, so I don't want to end up with any more like that.

Happy Birthday. I feel like I almost know you, though I don't really. Just a brief meeting at the sale the other day. Anyway, several on your list is my to die for list. In fact I was hoping to get several of the above at Cool's but will have to wait for fall.

I have Sharifa Asma on own root. It is not thriving, in fact it has die back, but that is not going to stop me. I will replace it on the Fortuniana root stock. I just love this rose. It is really beautiful and it smells divine. In fact it is one of my favorites!!!!! Though I can't recommend it over Scepter D 'Isle Brother Cadfael because they are both on my short list. How funny is that we are wanting the same roses.

I also think the Pink Enchantment is beautiful..... though I have not seen this person. I just like the way it looks in photos.

You need to post some pictures of your garden.

Again happy birthday and good luck with your picks. Let us know what you get.

Thanks Sharon!!

I have heritage on its own roots and it seems to be doing ok. It was a small band when i got it and now it has about 6-7 canes that are like 3.5 feet tall. I'm thinking with time she may do well because she's grown pretty well thus far, so I guess time will tell. I'm a huge fan of the austins but a lot of them get too big for my garden. I have no problem pruning them back but not if its going to severely reduce flowering so its kind of trail and error.

Dublin Bay says Sharifa Asma stays smallish so thats promising. I hope she does the same in our climate, but I doubt it. Worth a try though :)

Wow, thats a great shot. If it ever looks like that in my yard I'd be in awe!

Scepter'd Isle on fortuniana will get pretty good size. Fairly tall (6') but not really wide (3 1/2'). I grew it in Fl. for several years and brought one with me when I moved to N.E. GA. I wouldn't be without it. Really a great rose. Summer Sun should do really great from everything I've seen about it. I'd take Beverly over Wedding Bells. Just a personal thing. I'd give Jubilee Celebration a shot and see how it does. You don't want Pink Enchantment. I have it up here and it is so packed with tight petals it won't open in my heat and humidity, so I'm pretty it won't open in S.E. FL. Mine is on the way out. It grows well and sets buds quickly that get ready to open and they just sit there and rot. This rose needs hot and DRY conditions to do well.

Oh wow Ken, THAT is good to know. I had the same problem with Clotilde Soupert. Blooms wouldn't open. But not all of them, just sometimes. I might just have to get Scepter'd Isle after all.

Hey, Im in NW Ga and Pink Traviata takes forever to repeat but last a long time in a vase. I also have a bunch of Gruss and its to die for. Love it and the pink one. It repeats very well and has the most beautiful colors. It last quite a few days in the vase also, longer if you cut them as buds fixing to open. Boscobel does great in a vase and repeats very fast. Jublilee Celebration does well to repeat and last a good 5 days in vase. Have fun choosing.

Summer sun is beautiful but burnt easily in the sun in Orlando. I am returning it to Lowe's today ... :(

My Sharifa lasted a day if I am lucky, and not cupped shaped at all. It opened too fast, mostly while I am at work. I think it is too hot here for her..

Hi, I'm in Gainesville, Florida and I have grown Rosarian Uetersen and Aloha very successfully on their on roots. I grow both as shrubs. Aloha is upright and Rosarian Uetersen tends to sprawl, both are quite vigorous. My own root roses can be slow for the first year, but by the 3rd year they have overtaken my grafted ones. My own roots tend not to decline with time like the grafted ones. I plant potted roses at any time of the year.

Excellent Val. Thanks for sharing.

Happy Belated Birthday! If you have limited space, I cannot recommend Brother Cadfael. He throws out huge canes. I now have one that is about 6 feet tall. For some reason this year he had just gotten bigger than ever. That is with severe pruning. He mostly stands about 5 feet tall. Good first bloom then sporadic afterwards. He doesn't like the heat and will bloom when it cools down. Scent to die for! Not great as a cut flower. I adore this rose and will never be without it.

Here he is as a baby plant. He is very easy to start on his own root. Which is what this picture shows.

Here is a more established version that I cut back to about 2 feet in January. This is his picture in May. Those rungs are 4 inches apart and the arbor starts at about 6 inches off the ground. You can barely make out the first rung.

Sharifa Asma. Love that rose. Gets to be about 3--4 feet by 3--4 feet. Great first blush. Spotty afterwards. Poor rebloom until it cools down again. Scent to die for. Gorgeous blooms. Love that rose but she got the shovel prune this year. I miss her terribly.

If you want a pink with beautiful cupped blooms that stays relatively "small" for an Austin in an area that has warm summers, I would recommend Pretty Jessica. She gets to be about 5 feet tall and is not very wide. Blooms well in the heat. Great rose.

So I decided on jubilee celebration, scepter d'isle, Christopher Marlowe and summer sun (Kords). If summer sun does well I may get a few more from them. I recently got summer romance (a newer variety from Kords) from lowes. I wasn't going to get it, but I saw them almost 2 months ago at lowes and this time there were still a few pots left from the original shipment. I happen to know that they treat these poor plants with barely the minimum of care (sometimes not even that) and these few that were left were not only surviving, but down right thriving. None had even a single diseased or yellow leaf and even the hybrid teas that sit there a week or two get spotty, so this seemed like quite the feat. I decided to give one a try.

They ended up not having summer sun so I got Huntington Rose instead. I actually already have this rose (on Dr. Huey) but its been declining recently and I liked it enough to get it on Fortuniana (something I thought I'd never be able to do, seeing as its not a very popular rose). But lowe and behold K&M actually had it.
I wish I could have ordered more but shipping costs were killing me so I only got 4
I would have really liked Beverly and Summer Sun, maybe next time (or whenever I find more space).

They're here they're here!!! I got my order in from K&M today. The plants were very well packed and a good size. They were EXPENSIVE, but I think they'll be worth it as my other fortuniana roses have done so well that I feel very confidant.

The people at K&M were fantastic. Very sweet and informative. In the end I was very satisfied with my roses. Here are some pics of how they arrived:

They were here packed very well, face to face and well secured.

They were a little wilted, but considering they shipped mid summer to South Florida, they look amazing!!!

thank you to everyone for your suggestions and ideas. I'll be sure to post photos as they grow!

oh wow. Those look terrific. Good luck.