Tell her to look for the rose Julia Child. It should meet all the requirements. It's very disease resistant, faithfully re-blooms, has good winter hardiness and doesn't get more than about 3 x 3 feet in size for me. Mine also only gets mid day to late afternoon sun and does just fine with that. I think, though, that you're right about that being more for hot climates. In our northern climates even the afternoon sun is not that strong and rarely would burn the roses except in very hot, dry conditions. Julia Child has never suffered any burn on blooms or leaves on the hottest of days here.

Thanks Seil. Are there any others that you would recommend or do you think she's pretty safe with mostly anything that would be healthy? I don't know what other colors she would be looking for. She is a real novice though and very timid about experimenting, unlike us, so I'd like to recommend some as "bullet-proof" roses as possible. She has some Knockouts and I've warned her to be on the watch for RRD since she also has wild multiflora rose growing on her property. I recommended that her husband tear it all out just to be safe.

My Julia has done well although I had complete cane dieback over the horrible winter, but she survived graft and all and has nice rebloom. No disease either so definitely my kind of rose. I will be ordering her own root next spring since she is so pretty, healthy and smells delicious!

Sharon

A third vote for Julia Child. Mine, too, died back to the ground but recovered and are doing quite well. Some insect damage on one of them early in the season, but nothing that couldn't be handled. I think it was aphids, though all I saw directly were ants.

I don't think I'd put it right up against the fence, though, depending on how high the fence is. It is small, so if it were me, I'd either plant it halfway back, or choose a larger rose. But I'm influenced by the picket fence behind my perennial garden, which is about 6 1/2 to 7 feet high.

This is getting repetitious, but I give a fourth vote for Julia Child. Another wonderful rose from Tom Carruth, who hybridized Julia, is Love Song, a beautiful lavender. It reblooms well, and the blooms are large. I don't know about disease because we don't have fungal disease here, but LS is a vigorous rose. Two others that are great all around roses are Bonica and Royal Bonica, both pink shrub roses. Bonica's blooms are a little more old fashioned and a light to medium pink. It blooms frequently and is known for its disease resistance. Take a look at Help Me Find Roses website for more description and positive comments on these roses. Diane

Thanks Diane, Julia is a great rose. I have just ordered my second one. She is even blooming in a shady area for me. I have seen Love Song which is stunning but I think others here said she wasn't really hardy and was blackspot prone for the eastern US. I have Kordes 'Poseidon' which has been great so far, especially for being a baby bought this spring from RU. Some have stated that theirs gets around 8 feet tall. Yikes!! I hope mine stays shorter. But the blooms are luscious although they do crisp a bit in the heat. But Julia would be pretty with her and maybe a pink thrown in the mix?

Patty, Julia has been a workhorse here, even in the not best conditions, some morning shade and mid-day sun, then shade then late afternoon sun, 4 1/2 of sun hours tops but she still keeps blooming.

Thanks for the heads-up on disease the first couple of years new Austins have been disease disasters this year. Maybe year three (next year) will be the year I'll see an improvement? One can hope.

I'll be ordering her roses and suggesting the best for her to pick from. Luckily she doesn't mind if they lack scent. This gives her a lot more choices. They'll definitely be own root. winter hardiness is definitely a concern. I have Peter Kulkielski's book 'Chemical Free Roses' for reference plus the wealth of information and knowledge from the rose forum community so I'm sure we'll find something that will provide lots of beauty without a lot of stress.