Ok, Thank You all for helping me. I just went ot help me find to check out Climbing CI only to realize I have an impostor! I think... I tried to take a picture of this octopus like rose. I have over 200 roses and this rose is not a good example but I like it because it is covered with blooms. Right now it is fading away, kind of like a red Persian Yellow complete with black spot. But when she starts to bloom she looks like a chandelier and the blooms are full and deep red. According to all you have told me this is not how CI should look. Any suggestion on which rose this is???

Chrysler Imperial is a pretty tough rose. There's a planting here in a public space that gets no care beyond annual pruning, and it's around 20 years old. Originally there were mass plantings of about 10 different HTs and floribundas (standard older ones such as Peace). They all died out except C.I. Maybe 18 of 20 C.I. plants have survived. It is slightly more resistant to blackspot than the average HT and slightly hardier. Our disease pressure here is similar to what you have in northern Virginia. Vet's Honor and Liebeszauber are also considered above average, but I haven't grown them. Traviata may be the most resistant HT, but it has no fragrance. All these will get considerable BS where you are. The climber/large shrub Quadra is probably the most blackspot-resistant red rose. Home Run, a bright red similar to Knock Out, has had some good reviews.

Great idea to memorialize your family with their style and preferences rather than the literal roses they chose, particularly if they don't suit your yard. I've grown all the roses you list for your red alternatives, though my climate in hot dry Nebraska summers and cold winters differs a bit from yours. I dearly love Frances Dubreuil/Barcelona, and it's much hardier than its reputation, although that's not an issue for you. In your climate, it's liable to appreciate a little afternoon shade to stay that lovely dark red color, and it's not a tremendously frequent rebloomer for me. Still, the fragrance is absolutely to die for, and you'd be thinking of your family every time you take a whiff. It makes a nice rounded bush and would do well in a prominent spot - it may be a HT but it doesn't suffer from the fussiness associated with that class of roses. If you don't do well with Chrysler Imperial, I suspect that Velvet Fragrance would be in the same category. I grow both, and they're much less bushy than FD and have more of the BS problems associated with many HTs. Kim grows it and loves it in his desert climate, though, so it has to be pretty heat tolerant. I'm with Kate that both CI and VF stay pretty short and infrequent bloomers for me, though the fragrance is nice. Pat is closer to your climate in Alabama, so I'll defer to her input on Rouge Royale. Mine didn't overwinter the first time around, so I can't comment much except the blooms are lovely and different from HT form. As for Austins, around here they're mostly bullet proof and big, and surprisingly resistant to our blackspot for most of the summer. I don't think that generalizes to where you are, however, since the east coast has a whole different range of BS problems than we do in the Heartlands. You'll want to get Austin opinions from someone closer to your zone before you go that direction. Among the darker Austins, The Dark Lady, The Prince, Darcy Bussell, Munstead Wood, and William Shakespeare 2000 all bloom well for me with that dark crimson-purple color. Of those, I'd say Darcy Bussell is the most regular rebloomer, and WmSh2000 is the best fragrance. Hope this helps! Cynthia

Wow; your pictures are just gorgeous.Beautiful healthy looking roses you have.Love the pictures of the roses around the sidewalk,Gorgeous,and I kept looking for Pete in one of the pictures,and finally see him in the last one.I like the one with the hummer too.Thannks for sharing your roses.Most of mine looks more dead then alive,no leaves left on most of them.The blackspot and heat really got to them. Jean