It has been disease resistant in many gardens, should be a decent choice for you. I am getting weird characters in your text. Is that 18 gallons for the pot? That's more than ample for a bush rose in the mid-Atlantic. I've used 7 and 10-gallon successfully, though 15 gallon is often recommended. The pot may need winter protection, for example shove it against the south foundation on grade and pile leaves around it.

Diane already answered your question 5, I just second her. It is much better to start with quality roses and with nurseries that don't sell virused plants. Red rose that easy to grow and fragrant? Well, it is a tall order. Somebody a few years back from Maryland said that Erotika had been trouble free and fragrant for her. But Erotika is a rose that it is not easy to find. I ordered it from Hortico but I would not recommend this nursery to you based on my experience. Maybe Appalachian rose nursery has it and if they do that is a very respectable nursery. Chrysler Imperial is supposedly easy to grow and very fragrant but I don't know about its disease problems in MD - Olga would be needed here, who is the MD rose expert both in modern and antique roses. Check out Chamblee's nursery for other roses except for the smelly red - you will get very well priced plants. The best 1 gallon own roots I got came from them for years. They have a lot of Buck roses, that would be great for a novice gardener. I would recommend Quieteness without any hesitation, Prairie Star, Prairie Harvest, Rural Rhythm, Wanderin' wind, and Winter Sunset are also excellent roses - easy to grow and all have fragrance. I think it is too late for planting bareroots, otherwise I would recommend to check out Pickering nurseries. But for the future that's what I recommend - early on! late August or September start studying their online catalog - they offer 900+ roses on a rootstock that is far better for the east cost than any grafted rose that you can find in a chain store or even a top-notch and expensive local nursery. This advise does not apply to those roses that are own root (Both J&P and supposedly Weeks offer own root roses recently).

You're right in your belief that Knock-out Roses are only resistant and not immune. If neem oil didn't work, have you tried a baking powder spray (1 T. baking soda dissolved in 1 quart of water with a few drops of a mild liquid soap added to help the solution "stick" to the leaves)? The baking soda spray basically changes the pH of the leaves just enough that the powdery mildew usually cannot survive. If a baking soda spray doesn't do it, then your next best option is a chemical fungicide. I don't know which ones are labeled for roses, but I am sure a fungicide for roses would be easy to find in any store, including someplace like Wal-Mart, Lowe's or Home Depot. If you can stop the PM in its tracks now, you shouldn't have to battle it on Knockout Roses all summer. Are your roses in an area up against a wall or wooden privacy fence where they might not have good air circulation? Also, Sammy grows a lot of roses and I think in some past posts has mentioned spraying the roses with something as a preventive. It coats the leaves and that helps protect the leaves from foliar disease. It might have been Wilt-Prufe? You might look in the back pages of this forum or do a search (if the search feature is working.) Good luck, Dawn

I'd definitely be interested in this during the summer, when I've had a chance to root some more cuttings. Right now I'm down to just one 'John Cabot' that's rooted. Nancy (nancy_rynes @yahoo.com)