Here are some of my top performers Sara Ann... for this year...

'Kew Gardens'

'The Herbalist' ..

'Dunham Massey'...

'Lichfield Angel'..'Munstead Wood'..'Sir John Betjeman'.. all constant

bloomers...

'Ghislaine de Feligonde'

'Cornelia'..'The Lark Ascending'.. The Herbalist'. always in bloom..

'Blush Noisette'..19th August..

'Lady of Shalott'..6th August..

'Wild Rover'...

'Desdemona'...

Thanks Marlorena, they all look fantastic!

Wowser great roses Sara-Ann & Marlorena! :-)

We are trying a one gallon own root Carefree Celebration rose bush this season and I am surprised it grew to near 4ft high and wide since this past mid May. And it had some blooms on it since June so bloomed steady.Crazy for a first season rose here... And its been very disease resistant since that can be a major problem here... Now the blooms fade and are on the small side at 2.5"-3" with little scent but it seems to really like our soil and climate so I'm very happy...lol...Can't wait to see how it does next season...

Took these pics today:

Julia Child also bloomed very well for a first season rose bush so can't wait to see this rose bush perform in the future also: Pic I took today:

'Blue for You' has been outstanding in San Marcos, Tx. It's disease resistant, fragrant, everblooming, heat tolerant and vigorous.

Pat Austin for sure! I don't think a day goes by without a bloom on one of my 2 Pat A's. Pope John Paul 2 and Don Juan bloom almost every day here too. Munstead Wood, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Abe Darby, Blue Girl, Poseidon, Lilian Austin, and Lichfeild Angel are also great here.

Granada, Oklahoma, Don Juan, Munstead Wood, Darcey Bussell. That's my top five for 2016. The extra rain we received last winter helped a great deal ...

Your JC is beautiful, Jim! Everyone has named some roses I would like to have more success with, or try for the first time, the Austins especially!

Easter Basket is finally hitting its stride, nice bushy 3x4 plant with large very pale yellow blooms. A nice complement to my other star this year, Mystic Beauty; which covers itself with very refined blooms with a wonderful perfume. Belinda's Dream, recovering from a major vole attack, never without blooms.

I love Orchid Romance with large lavender blooms; in its 2nd year it's a stately column of a shrub nearing 5 feet. Sunny Knockout made a continuous display; didn't think deadheading was necessary but suddenly it was covered with big fat hips, oops! Hastily tidied them up and they went right back to blooming.

But wait, forgot Peach Drift. Keeps producing those pretty sprays of bloom right thru the heat and the foliage is so pretty and clean too.

Next year I expect to be praising Savannah, which clearly loves our 8A humid heat and is building up to a nice shrub; love the non-fading apricot of her very fragrant blooms.

I've had several roses that really performed well for me this year. I'll try and stick with the best of my big roses.

Compte de Chambroud--- Once established, this is a fantastic blooming machine.

Hot Cocoa---Constantly in bloom. Beautiful bush with fantastic foliage from the top of the bush to the ground.Hannah Gordon---Big, beautiful bush with drop dead beautiful blooms. It takes a little longer (about 56 days) to rebloom but is very dependable. I can't say enough good things about this beauty. I've had this rose in every garden I've planted since 1989.
Lady of Shalotte---One of David Austin's best all around roses. It is just a fantastic rose in my garden.
Scepter d' Isle---Mine is on fortuniana root stock. Let's just say it has that "WOW!!" factor.
Munstead Wood---Nice, full bush. Beautiful blooms. Great fragrance. Fast repeat. I like it well enough that I'm getting another one this spring. The only Austin I will have 2 bush's of.
Louise Estes---My favorite HT. It has everything you could ask for in a HT. Nice full bush covered in beautiful foliage. Beautiful pink blend blooms that have a great fragrance. Good rebloom. Very dependable.
Bouquet featuring 4 Louise Estes.
Brinessa---Another one of those roses that I like so much, it's been in all of my gardens since 1989.
Let Freedom Ring---A very beautiful, very dependable red HT. I REALLY like this rose a lot.

LADY ASHE - It is still hard for me to believe the most lavish display this year was from a climber, Lady Ashe. Many others did very well, such as my 'dependables' : Quietness, Sweet Fragrance and Julia Child, but not to the accomplishment level Lady Ashe achieved this year. An abundant first flush followed by a lush, continual display even to now, took me completely by surprise. This is only her 4th. year in my garden, acquired from Chamblee's as a one gallon in 2013.

Ken from Georgia,

Wow, what well grown roses! Inspirational!

What management program do you follow to get such spectacular results! What mulch do you use?

I totally agree with Moses! If my LFR bloomed like that I would be ecstatic! I have ordered it on fortuniana, so I'll see how it does, it's a great red, I'm very fond of it. All of them look amazing, Ken! Compte de Chambroud is so beautiful.

Thanks Cori Ann!

awesome roses as always Sara-Ann and Ken..both you guys do an amazing job, your roses always look amazing and soooo healthy..Wowzer

Oh my!!!! Such beautiful roses and bushes!!! A few that have really struck me are your Compt de Chambord, The Herbalist and Orchid Romance!!

My top 2016 performers are:

- Grande Dame

- Strawberry Hill

- PAOK

- Chandos Beauty (but it needs the coated cups to keep the thrips at bay)

- Valencia

Only one of those was new - Princess Alexandra of Kent.

Carol

My best ones this year were Pope John Paul II, Pat Austin, Evelyn, Cream Veranda, Easy Does it, Charlotte and Belinda's Dream. Honorable mention to The Dark Lady, Sophie's Rose, Scepter D'isle and Litchfield Angel!

Thank you for the kind complements. Sorry I didn't get back right away. I got my flu shot and sure enough, it gave me the flu. Feeling better but still very sore. Trust me folks, I don't spend a ton of money (which I don't have) in and on my garden. To me there are 4 big things to growing great roses.

#1- SOIL!!!! The root system MUST be happy for your rose to perform to it's utmost. Your soil must be a good, sandy loam.

#2- Food. Sorry folks. Roses don't know how to read. I've tried everything with different results. Over the past several years I've been using a 10-10-10 with all the good trace elements on the 1st of every month. I also use fish emulsion twice in the spring and twice in the fall. That's it. Inexpensive and easy.

#3-Water. Water is the life blood of the rose. And I do understand about drought. I lived in Fl. when we were under water restriction. We were NOT allowed to water our grass but were able to hand water our "plants" twice a week by hose between the hours of 6 PM and 6 AM. Now I'm under drought conditions, again. During the growing season I hand water everything two, sometimes three a week.

#4-Fungicide spray- I'm NOT going to get into any "discussions" about this subject. If you choose to grow any roses that are prone to black spot, rust or powdery mildew, you MUST keep the foliage on your bush's clean and on the bush. Just that simple. If you grow disease free plants, ignore #4

What is your spray program like?

Bravo, Ken, tell it like it is! Your system rocks! You know what roses need and you give it to them.

Sorry to know the flu hit you. Many people get the flu from the vaccine, which of course the medical profession insists is impossible. If the medical profession would just admit they don't know everything about the human body, it would be better for us all, but don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

When I tried the no spray method, especially for midge fly and black spot, which is epidemic here, disaster was the result.

Roses need their leaves. Leaves are their "mouths," so to say. It's how they eat. Without leaves roses starve.

Could you please tell us what mulch you are using? Is it straw?

I use pine needles for mulch. It breaks down quite a bit by the end of the season but that's OK. I use leaf mulch for winter protection, which breaks down by early spring. I EASILY rake everything out of the garden in early March, shred everything up real good and back into the garden it goes with a good layer of pine needles on top of everything. And the mulching process starts again.

My spray program is very simple. Bayer's Disease Fungicide every two weeks for 2 months. Then 2 weeks in a row, I use Diathame M-45 (or the equivalent). Then back to using Bayer's until the middle of October, then I'm done for the season. I'm very stingy about using insecticides. Something REALLY has to be going on for me to use insecticides. I started using blue and pink plastic cups coated in a heavy oil in my garden this season. That took care of the better part of my thrips problems. Most of the time I removed the cups when taking picture but every once in a while a few will sneak into the picture.

Ooh!!! Your Moonstones look great!!! So many blooms!!

Carol

Ken

how does Diathame M-45 compare with Honor guard/Banner Max ?