Is fortuniana fragrant? I'm pretty sure people mostly grow it for the root stock and not necessarily for the bloom form. But i'm sure it would be a care free rose. It seems to me, however, that there has to be a better choice for that area. How about you visit a local rose garden or attend a rose society meeting and see if you can find a rose growing well in your area that you absolutely love.

If not, try calling Rose Petals Nursery or Angel Gardens Roses. Both of these nurseries specialize in old garden roses in Florida and will have exactly what you are looking for and can give you the best advice. Nelsons Roses is also wonderful, but they focus on hybrid tea roses that require a lot more care and would most likely not cover the area size you want to cover.

Now off the top of my head, here are a few whites that might work for you:

Prosperity (not sure on fragrance), you should get this grafted on Fortuniana, Nelson's Roses actually has it. Iceberg Climbing, again grafted on Fortuniana, this one is fragrant but not super strong, again Nelsons has this. Boule de Niege is a nice one too that may work well there, it will take a while to get that size. I got mine from Rose Petals Nursery, not sure on fragrance, but they can tell you if you call. New Dawn is a very pale pink almost white, not very fragrant but can be grown their easily on its own roots and would cover that area pretty quickly.

Call up Rose Petals or Angel Gardens they'll be your best bet I'm thinking.

Also, for more info on growing roses in Florida, check out my blog :)

www.southfloridarose.com

I'd plant a grouping of evergreen shrubs in that bed and train the rose onto the fence to the right of it.

I'll definitely have to give those places a call. I'm pretty sure fortuniana is fragrant, although I could be wrong. Also, because I just realized it's not up there with my screen name, I am living in the Ocala area. Not sure how much of a difference that makes on climate. At least a little bit I assume. Obviously something that is going to be able to take the heat is important.

First, I would definitely look up SoFL's blog - there are all sorts of "Florida only" issues about growing roses in FL you should familiarize yourself with before you decide anything or plant any roses.

I have 2 warm weather, white, very large, very vigorous roses growing in my garden which I love. They are 'Madame Alfred Carriere', and 'Lamarque'. They are both old tea/noisettes. MAC blooms here 12 months of the year (NOT exagerating!), and Lamarque is just starting to bloom now in Feb, and will bloom through Oct.

Both are fragrant, but lightly. Neither gets much care from me.

Jackie

I might have to look into those ones as well...Funny, I was just getting ready to ask how the noisettes do and what their growth habit is like lol

Great blog, by the way, SoFl! Reading around it is definitely helping! :)

Thanks! I'm planning on putting alot more stuff up. At the moment i'm working on a story on new varieties that look promising this season. :)

Perfectus,

I'm curious, were you interested in planting Fortuniana, or had you heard that anything on it grows huge and you assumed it was Fortuniana the rose and not roses grafted on it that grow huge?

Ocala is a great place to grow rose, especially OGRs, but most do best grafted on Fortuniana given the sandy soil. From my experience, I would recommend two roses easily found on Fortuniana. One is an OGR by the name of Louis Phillip (aka the Cracker Rose). It has small blooms but reblooms constantly and has some of the strongest scent you'll find on a rose. I've made rose water using it in the past with much success. The second rose I'd recommend is a modern rose called the McCartney Rose ( http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.6245.1 ). On Fortuniana, it is a monster. The blooms are very shapely, although I prefer a roses with more petals, and the scent is very strong.

Both of these roses can be easily found at Nelson's Florida Roses in Apopka (I'm jealous that you live so much closer than I do). Hit them up on a Saturday morning when they open to the public and try to speak to Ramon, the manager, about your project and see what he tells you.

Keep us posted and good luck!

-Adrian

kublakan, I am interested in growing fortuniana the rose. To my knowledge, it does have a tendency to get pretty big? Unless I'm wrong, then I'll definitely have to pick something else. While Louis Phillip and McCartney are both gorgeous roses, any rose I put there has to be white. Is the Cracker rose a China?? Wow, I learned something today, heh! I have heard that Chinas do very well in Florida, along with the noisettes.

If I can find one that gets BIG, is white, and is fragrant and does as well or better than Fortuniana, I just may have to go with one of those. Flower form isn't all that important to me, in my eyes, they are all beautiful. I also don't mind spraying a bit, though I would prefer not to, but I understand the need for it sometimes...

jacqueline, the two roses you suggested, Madame Alfred Carriere and Lamarque, how do they compare in full sun, and do they tolerate humidity alright?

I agree Lamarque and MAC would be great and rebloom. If they need to be grafted on fortuniana in your part of Florida, that would help that these gardenweb people can help with the best nursery.

Look at Noisettes -- both Tea-Noisettes and the non-Teas -- as well as R. moschata itself. Also look at 'Secret Garden Musk Climber', or "Darlow's Enigma" if you want something really big. There are quite a few white old Tea roses, but not all are fragrant to everyone.

:-)

~Christopher

Not all roses need to be grafted in Fl. Most old garden roses do well on their own roots. Rose Petals and Angel Gardens can tell you which ones will do well on their own roots. The ones that need grafting for sure are mostly the modern roses but some do better on grafts regardless.

Good advice here.

I would NOT recommend Fortuniana if what you want is white florwers...or anything else for all that matter. It has wicked thorns and would turn into a brier patch instead of the nice round bush.

It's pinkish white but Key West Rock Rose is a nice thornless rose that grows well in FL. HMF says it has thorns but the one I have from Rose Petals Nursery is completely thornless. I don't think it gets huge, but I think I would plant several roses and perennials and maybe add a trellis with either roses or some other flowering vine to create the privacy you are looking for.

To answer your question, both my MACs and my Lamarque do well in full sun. I would say that Lamarque has more classically beautiful blooms, amd MAC is more vigorous. Here are pics of each:

Lamarque (very young baby) is the one below Veilchenblau:

Wow those are some beautiful plants! Very romantic looking :). Actually, the more I read about it, the more I'm interested in the Lamarque there. I'm also trying to research to see what any of the Chinas or Albas have to offer, as they apparently have a wonderful scent. Gallicas kind of have my eye too (all that history appeal and talk of medicinal properties is seductive), but I'm not so sure how much luck I'd even have with that group here in Ocala. So far it seems my best bet is probably gonna be something from the noisette or the china group... just gotta find which ones can deal with that sultry florida sun and humidity lol. Your guys' advice is wonderful, by the way. It's really helping me to focus on only a few groups to find what suits my needs, as opposed to all roses ever. (It's kind of spurred me into a days long research fest on comparing the different rose groups ^_^). Anyone know of any white scented chinas that do exceptionally well in central FL?

Our Master Gardener demo garden has both of the roses you mention. Just sharing the photos, I'm not one of our rose rustlers. This is our white Lady Banks - it covers a trellis for the outdoor teaching area (not just one rose here)

and this is our Fortuniana. It has thorns, but I didn't think they they were bad at all. I used to have some old moss roses whose canes were covered in fat thorns. Not so much and not that big on our Fortunia. I haven't personally grown OGRs for more than 10 years since a move and - funny enough - have been thinking of these two myself (drought tolerant heat survivor is a plus for me). I can't talk to your climate.

Here are two pics of a mature Lamarque (I got mine from cuttings of this one) in my next door neighbor's yard. This rose gets NO care, and blooms all season. The pics were taken from another neighbor's back yard (I actually have 5 neighbors whose lots share lot lines with mine - weird shaped lot).

Wow Maggie, I bet the scent from those Lady Banks knocks people on their feet! That is truly a beautiful site.

Thank you, AquaEyes, I'll have to check out the roses you suggested. I didn't know that about the once bloomers...well I did about the damasks, but the albas I thought would be good because i read they are heat tolerant and because they are closer to species types...I'll have to take that one out of my types for consideration.

So that pretty much narrows it down for to Chinas, Noisettes, and old Teas if I want something big, huh?

Jaqueline, how old do you suppose that Lamarque is? That thing is huge

It was here when we moved in in 1989, and was just as big. There were several of them planted all along the fence line. Our house has been inhabited by my DH's family since it was new in 1905. In 1989, the neighbor where that rose is growing had grown up there, and had known my DH's grandfather when that neighbor was a child. He was not a gardener, so I am guessing those roses were planted by his parents.

So, long story short, I would guess that Lamarque is at least 70-80 years old.

Jackie

perfectusinfinitusvita -- I added HelpMeFind links to each rose I suggested, so you can just click on their names to see more information. You may also want to look at some Hybrid Musks. I didn't list any in my last post -- kinda forgot about them. But if you're in a warm climate, you'll have longer bloom times with Chinas, Teas, Noisettes, Tea-Noisettes, and R. moschata.

:-)

~Christopher