The best climbing rose I have is Reve d'Or. It's an apricot rose, light colored. But it grows fast, blooms a lot and is the most disease resistant rose I have. I have it combined with a clematis that is a darker red color, I can't remember the name off the top of my head. If you don't mind spraying, Don Juan is an excellent very red climber.

What fun to be able to design and plant so many old roses that thrive in the heat of the Southeast! I live in hot and humid eastern NC. We are probably hotter than you are. The teas I really like are Mrs. B. R. Cant and Barronne Henriette de Snoy. Mrs BR gets huge: mine has spread to 10 feet in three years, 4' tall. She gets no black spot and blooms constantly. I had always heard not to prune a tea hard as it will not bloom well. Baronne HdS is about 6" x 4' high and has exquisite blooms of porcelain peach. She gets small bs occassionally but I do not spray and she does fine. Mrs. Dudley Cross has remained small and blomm is pretty but sparce. Flushes twice a year. General Galleni gets no bs and keeps an odd shaped red blend bloom or two---never covered. My son has Mutabulis, a China, in Charlotte. He rarely fertilizes and does not prune. Only in the coldest part of winter have I seen this bush without bloom. It is usually covered. Also has gotten very large---8 x8'. Hope this helps. I love the teas for their beautiful flowers and toughness! I have ordered Mme Berkley from Roses Unlimited for next spring. They have an excellent selection of OGR and plants are always large and healthy. Enjoy! Enjoy!

Yes and no. It truly depends on the micro-climates and the roses in your garden. I live in the mountains of northern California at the 2000' elevation level. Generally, I don't bother with winter protection, but I do try to make sure that all of the roses go into winter healthy. The exception ... I have one very cold micro-climate in my garden. In the years I did not provide extra mulch, the roses came back, but not as vigorously as they did in the years when I did mulch that bed. If I have a young rose planted just this spring, I'll give it more mulch to help it get through its first winter. I do mulch all of the beds in fall, if possible, but not for winter protection. I use shredded oak leaves and they break down over winter and are feeding the soil in spring and provide a weed barrier. I also mulch in spring, but that's to prepare the beds for my high summer temps. Smiles, Lyn

groupgirl, that was a great site, thanks. KP, if you don't want to spray, I do recommend that you try a product called Bayer-All-in-one rose care. It's a semi-liquid (sort of pudding consistency) mixture that you would mix in water and pour around the rose bush every 6 weeks or so. It is a fertilizer, and systematic insect and disease protector. It will give your roses more resistance to black spot and it has virtually eliminated aphids on my roses. I still spray, but have stretched that out to about every 3-4 weeks due to the Bayer all in one. It all depends on your tolerance for black spot. If you don't mind a bit of it, then you should be OK.