It doesn't look as much like True Musk as this one but otherwise "Darlow's Enigma" has its own somewhat distinctive floral prettiness. And a history of being clean in many different areas. Around here it often functions as a deciduous landscape shrub, that is one seen growing without coddling on properties that have pretty much no other roses.

Oh thanks marlorena ! I hope I don't sound rude when I say I'm glad yours has it too ;) . I wonder how long will you keep it if it goes on like this ?

I recently cleared out the roses that weren't performing well and I didn't like . So I wonder if I'm just looking for the next open spot . I don't even get the wafting it was touted as having . Up close it smells nice but I'm not noticing it often . Hmm...

Embothrium- I have and love darlows ! It does get back spot just a touch but the leaves don't turn yellow . You only notice it right up close. It's a bees paradise ! I love it . So thorny ! I would describe this as armed with prickles for sure . I enjoy this rose very much .

Lilyfinch...ha.... no, that's ok, we can commiserate together... I keep mine as it's a bit sentimental and for the first flush from late June/July it's fine and really enjoyed the unusual heat conditions we had this season, regular 80+F and no rain, but since it's returned to normal 70F with rain, it's sulked a bit... clearly thrives on some dry heat...

I've got plenty of others at this time to look at...but I hope it blooms again before the season is out... it's supposed to do so I think... the scent is nice, I think it needs to be seen as a very large plant for best effect there, but so far I prefer 'Blush Noisette' and a few others...

Have you tried 'Kathleen'?

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hybrid+musk+kathleen&FORM=HDRSC2

SGMC is not at all immune to blackspot. It's just growing in areas where blackspot is not a major problem -- because the usual condition is dry air, and often dry heat.

And it IS resistant to rust and mildew.

As much as I love it -- having visited Tennessee -- I don't think I would try to grow it there!

I got my first SGMC as a band in Spring 2013. Then came the first "polar vortex Winter", and it didn't come back to life in Spring 2014. So I got a larger plant from Roses Unlimited. That one did better its first year, but was hit hard by the following Winter. It remained alive, but never really amounted to much in 2015. In Spring 2016, there wasn't much that got hit by Winter, since it was much more mild than the previous two, but still never looked like it was thriving -- so I cut it back and pulled it out. I planted a leftover 'Wedding Day' in the same spot instead.

Mine was in a shadier location but where I thought it was more protected from the cold. I'm guessing that with less sun, it simply never got to fully ripen before Winter. And mine, too, got hit by blackspot by around this time of year. I really wanted it to do well, but I've resigned myself to accepting it's a west-coast rose. Perhaps yours, in a more full-sun location, will amount to a better plant. I'd still try it again in a different garden, if I get to start another one......which may actually happen, but that's another story, and still up in the air.

:-)

~Christopher

Jeri - I was thinking that too . That all the praise I read was from the other side of the country . I'm glad to have your confirmation on that !

Christopher- I'm so glad you chimed in as well. Sorry it didn't work out for you , mine also had horrible canker and had a lot cut back from it this spring. Even though I'm in zone 7 I get horrible cold winds coming up the hill and get more damage than others in the same neighborhood.

Embothrium - I have not had Kathleen . I will look into it . I had ballerina and our sun turned the petals an ugly color , so I wonder if Kathleen would do the same ?

Thanks everyone ! Now that I know it may just not be suitable for my humidity and area, I can look for something else or just stick it out . At least I know I'm not a rare case :)

I don't know if you already have it, but I think Rosa moschata would do much better for you -- and most other east-coasters -- especially in a spot like the one in your picture. Mine gets basically no blackspot. The little exception is that as it grows in the season, some lower leaves will get shadowed by new growth. They may yellow, and before dropping off I sometimes see blackspot. But other than that little bit, it's rather bullet-proof disease-wise -- no mildew, either. The only issue with it that I have is that it doesn't seem to want to go to sleep when Autumn turns to Winter, and so does get a bit of cold damage. But even if cut back like a Buddleia in late Winter or early Spring, it rebounds rather quickly if given sun, water, and good soil.

It seems to need some amount of "heat units" to be met before it starts blooming, so having it in a full-sun spot that heats up early will get earlier bloom. I moved mine from where it was getting only morning sun to where it now gets a few more hours of sun. It is also bordered by blacktop, and I'm sure its roots are going under that. The result was that this year -- its first since I moved it -- blooming began in late June rather than late July. And it keeps going until the cold shuts it down, even without dead-heading. So, basically, it makes for a great rose growing within a sunny split-rail fence -- cut it back in late Winter or early Spring, feed it, make sure it gets water (though we east-coasters typically get enough rain to satisfy that), and otherwise ignore it. Feel free to cut sprays to bring inside -- it'll keep making them. They'll remain fragrant even after the petals drop, since most of the scent is in the stamens.

:-)

~Christopher

I want to add a little something I've been noticing as I experiment with Chinas and Teas here in NJ -- they, too, seem OK with being cut back rather hard in early Winter to remove cold damage. Again, so long as they get ample sun, water, and food, they grow rather quickly here. I understand that our Californian friends find that Teas and Chinas will mope after being cut back too hard, but I notice two unsaid caveats about that.

First is that these roses get much larger in CA, since they don't experience Winter damage, and so cutting back later means removing actively-growing canes which would be several years old. That I can understand would be rather shocking to the plant.

Second, we get much more water here, which I think pushes more growth within our peak growing season than in the same amount of time in CA. Teas and Chinas seem to take a break in California Summers because it's so hot and dry, whereas here it's hot and wet -- and they grow like crazy. This seems to be enough to make up for what Winter takes away.

My one Tea that died here -- 'Lady Hillingdon' -- did so (I think) because it was placed where it didn't get enough sun during the growing season to compensate for Winter loss. It would have been enough if I was growing it further south where Winters are milder, but not here. Just a few feet away from where she died, "Bermuda Spice" gets all-day full-sun, and recovered from being cut back to 12" or less in late Winter to hitting 5' x 5' by the end of the season.

In that way, I'm finding that Teas and Chinas (and the aforementioned R. moschata) can almost be treated like what we do with Buddleia here -- cut back rather hard if necessary when removing Winter damage, then watered and fed and given full-sun. Dead-head and lightly trim if you wish, but otherwise let them grow wild through the season. They'll keep blooming through our Summers, and most seem barely fazed by blackspot.

:-)

~Christopher