I am no spray too and have own roots DD. It is very small still in its 2nd year. Not very vigorous but it is in a part shade spot. Of all my roses it had the worst die back after the late frosts. Gets a lot of BS and does not bloom very much either.

But you never know until you try it. Maybe try it in a sunny spot grafted?

I like koko loco better which is planted next to my DD. It does not have good bs resistance either, but at least it still blooms and the blooms are prettier I think. I heard others say to try KL grafted too.

I don't know of another rose that has DD's unusual color blend, but perhaps others will chime in.

I had own root DD years ago from Heirloom in my Mass garden. It was a black spot nightmare and extremely wimpy. I don't remember if it even flowered once. Kordes Koko Loco might give you a similar look but it doesn't seem to have the lovely purple shading as DD but a more quiet shading.

Here are a couple pics from HMF

Members rate it as good+ vigor and good disease resistance but fair cold hardiness.

from garden web member seil zone 6b MI

"This is my third year with Koko Loco and I love it! It has above average disease resistance, is winter hardy and blooms a lot! I think it's more lavender in cooler weather for me."

If you search tetrose forum you can find lots of comments. Some good some bad on both of these roses. It seems that neither one can go without spraying. There are organic sprays available and silica is said to help with disease control but I haven't tried it yet. I have some on order from Kelp4Less and should be getting it soon.

Sharon

I'm in my second year with an own-root Distant Thunder, which was bred from Distant Drums. I am pleased with the vigor, look of the foliage, and even impressed with the amount of bloom on a plant which is still putting on size.

However, to my disappointment it is 60% defoliated from BS and still losing leaves. I had hoped for a better plant. Perhaps as it matures..

It's too soon to make a color comparison. I expect more interesting blooms when the nights finally get cool here.

I previously grew Distant Drums in the same general area and loved all the color variations. Both were grafted plants and went backwards and died in less than three years. However, I blame the supplier not the variety as the grafted plants were very poor quality AND no bargain!

DD does not do well without a fungicide treatment here. Mine is currently leafless (no treatment all season). Usually very vigorous.

It's a beautiful rose that is on it's third try for me in my BS prone garden. I would not recommend it for a no-spray garden. Both times it has died on me have been fungal related. A healthier alternative? Cinco de Mayo. Much more prolific (thus far in my garden) and able to snap back from a bad spell. The more obvious alternative, color-wise, would be Koko Loco (be careful saying that name out loud in front of a Haitian-Creole speaking person), but, although it has proven healthier in my garden, I still wouldn't recommend it for the same fungal issues.

-Adrian.

I don't think this will be much help to you, because I'm in a completely different zone, but DD is very healthy and vigorous in my no-spray garden in SoCal - pretty much bug- and disease-free, and a very good bloomer.

Thanks for all of the input! I like the look of Koko Loko too and sounds like it can be slightly healthier. I will have to look into Cinco de Mayo as well.

Distant Drums has been healthy and blooms at decent intervals in N Tx, but most years I don't have intense black spot pressure. It has grown well & been winter hardy for my Mom in Kansas City, Mo z6. I LOVE it's intense myhrr fragrance that's inherited from the Austin line of 'the yeoman', 'Constance spry'. I'm curious about an upcoming new Week's rose 'Rosie the riveter' that has 'distant drums' for a parent- the color looks interesting.

DD has been interesting here: I bought three plants nine years ago, own root. One died by year three, one lingers on at about 8" high, and one is doing great. The healthy one (no disease) is planted up on a higher spot in the garden, gets about 30" tall by summer's end, and blooms heavily twice: early June and September. Nothing in between. But, when it blooms there is nothing more beautiful! I can't say I've noticed its fragrance, but the coloring is exquisite and unique. I've been thinking of trying one grafted.

Sunny

Gretahoney, I am z7 so this may not apply to you. I have DD and really like it. This is my second as I lost my first after the freeze/thaw/freeze cycle that we had a couple winters ago. Our winters aren't the same but this rose hates it more than my others. if a couple weeks of 70-80 degrees F are followed by a plunge back into the 20's. By experimenting, I've found that DD likes to be grown like my teas- full hot sun, especially noonday sun, very sharp drainage and plenty of air circulation but not cold wind, not necessarily the richest soil although it seems to like a little compost, like the teas. This is only my second year with this particular DD and I moved it once. Still an experiment, but with high blackspot pressure this year, it has had minimal problems in my no-spray garden and has bloomed several times. It is own root.

BTW, Cinco de Mayo is a more tolerant rose altogether and a great bloomer from the start. Color can vary with weather and soil so what you see isn't necessarily what you get. Mine was a cinnamon color that faded pinkish. Sadly, I lost it to RRV last summer.

I stopped spraying the rose garden in 2007 and 'Distant Drums' quickly became a Distant Memory as it quickly succumbed to repeated defoliation from Blackspot.

Thanks Kes for advice. I think I will try moving it to a sunnier spot.