All my pot pets suffered this year and many lost leaves. I'm not sure if it was due to water stress, overfertiliztion, the new potting soil base or BS.Judging from their behaviour since planting, I suspect them all!!!.

In the ground:

Tooth Fairy gets BS late in the season, but retains leaves. (planted 2016)

Gruss an Aachen gets BS late in the season, but retains leaves. (It is still a 1st year plant 2017, while TF was planted 2016.)

Viking Queen: excellent, some athracnose due to stress. (planted 2016)

New Dawn: excellent,. some athracnose due to stress.(3yr-80yr. old plants)

Yvonne Rabier: BS, but retains leaves. 1st year plant, but much better since planting in ground late summer. (planted 2017)

Summer Romance: completely clean. (planted 2016)

Ballerina: completely clean after planting in the ground. BSy in a pot. (planted 2017)

Mme. Alfred Carriere: completely clean. (planted 2017)

Lavender Lassie: clean after planting in ground. (planted 2017)

Awakening: excellent, especially after planting in ground. (planted 2017)

Red and Pink Drift: excellent. RD did experience some PM when new in a pot, but it was a $3 Lowe's discount. It has never shown this tendency since. (planted 2016)

Fire Opal Kolorscape: completely clean. (planted 2016)

Margo Koster: very good if given sufficient water. (planted 2016)

Cl. Pinkie: excellent once planted. (planted 2017)

Bubble Bath: excellent once planted. (planted 2017)

Felicia: excellent once planted, (planted 2017)

Belinda(HM): excellent once planted. (planted 2017)

Penelope: excellent once planted. (planted 2017)

Cl. Clotilde Soupert: excellent in both a pot and in the ground.(planted 2017)

Zephrine Drouhin: excellent once in the ground until nibbled on by deer, but a BS disaster in a pot. (planted 2017)

Peggy Martin: excellent in a pot! (New 2017)

Both Tess and First Crush were marginal when first planted very late 2016, but completely rebounded when replanted 2017 in better holes.They even remained clean throughout the rainy Fall. Time will tell, but it seems that FC may have just needed better culture and soil. Tess still showed a touch of BS, but it never spread as before; she kept her leaves, while new growth remained very clean.

I'll update this list next year, adding and changing if necessary.

I'll definitely agree with you about New Dawn and Summer Romance, though the latter is certainly not a favorite.

The only quality you're seeking here is lack of bs, right? Doesn't matter if they also have a lack of flowers too (SR)?

You're hilarious, LL!!!! I am just talking about BS as we have it so bad, sometimes I'm happy with just a green bush!!! ; ) I hope to get better bloom from SR this Spring after judicious pruning, etc. I think I have the midge at bay with the plastic and landscape fabric, so that obviously should help, as well. I adore SR when she flowers, but would be willing to move her elsewhere if I could find a nicely shaped, similarly coloured, HEALTHY, FRAGRANT bloomer. I'm open to suggestions! : )

Hmmm. I don't have any of these any more because of their color, but what about Grand Dame, Buxom Beauty, and Perfume Delight? Fragrant Plum is dark pink here too and really liked her fragrance, though that's such a personal thing.

All mine are new, so I'm hoping a few outgrow the bs. Love song bounced back by fall, so I have hope for it. Rose of Hope was spotless from the start. Lady Ashe got a little, but nothing serious. Twilight Zone defoliated, but it was pretty bad when it arrived. It was super dark velvety purple, so if I have to keep it sprayed, it's worth it. Loretta Van Lear was the worst, and I'm not sure if that tiny thing will make it. A shame too, because it put out a couple really pretty blooms. Soul sister was pretty good, I can't remember of it was spotless, but if it had any, it wasn't bad, or I'd remember. Belinda's dream even got a little, but with that one, it keeps on trucking. Lion's fairy tale was clean too, but I'm hoping for better blooms that don't blow immediately. Summer sun stayed pretty clean, but I think it only put out 2 blooms. I'm starting to suspect midge. I've got blue gloves ready to put out come spring. First Crush had a spot or two, but nothing serious.

Witchy, Belinda's Dream and First Crush are good for bs here too.

Do you like Austins VV?

Yeah! Thanks for the input! I've thought about GD and BB, although I think the former is quite tall and not easily available. I'll do more research. BB may fit the bill, I'm trying to root Marchessa Bocella to see how that does and am coddling a Belinda's Dream. An HMF member I sometimes talk to from Ky, also highly recommends Orchid Romance, but the color isn't quite the same.I really want something the same colour as Viking Queen and SR is so similar! It's next to Munstead Wood, and Dark Desire in beds backed by New Dawn, if you can imagine.

LL, my Austins are a mixed bag. As you know I got a VERY late start in the garden this year and didn't mulch or fertilize until well after the first flush and I never pruned so that didn't help. MW was excellent last year as a first year plant. In fact all my roses were until Sept. 2016. This year, its leaves were a mess suffering from BS, chlorosis and who knows what else. As I mentioned, Tess has responded beautifully with proper planting. Heathcliff is prone to BS in a pot, as is Falstaff, but I'm probably willing to spray those with something because they like to bloom and are gorgeous. Molineux also BSs, but is better since I planted her in the ground. The worst is my NOID Eglantine/Anne Boleyn. She loses her leaves so quickly, but is a bloom machine!!!! with fantastic fragrance and gorgeous flowers. The Austins are a dilemma for me as they are what I want in a rose aesthetically. I don't mind coddling a few roses, but I'd like the majority to be fairly healthy.

Witchy, thanks for the intoduction to RoH and LAshe. I have Aloha in a large pot and the moment and I adore her flowers and scent. Sorry to hear about TZ as I really want it.

Regarding midge, I would suggest putting down landscape fabric or plastic before they emerge in the Spring. It's not the most attractive thing, but it's winter and nothing was as disappointing for me as no blooms. I worked really hard all summer and had nothing to enjoy until I did that. I personally don't believe the gloves are enough on their own, but I'm going for eradication, not just control.

I'm not entirely sure I have midge. Would it mainly target one rose? I guess it's better if I go ahead with the plastic, before it's everywhere.

witchy, that's probably a good idea. It starts with one rose and before you know it it's an explosion. The life cycle is temp dependent and can be as little as three days in higher temps! The main tell-tale sign are bent buds that hang sideways on their necks and growing tips that look like burnt matches. I ignored mine because someone originally said it was from heat, but it was midge. They only pupate in soil so the fabric/plastic keeps them from emerging or burrowing. Unlike thrips and mites, they also fly so I am now isolating any new plants. I only had isolated damage by the Fall. I'm going to mulch soon and recover it.

I had some bent buds. I also had some with a little black hole on the bottom. It looked like something had drilled in or out. :-(

I've had that drilled little hole too but it was only the occasional bud, thank goodness!

Austin's Heritage is extremely bs resistant here, not to mention stays evergreen. The blooms blow too fast for the vase but they are lovely for a landscaping rose. However, the fragrance is rated excellent by most sites though I don't think it compares to Jude the Obscure (who will get bs now and then).

If you like TZ, but think that it will get bs in your area, what about Ebb Tide? Extremely disease resistant here (had dozens in blocks before I gave up on the magenta color) and super vigorous, constantly loaded in blooms.

Sorry that I was so late to your thread VV! I have "followed" you but still didn't see it!

Oh! I think I follow people too, but didn't know I could be notified of their posts! I figured nobody would see this since hardly anyone posts here anymore. I really like the ORforum, so hope to keep it going. That's good news about Heritage and Ebb Tide. They're what I consider "future" roses. ; ) I don't know if the buds with holes indicate midge without the "burnt tip" M.O., although when there's one the other seems to follow. Do you have midge in your area, LL? It's a horrible thing. I would spray something organic if it existed.

I wonder if Khalid ever pops in since Straw went MIA. I wish she'd come back if only to report how her 2016 roses did, especially the newer ones. She's a zone up from me with probably less BS pressure, but I like to zone up. I haven't seen Sam on any forum recently, either.

I hope that I don't have midge! I use a ton of beneficial nematodes and other organic predators so fingers crossed.

On the "follow", I discovered that if you hover over somebody's name, it shows whether or not you follow them, and presumably can unfollow the same way.

I haven't seen any popping in but I'll try to help you keep this going! Z6 is what I aspire to be one day so your data is super interesting to me. Witchy, are you Z6 too?

Yes I'm in the west part toward the bottom of WV. Only a couple miles from KY.

I'm only a couple of miles from Kentucky too! LOL! Beautiful state, West Virginia. I think you're a little warmer than us, but similar BS pressure.

You must be in Ohio. My husband just got back from driving all the way to Medina, it was SO cold up there. At least they had some snow to go with it. Here we've only had a dusting, but they can keep those single digits. lol

Beautiful areas for both of you and everything in between! Are you expecting snow or ice for Christmas?

Yes, witchy, we're in The Queen City, The city of Seven Hills etc., ... Cincinnati on the Ohio River. Medina is in Z5a and gets the snow off the Lake. That's about 5 hours from us. I'm in a Z6b pocket, but solidly 6 (unless it's the vortex!) Snow usually skirts north of us at Dayton, but we get all the rain and thunderstorms and sometimes ice storms. Since we're still working on the veranda roof, I hope we just stay dry! It's so much work having to lay down plastic and vacuum up the water afterwards. And all the water is a disaster for the house in other ways.

Do you ever get snow, LL?

Sometimes, but it's usually ice. January of this year we dipped down to 6 degrees with snow and ice but then followed that with a record warm February. I think that our problem here is the extremes, though nothing lasts that long, except for the hot summers!

new to gardening so all my roses were planted spring 2016 or 2017

Healthiest in humid zone 7 Maryland:

Cream Veranda

Dark Desire

First Crush

Flamenco Rosita

Florentina

Golden Fairy Tale

Kashmir

Mother of Pearl

Plum Perfect

Poseidon

Purple Skyliner

Queen of Hearts Fairy Tale

Rosanna

Soul Sister

Summer Romance

Tangerine Skies

most of these still have leaves even though it's December

I have some roses I planted this fall that also look good but I'll wait till next year to review them

Hi, MG! Thank you for your input! So many people are Z7 hot and humid so it's very useful even for those of us in colder zones under heavy BS pressure. I'm glad to hear about FR and PS. PS is on my "to buy" list and eventually I want FR. May I ask where you bought yours? How is your SR for repeat? It seems all of yours are Kordes. My DD did lose its leaves, but I wasn't able to attend to it very well last summer so I think it was stressed. My Fl also lost leaves, but is in a pot still. I think it had other problems, but not really BS.

Purple skyliner is from Long ago rose

Flamenco rosita is from Northland rosarium

Summer romance only bloomed in May .

Our humidity here is ridiculous. Regularly 90% humidity in the morning.

How big is your Heritage?

I ordered Mollineux but now I'm wondering if I should swap it for Polar Express. I have plenty of yellows and I'm worried it will black spot in my humidity.

Modest, I don't know who the question about Heritage is for but mine are different sizes, depending on where they are planted. I suspect that some are getting more water than others, plus some are in clay versus sandy soil.

I'm using some to replace climbers as they look like they will quickly make eight feet tall in our heat.

No bs problems here because of the super dry climate, however, one year my 4 yr old, own root Flamenco Rosita (a rose known for being immune to bs) black spotted from top to bottom, and not just a few spots, but heavily. It was the worst case I could imagine. The following spring she was clean. She had never done that before or since.

Totoro, I didn't know there is another disease that causes black spots.

I think it's called cercospora? It's little cirlcles and sometime the center falls out leaving holes. My New Dawns get it sometimes, but rarely BS. Still they never lose their leaves or stop blooming. If it's not one thing, it's another. : (

Cercospora is a new one on me. You are so right - if it's not the elephants, its the ants as my dear old auntie used to say.

Double knockouts (no BS),

Miracle on the Hudson (no BS),

Carefree Celebration (no BS),

Julia Child (some BS late in season but not enough to even worry about),

Earthsong (some PM in August and some late BS but not enough to worry about)...

Planted Kordes Plum Perfect last year and it got Downey Mildew and it's not growing well on its own roots so far... So still evaluating...

Still evaluating (2) Kordes Fiji roses as they are also not growing well here own root...

Thank you Jim. I truly believe it's better to have fewer, but more healthy varieties. Of course, we have to experiment to see which those are! : ))

Some of my healthiest are OGRs. I would recommend these to anybody because they thrive on neglect, hardy to very cold zones, don't mind wind and rain and have strong fragrance.

Magna Charta - huge blooms all season

Mrs. John Laing - huge blooms all season

Darlow's Enigma - big trusses of blooms all season

Erinnerung an Brod - cl., once blooming early summer

And for total dependability with no health issues ever are the Canadian roses, but I think everyone knows that's a given.

Thank you, FRM! I knew the Canadian roses as being hardy, but not necessarily healthy. Are there any in particular that you recommend?

Vaporvac, I would recommend every one I've had experience with for being disease free and withstanding neglect. Some of them are outside the garden area, and I just don't get to them very often. I've never seen black spot or powdery mildew on any of them.

Wm. Baffin - big guy - never gets any care except to be whacked on unmercifully by my husband when canes get in the way of the mower. They're in almost total shade and have a great early flush, then intermittent blooms throughout the season. In my opinion, best for great color at a distance because the individual blooms are sweet and pretty, but not extraordinary or breathtaking.

John Davis and John Cabot are reliable for color all season. They're both giants.

The Mordens - Blush, Centennial and Sunrise are excellent bloomers and fit into a garden of shrub roses of normal size, Centennial being the tallest.

Bill Reid, a bright yellow that blooms constantly. Also, a good rose bed size.

Martin Frobisher, rugosa, has the most delicate looking blooms, but is a strong, healthy bush. So far, it's not a giant.

They never need winter protection and seem to do fine whether pruned or not. Winnipeg Parks and Campfire are two I would like to add. Mine are all own root from Northland, and have never been sprayed.

I can't thank you enough! I have a gift card from HighCountryRoses and with the exception of La France I'd like to use it to add some of these to out of the way areas. I quite like huge and bushy for these spots! : )) Saving this post now!

I hope the ones you pick out are as wonderful for you as they have been here. I attribute their good health to it being bred into the roses, but, also, being so dry here probably helps. They're my workhorses.

Vaporvac regarding Twilight Zone. I'm in zone 5a I put one bush in 2016 and liked it so much I went back and got another in 2017. I can't say that they are large yet, but they certainly were healthy (maybe a very little BS in the fall). The color and fragrance is to die for! I have it next to Lady of Shallot and it looks great. The color is a more violet purple than Ebb Tide, and the thing I like about Twilight Zone is the blooms stay vibrant and do not fade as they age here. It can get humid here but the last few years have been pretty good with only a week or two that were miserable.

I just got 2 roses from High Country Roses - Penelope and Lilian Austin. They arrived in quart pots with tons of leaves, very healthy. Thanks for this thread, I'm always looking for no-sprays!

Thank you for your input! The more, the better!

Here in NE - I have been growing Julia Child for a long time and it has been great every season, except one after I moved it. It fills out nicely has a lot of blooms over the summer and into the fall. The flowers are fragrant too. I never use anything on it. I’m going to top dress it with Alfalfa meal this weekend, because the best year I’ve had with it was the one year I used it. My one complaint is that the size of the rose is medium and I’d rather have a larger one. But anything that flowers that much and smells good with little care, I’m happy with.

I have one more rose that I am excited about. It’s a shrub rose - A Griffin Buck Rose, called ‘Prairie Sunrise’. Initially, I had it in the wrong spot and it didn’t do much, I moved it to a better spot last spring and it surprised me with how vigorously it grew that first season from barely a stick. And it flowered and the roses are larger than the Julia Child, they’re an apricot color and have good fragrance. This will only be my third year, but so far, it is pushing out healthy looking new growth and last year the foliage was clean all season. I may take cuttings this year to see if I can have a few more.

That is excellent news. JC always sounds like a winner and I've heard about PS, just no experience. How hardy are these for you? Tip or root. Also are yours OwnRoot?

Here's Julia Child a few years back.

I am in zone 6a MA - and they both came back with new spring growth about 6-8" off the ground. I grow organically in every part of my garden. I don't use synthetic fertilizers, or pesticides or fungicides at all.

I believe Soul Sister is both good for no spray, and tip hardy here. First winter own root, and the little twiggy baby canes I think are gone, but the basal she shot up after being planted came through winter, even after trying to start up in February. I think I figured out why one of two First Crush had to be cut to the ground. Pretty sure it was canker, and not winter. The other one is fine, and I'm wondering if the mulch I mounded around them did more harm than good.

Our own root Julia Child gets alot of winterkill & canker here with our wet/cold winters vaporvac...Our JC stays on the small side but it blooms and blooms its head off...