If you are describing Heathcliff as smokey red, you must never have grown it. It is more like Lady of Megginch in colour. My problem with it isn't the colour though, it is habit. Thick short stems with 3 flowers on the top, very HT in growth. Royal Jubilee is very slow to start, as it is an Alba, and it scorches badly in the sun, but it is a nice rose. Boscobel is excellent, strange colour, nice scent, nice growth, the star in that list. Tranquility is by far the best DA white, it is excellent in health and growth. The flowers are a nice size and are pure white. Absolutely no scent whatsoever though.

Diane, that’s true but you also seem to have stellar conditions otherwise if I recall correctly (please correct me if im wrong) and perhaps that balances it out? Another consideration might be the exact nature of the infection. RMV can have a few different causes singly or in combination and perhaps that also has an impact on the end result. From the published papers I could find it is quite common to have few or no symptoms in some cases while in othet cases the roses weaken and die over time. However, I’ve not seen any study that tries to identify the reason for the difference. Elestrial, I agree - I would ask for a replacement too now that I know about RMV. Even though I’ve not had issues so far with RMV making my roses unhealthy I’d rather have a backup. At best one winds up with two healthy plants. At worst the replacement is also virused 🤷‍♀️

Thanks for posting! Very beautiful pictures. It certainly does seem to glow in the garden. Reminds me of some of the old Pemberton hybrid musks. I meant to ask you about this rose when it appeared in one of your previous posts. I'm always attracted to roses which are said to have superior health, since I don't use sprays, and this has been on and off my list over the past few years, simply because of space limitations. I do have a obelisk which needs an occupant, if I can just find a spot... -Chris

oh gosh that's gorgeous...what a lovely summerhouse or whatever you use it for.. I'd love that, and the pergola too... I can see what you mean... I've never grown GJ as a climber so I'm not certain of her abilities to reach, but certainly the top of those posts should be attainable.. I'm not sure how much further she would go across the top.. Of course if that was mine I would get carried away.. and this is what I would do.. I see you have another post on the left close to the grass... I would remove about 18 inches of grass all along from left to right in front of the paved area, and right where that post is I would plant a 'Mme Alfred Carriere' rose or some other of one's choice.. I would infill the whole length of the strip with annuals or low perennials, whatever.. otherwise that post is going to waste and I'd want to make use of it with another rose... Love the boulders too...