I have it. Last year was the first full year in the ground. I got it in June the year before last but kept it in a pot till the weather cooled. I planted it in what I considered prime rose real estate, where it faced southeast in a protected spot. It was my one of my earliest roses to leaf out but as soon as the weather heated up, it immediately lost its leaves and stayed that way for the rest of the season. Last December, when we finally got some rain, I moved it to another protected spot which faces due east. It will only have morning sun. It is already leafing out and it does look better but If this doesn't help, I'm out of spots. Hopefully, this year will be an improvement.

Thanks, Chris for your kind words. I am a Chris as well. Anyway, Lemon Fizz was one of the roses several years ago our Extension site was trialing for Earth Kind designation for Texas A & M. I remember many of the Master Gardeners liking that rose. The Extension’s Demo rose garden has Poseidon & it is a big rose situated on one of the corner inner berms. Everyone loves its color & fragrance. I didn’t want a big rose in my own garden, so I went with Plum Perfect, another fragrant lavender Kordes rose. I do agree with Chris about the canes of MA being not as pliable to go around an obelisk. I have an open 3 sided obelisk and I put a clematis called ‘Betty Corning’ in the center of it. It has pale blue/white bell shaped flowers, is disease resistant & in my garden it dies to the ground & re-emerges every spring to grace the 3 poles on the interior. At the Extension’s garden it is paired with a climber called Jasmina, another Kordes rose. There it reaches the top of that arbor every year. We lightly prune it in that particular garden area & it doesn’t die to the ground like at my home. In case anyone is wondering, both gardens mentioned are mulched with wood chips/cedar mulch is for my rose garden.

Try writing Pat Henry at Roses Unlimited -- she had MA listed earlier. I do understand your concerns @ this rose. I too tried Summer Romance. Both SR and MA display what I call "Over-ploidy" problems. That's my made-up word for plants that have been bred to be triploids or tetraploids, and sometimes the genes just seem to "lump" together. The slow-to-establish growth pattern seems to be a part of this too. However, your conditions in Texas will be much different than mine -- someone here on Houzz is growing MA in California with outstanding results -- other than having a lot of height (I wish!).

Dianela, Wow, just amazingly beautiful! MA is huge! I love her with Buff Beauty so much♡ BB is on my list for 2023. I was watching a You Tube video where they were showing closeups of Summer Romance and MA next to each other like you have yours. The colors really compliment each other. I bet your yard smells just wonderful when they are all blooming! MA does sound like Summer Romance: Huge, disease resistant and thorny! I am not that worried about size or thorns because I have space and am just now getting my beds in so can space them out. On our farm its better to have larger plants due to the chickens causing havoc. Plus, if the goats get out then they might not have a chance to eat them all before I catch them haha. I found out after the move that Summer Romance goes crazy with blooms after a good military hair cut lol. I think a lot of these Kordes are just wild beasts in warm humid climates.