I once posted a question about the Prince, many gave info., but I ended up NOT buying since my kid hated that dark purple color. Some info. folks gave about the Prince: it can scorch in full sun, best in morning sun. It's a small & compact plant, likes heat. I researched Gertrude Jekyll: folks warned about its big size & octopus canes, very thorny, great scent... so I didn't buy that either, I got Radio Times, equally bad. Edmunds' Roses send out FREE catalog, just as gorgeous as Austin Catalog. It's based in Wisconsin, but it's free shipping if your over is over $100 and received before Feb. 20. Edmunds carries Souvenir de Baden-Baden, Love Song (blue), Francis Meilland, Grande Dame, Rouge Royal, Twilight Zone (gorgeous mauve!), Ebb Tide, Midnight Blue. The mauve I like that Edmunds doesn't have is Intrigue Floribunda, which smells great, and tons-of-blooms at the rose park, zone 5a.

Oh YOU were the one that grabbed Francis D? I saw it separated in a pile that I knew belonged to someone and I fell in love with it. But I couldn't find another and I had too many already so I had to go without it. But I'm so glad you got it. I think I may have to get one next year. Debbie recommended it and said it was great. I hope it does well for you. Some red roses have amazing scent. But scent for some reason comes in roses of every color and sometimes not at all. Everyone says Veteran's Honor has an nice scent, but I don't smell it at all. Mr. Lincoln and Oklahoma are two red and very fragrant roses. Oklahoma has such a strong heady scent its unsurpassed by any other rose in my garden. Even more so than Fragrant Cloud, but it turns almost black in the sun so I'm not a huge fan. In terms of fungicide, I use two different ones (its good to alternate so that the fungus does not become resistant to the fungicide. I use Bayer disease control for roses and flowering shrubs. This is sold at Home Depot/Lowes. Its a liquid that you mix into a sprayer. I actually got a hose end sprayer because the pump ones were always clogging and I got tired of lugging around the heavy tank. It doesn't spray a fine mist which is preferable, but its much easier and you don't have to pre mix it (allowing for less contact with the undiluted spray which is more harmful than the spray once its diluted). Just pour it in the bottle and set the dialer to the correct dilution rate. There is also the added benefit that it disperses larger droplets that are less likely to be inhaled or drift too much in the wind. And it covers your rose bushs extremely quickly making it much faster chore. The other one I use is Banner Maxx. This is probably the number one fungicide used by rosarians. Its expensive (i think i paid $55 for a small bottle) but it lats a very long time as its like half a teaspoon per gallon or something like that. I've had it for years and its still full so in reality its less expensive in the long run. I alternate between the two, like I said, but the Bayer one (be sure to get the Disease Control liquid that you spray, not the granules or liquid "drench" that doesn't work on BS, even though it says it does) is inexpensive and readily available. You can use it every two weeks or as often as once a week if needed (once every two weeks is fine unless you have a really bad infestation of BS). Immunox is also a good one, but that one doesn't last as long and you have to spray it once a week, which in my option is too much maintenance. Banner maxx is also 2x a month like the Bayer. Neither spray will harm your plants if you spray early in the morning or in the evening, but I recommend you spray them in the evening so it has all night to dry and remains wet for a good long time before evaporating. Never spray anything that is an oil (neem oil for example) in the summer as it will burn your leaves. These two sprays have never harmed either of my plants even when I have sprayed at less desirable times (high heat/sunny). But again, just to be on the SUPER safe side, evening is best. I am sure the sulfur spray you have will most likely work, but it would have to be applied every week or so. The Bayer/Banner is a systemic fungicide, meaning it is absorbed by the leaf and will protect that leaf for a good amount of time. The sulfur may wash off in the rain and make it essentially useless although its better than nothing at all. I have never sprayed sulfur or copper fungicides so I cannot give any kind of advice on them. But if you'd like to use them just because you already purchased them, be sure to follow the directions and spray in the evening and I'm sure you'll be ok. (And maybe test it first on a few leaves before spraying the entire garden/rose bed). Again, its still better than nothing at all, even if you need to apply it more often. Luckily/unluckily we've had a very dry summer (for S.FL) so black spot has been kept at bay, but even without rain the morning dew is enough to cause severe BS (again, we have not had this problem yet, but certainly it will come once the summer rains arrive). I (because of laziness really) only spray once I sense the humidity in the air. Otherwise I let them get a little BS and go on my merry way. In the summer/humid season however, its almost impossible to get away with not spraying in S.Fl (unless you only grow disease resistant roses, and even then they are only disease resistant. Not disease proof).

My rose list (badly) needs updating. At a guess I would say that my single biggest group are the Gallicas, possibly followed by Teas. I haven't got my ground in good enough shape for the latter to do well, but the once-blooming old roses of European origin are the best suited to our conditions, and of those the Gallicas are the largest class. So I have a lot of once-blooming old roses (Gallicas, Damasks, Albas, Centifolias, Mosses), which I love and which do well here, a lot of Teas and also Chinas, which I'm working to make the environment friendlier for, mainly lightening the soil. Quite a few ramblers, Multiflora, Wichuriana, species and hybrids, Noisettes, Lady Banks roses. A few 'Mlle. Cecile Brunner'-type old Polyanthas, a few Foetidas, and I wish I had more of both. Rugosas don't like it here, and I have my doubts about Spinosissimas; few HTs, no Floribundas, not because I reject them out of hand, but because I think conditions here aren't ready for them. Oh, I forgot: Bourbons, Hybrid Perpetuals, Hybrid Damasks. I have a few of the first, more of the second, and I like the HDs. These are heterogenous groups I don't know that much about, but there are some I like and I'm trying to figure out which ones. I have many of the Pemberton Hybrid Musks, which I love but don't grow well, and a few shrub roses, a group I don't know much about and haven't seen much of that was inspiring. Oh: practically no Austins. They're beautiful roses but it's too rough here for them.

predfern, I got Dee-Lish late last year and liked it. It bloomed well and was healthy for me - and really nice fragrance too! Last I looked, it was still green, will see what happens after the cold comes next week. I was up in WI for work last summer, stopped in at Stein Garden Center - they had Frances for sale. Looked like they were blooming pretty well at the nursery that day, nice fragrance, but no idea on cold tolerance. I almost bought one lol! Julie