This is really a delightful rose. A friend of mine grows it here, in cool foggy weather, and it does just fine, and HERS seems to bloom quite a lot. Heirloom sells bands of it- I've seen it growing in their garden. Also, the "myrrh" fragrance in this rose, in my opinion, is really nice, as opposed of some of the David Austin "myrrh" roses which smell awful (to me).

Hi Veryzer, I'm outside Peoria, is that close by you? I've given DD a third chance; this time as grafted from Pickering. It's still small, it is blooming tho; so we'll see how it fares over the winter. I'm hopeful third time is the charm. I grow over 234 roses; only lost about 6 this past winter and 4 of those were Bucks...HoneySweet, Spanish Rhapsody, Wild Ginger, and Pipe Dreams. I have HTs, Bucks, OGRs, shrubs, floribundas, with lots of daylilies, iris, hostas, clematis, peonies, and other perennials. My most dependable and floriferous of the Bucks is Folksinger; but it is ravaged by JBs and is their favorite target. Polonaise is another Buck that is dependable, healthy, and the red blooms last and last on the bush. I'd welcome a visit to talk rose anytime; send me a private e-mail. I also belong to the Great Peoria Rose Society; we meet on the first Monday of every month and it's a great way to learn about roses, and to meet other rosey friends. Would you be close enough to attend the next meeting in August? Plus the desserts are great! -terry

Iris Gal, Happy Chappy is not weepy for me yet, I'm hoping by next year it will be, the blooms last a really long time, JC is such a great rose too, my plant is covered in blooms right now. Thank you Kathy, it's such a lovely compliment coming from you, because you always take such gorgeous pictures. I'm really happy I got Happy Chappy and JC - both great roses - I got HC for my mom too - she loves it as well - will definetely post more pictures of both :o) msjam, thanks - got more roses blooming now so I'll head out and take pictures soon - got two huge buds on Bewitched, I don't get blooms often on this plant but when it does oh boy - wow! I love this rose, hope it does better next year. aprille

Great thread, Msgirl !! That way when people google Distant Drum, this thread will show up. The title of the thread helps folks to google for info. Too bad I didn't take a pic. of Distant Drum bed at Chicago Botanical Garden .. there were at least a dozen of them .. all with perfect foliage !! Their Distant Drums are grafted on Dr. Huey, which are more vigorous than own-roots. Folks in HMF report Distant Drum being wimpy & disease-prone as own-root.