Tess is such a good rose. It was on the bush 6 days and just kept getting poofier and poofier but held together. Its been a dry heat and in the 90's this past week plus uber smoky from the wildfires and literally 'raining' ash some days. Gotta love Tess! Some others doing well in the wicked heat TIMF Litchfield Angel Jude the Obscure...I swear I couldnt get enough pics of him the other day!! He is sooo ~Dreamy~ I'm obsessed with the way the buds look half open. I could get lost in those buds for hours!

I'm NOT in a tropical climate -- far, far drier. But what Nik said: nikthegreek(9b/10a E of Athens, Greece) What the roses may find stressful as plants is not the heat or humidity but the lack of winter coolness That rang true for me. While not tropical, here in coastal Southern California, we also have No Winter Chill. In that situation, Austin roses that were perfectly well-behaved elsewhere morphed here into Jolly Green Giants ... growing 12- 14-ft. tall, and blooming only at the very top. If we cut them down, they responded by hunkering down and growing back to 12-ft., to produce one large bloom or cluster. After a few seasons of that, we had to acknowledge the advice we had received that these were not the ideal roses for our conditions. We still grow a few Austins . . . Golden Celebration is great here (but would blackspot for you). Prospero is one of my all-time favorites, as is Belle Story, and my DH loves Cymbaline.

Since this is a new rose bed that I started last year, do you think I should focus on only purchasing the bigger bushes that will go in the back (I want a full lush David Austin, English garden look) unless I see something I can’t resist, or just buy what I love and place smaller in front and hope I’ve left space accordingly? I hate to have to move them around. Also, regarding companion planting, do I wait till I get most of my roses in place? Although those can be easily moved in winter

John - wondering if you were able to successfully work with Summer Song on the graft of Pink Cloud? I loved that rose in the garden in England (2018). When I asked about it, I was told it didn't do well in N. America, so would not be sold her. I didn't know it *had* been sold here previously -- I'd assumed it didn't trial well! Anyway -- it was gorgeous and looked healthy in Shropshire!