The first 3 criteria are equal; -Disease resistance. Two gardens ago, we grew 180+ rosebushes, and it was a sublime garden, with shady corners where Hybrid Musks bloomed, all edged with white Lady Banks, in the center where the hot sun flowed down, were the H.P.s, H.T.s and Bourbons. After a few years of spraying with organic sprays I decided that since so many roses were available that never needed to be sprayed in our area, to only grow those cultivars. -Old Roses for their beauty, fragrance and, history, some of it quite romantic. I came late to the Austin club, forgoing modern roses altogether (a strong prejudice against the ball on a stick H.T. form) but finally bought a yellow Austin after waiting 3 years for a yellow own-root Noisette to climb and it refusing to grow more than 2 feet tall. I wish Mr. Austin used more Tea-Noisettes in his rose breeding program,and/ or sold in the u.s. 'Marachal Niel' on Dr. Huey, because that would be a dream come true to me. 3. beauty of bush, bloom and fragrance. One of the 3 won't do it for me. When I was a young girl I decided that I loved best a rosebush that had pretty foliage (Mlle. Cecillel Brunner')and small flowers over a large flowered H.T. with a few leaflets to barely cover its thorny canes, because I reasoned I had to look at the bush for 12 months out of the year, during 8 of those the plant would have leaves, and I wanted to enjoy seeing the bushiest plants available. I love a lush rose garden, filled with roses, of course, but also leafy foliage in great and green abundance. For most of my rose growing years I have loved and sought out to grow Old Garden Tea roses for that reason; the bush is beautiful to look at even when it is taking a break from blooming. Many Noisette roses are fantastic foliage plants as well. -fragrance, fragrance and more fragrance. I'm lucky I can smell Tea roses because some folks can't. a few of my favorite roses this month are; Mrs. B.R. Cant' from afar, I love it as a huge background plant covered with roses. I never appreciated this rose until I noticed how well it appears when seen at a distance. R. moschata gorgeous foliage in 3 seasons+, a sexy musky scent that wafts on the air, very pretty stamens and pollen, white roses are my favorite. white ' Rose of York' has my favorite rose foliage of all, "luxurious" blue-green leaves, wide white petals, that golden boss, and a wonderful history being the first white garden rose documented as being grown in England; 1400's a.d..and associated with the York family. Pax' always blooming, very fragrant. cl. Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria' The large shapely creamy white roses have an excellent petal substance which makes them last a long time in a vase and moderately strong fragrance. I would place it among Mme. Jules Bouche and Mrs. Herbert Stevens for best classic white Hybrid Tea for beauty of bloom. Marie Van Houtte and Mrs. Dudley Cross, great combinations of yellow and pink. R. californica I pick the canes all during the green seasons for its leaves, to use in bouquets. This is one of the few wild roses that re-blooms well on new growth, so I cut it back by one third at the end of June so it re-blooms in late August. I've documented the re-bloom several years in a row, but not the percentage, at a glance it appears to be more than 60% of the June bloom cycle. The scattered bloom that has been noticed on R. californica that appears after its' spring flush is due, I believe, to naturally occurring new growth. Next year I'll try and remember to count all of its blooms during its first and second bloom cycle to see if R. californica is fully remontant when pruned back. -interesting things about roses aside from the bloom: hips, leaves, prickles, oddly colored foliage and leaf shape, 15 leaflets gets my pulse surging. Bloom: Must appear natural. No florist roses for me. as my neighbor said "They look like they're made of plastic' Luxrosa

Thanks for all your comments. So far 'Moonlight' has won the top of my list; for scent and beauty. Plus it is an Old Rose from 1913 and is one- half Tea rose, (bred from Sulphura) and I collect Teas and Tea-Hybrids). So there is a lot to be grateful for, I wish Pemberton were still alive so I could thank him for his wonderful roses. Here's why I've chosen Moonlight over the others; I bought 'Jim Henley' at a Sacramento Cemetery sale a few years ago, it blooms more pink than white for me, it does gets a lot of attention for such a small blooming rosebush, the foliage is glorious, it appears like something tropical to me, but I can't detect much scent from it. I have it growing up the back and trailing out of the front branches of a peach tree by a sidewalk. I adore Secret Garden Musk Climber' but had to get rid of it due to the fact that I don't spray and it always looked as though it was frosted with powdery mildew. Great fragrance, though. Kew Gardens is such a Beauty! Listed as having little to no scent. Bother! Sally Holmes is great for landscaping but the blooms are a little to big for what I want in bouquets. Grace Seward is a little treasure!, but not greatly fragrant I believe. It reminds me of another mini I had years ago called 'Simplex', which died in the drought, I'm sorry to say. I love single roses. LIsa, thanks for the info about Boule de Neige,at High Country Roses, Again, thanks to all, Lux.

I've bought on ebay in the past many times & have not been unhappy with my purchases...however, sellers often sell plants on the decline. I got suckered once or twice because I'm attracted to older, more mature specimens. It's definitely more expensive & if I can help it, I prefer to prowl the big box stores. I got lucky at Walmart just today, but I'm sure it's because I'm in Daytona Beach at the moment. I live in NY & the few Adenium I've found were pitiful, infested with mealies & on the decline. I think it might be the area. They were very very difficult to come by in NY & I searched high and low. I did end up buying online to start my collection and I think I may have finally lucked in to ONE locally, which I proudly chose from a whopping stock of about 3 =x OP, wishing you the best in your search, don't give up & unless you dream of a particular style, keep searching locally. I've noticed the forms found in big box stores are more reminiscent of the ones I used to covet online but found too rich for my blood. You could try to follow the supplier chain....I'm assuming my walmart plants came from http://www.costafarms.com/collections/desert-escape because the plastic pots say 'desert escape'...don't know if this will help or not, but you could look them up and maybe track down a retailer in your area. Hope this helps you find what you're looking for =)

The field is wide open. Here is just one (for BS resistance, Aussie Open January heat, and the colour range you specify): Thank You Rose. Part of kordesus‘ “Sunbelt” collection for performance in heat.