Kristine - those are exquisite blooms!!! :) :)

Thats gorgeous, Kristine! How is the fragrance? Do the flowers last?

Im not the best nose to determine fragrence but it had one and the blooms last for ever. I hardly ever have to deadhead it

noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) ...I have some Kelp, so will try it.

Kristine where did you get Charles?

He is one of my very favorite architects...I made a mini of one of his famous chairs...I have too many pinks, maybe I just get a Charles Darwin and call it Charles Rennie MacIntosh....sort of a pet name? I honestly think CRM would have like yellow much, much better....that's my story.

I have had only about 25 roses in my central Ohio garden, so my selection of favorites may not be that useful to you, but here goes:

1. Astrid Lindgren (Poulsen). This rose is a benevolent giant, a beautiful cottage-eater. I hack her down every year, and she seems fine with that. At one point she was 10 feet tall with arching canes going 6 feet in all directions, twelve feet across!

The blooms are a lovely rich pink, a warm pastel pink, very beautiful and nostalgic. They open somewhat flat, like gardenias. Clusters of luscious blooms. And the rebloom is fast. After a flush is finished, I see new buds in a week and blooms in two weeks.

(Photo to be posted separately)

The scent is mild to medium but with so many blossoms (hundreds at one time), the fragrance is lovely.

I got mine in 2001 from The Rosearie (Waldoboro Maine), which closed when the owner retired. I have not seen this rose for sale anywhere in the USA since then.

However, I propagated a new one last fall from a cutting! I’m checking on baby Astrid frequently this winter; she’s in a pot sunk halfway in the soil. She seems fine. :D It’s very exciting — my first rose bush propagated from a cutting!

I love this rose like an old friend.

2. Dream Weaver (Zary, from J& P)

This climber floribunda has so many blooms it’s crazy. A warm coral-pink with bountiful clusters of blooms. Each stem is a full bouquet. The rebloom is quick. When I go into the garden wanting to snip a few blooms for a friend, I can always count on some blossoms from Dream Weaver — pretty much always in bloom.

This is one of the few roses that I love so much, I bought a second one.

3. Heritage
   I’ve had this rose for 20 years. Incredibly beautiful blooms, elegant and deeply fragrant. Yes, I know that the blooms don’t last long, but I love them. There are always a few blooms on this rose bush. I just bought a second one because the first is now 20+ years in my garden, and I don’t want to be without this rose. Another old friend.

(I have Nahema on my wish list. Her lovely blooms remind me of Heritage.)

4. Florentina. ~~~
   So, so BEAUTIFUL. Charming chalice-shaped blooms of a fabulous scarlet hue. Masses and masses of blooms. Hundreds at one time, seriously.

In three years, this rose became enormous: 8 feet tall with long arching canes extending out 6 to 7 feet! Covered, absolutely covered in blooms. I now have two of them.

I transplanted the older plant, with its thick trunk and huge root system that was too much to dig up — and I was amazed at how quickly she settled into her new location. This transplanting took place in summer, and Flo is doing great. She’s a beauty.

5. Betty Prior

I never thought I would love a five-petalled rose. But Betty was here when I bought the house, and she was a darling, floriferous workhorse. The numerous (very numerous) buds were deep magenta, and then the blossoms would start changing to light pink as they opened and matured. A kaleidoscope of hues, a hundred or more blooms at one time, fabulous.

This rose bush became enormous, with a thick trunk like a small tree, and huge canes. Betty was constantly in bloom. She died (along with 6 other roses) when we had 4 weeks of hot weather in March/April 2015 followed by severe freezes and an ice storm in May.

I miss her.

6 & 7. Apricot Nectar and Fragrant Lavender Simplicity are doing superbly—lots of rich color and fragrance.

8. Lady of Shalott is coming along nicely, planted less than a year ago. She stayed strong despite arriving tiny (7 inches tall from Heirloom Roses for $50) during an extended heatwave. And then popped out some magical blooms.

9. After three years, my own-root Belle de Londres (aka Compassion) is finally producing more than 2-3 blooms a year — and the very fragrant blooms are ENORMOUS. Classically beautiful in form. Spectacular.

10. I have a soft spot in my heart for The Reeve, a David Austin rose. One of the first roses I bought when I got started in 1998. A soft lavender/pink with a round shape like peonies and a swooningly strong scent. At this point (25+ years later), he’s become spindly and not that productive, but he’s a familiar friend in my garden. He brings me joy.

Annie: thank you for sharing your joy in above roses in your garden. From your list, I have Lady of Shalott (not crazy about it), but I enjoy Nahema's exquisite bloom and best scent ever, see below:

I also enjoyed the beds of Apricot Nectar and Fragrant Lavender Simplicity at nearby rose park. Those 2 beds were the best at rose park, but not much scent.

I'm going to be the odd ball out. I grow and enjoy a lot of HT's along with a good handful of everything else. So here is my list in no particular order.

1---Louise Estes, HT. In my garden it is the entire package. Nice upright bush with beautiful foliage on long cutting stems. Beautiful pink blend blooms with a very nice fragrance.

2---Ring of Fire, HT. Very nice full bush that holds its foliage from the top of the bush to the bottom. Long stems with a beautiful eye catching orange blooms with a very light scent.

3---Hot Princess, HT. Once part of the cut flower industry. Upright growth with deep green, leathery foliage. Long stems hold the "hot pink" blooms. No detectable fragrance. A vase full of these beauties will take your breath away.

4---Crystalline, HT. Another cut rose industry rose that I have been growing for 25+ years. Not exactly the most beautiful bush in the garden, but most of the blooms come on long cutting stems. Deep green foliage sets off the pure white blooms perfectly. Nice soft scent.

5---Munstead Wood, David Austin Shrub. Nice full bush always in bloom. It produces plenty of long cutting stems that are COVERED with thorns. But the deep burgundy blooms and scent are fantastic.

6---Scepter d' Isle, David Austin shrub. I'm blessed to live in an area where I can grow my roses on Fortuniana rootstock if I want. My Scepter is grafted on this rootstock and is a monster. Dozens of long stems holding clusters of soft pink blooms with a heavy scent. My bush is 15 years old and still going strong.

7--- Molineux, David Austin shrub. Nice, mannerly bush. Not too tall. About 3 1/2 ft. Covered in soft yellow blooms on nice stems. Repeats quickly. Nice, soft scent.

8---Lady of the Dawn, Floribunda. Clusters of soft pink, 5 petal blooms all over this very large shrub. We have been growing this beauty for 30+ years.

9---Hannah Gordan, Floribunda. Big healthy bush. Nice long stems covered in deep green foliage. The blooms are white tipped in strawberry red. No scent. Another we have been growing for over 30 years.

10---Marchesa Boccella, OGR. Once established (3 yrs), it is a big (5 FT) full bush that blooms all year long. The medium pink blooms are packed full of petals. Fantastic fragrance.

Ken, you know Munstead is my favorite and yours is stunning. I take more pictures of Munstead than any other. Your Marchesa is breathtaking. I wish that I had room for that beauty.

Now that my current rose gardens have a couple seasons under their belt and my rose aquisition has spiked, I thought I’d revisit my list to see if I could come il with a top 10 most enjoyable if the roses I’m currently growing. The oldest if these were only planted in the fall of 2020, so my experience with any of them is pretty limited. That said here is the list. The first three are probably in rank order, but it gets too hard after that.

Bliss

Deelish

Savannah

Brindabella Purple Prince

Rosemantic Red

Annie Laurie McDowell

Fiesta Veranda

Alfred Sisley

Quietness

Hermosa

Bliss is the total package of health, fragrance, beauty and rebloom. She spent this summer in a pot rehabbing ib part shade after the voles ate off most of her roots, but she still wowed me. Had I lost her, I would have replaced her in a heart beat.

Deelish is another that I would not be without. In my garden, this rose can easily hit 7ft tall. It smells amazing and the color pops without clashing. I am a huge fan! in my garden, she gets some blackspot/defoliation but this doesn’t seem to slow her down.

Savannah is another giant the easily reaches 7 foot also. again, fragrance is a huge driver in my enjoyment. She gets some blackspot and by late fall she looks pretty bare, but she has the vigor to recover and her blooms are gorgeous.

Brindabella Purple Prince hasn’t made it into the ground yet but has wowed me. It’s very healthy so far and the fragrance is yummy.

I’ve shared Rosematic red before. It is a blooming machine.

Annue Laurie McDowell is still very small and just starting to show her stuff, but again, she’s got health, fragrance fragrance, and beauty and for a little thing, she blooms a lot and thrived despite some neglect on my part (weeds!)

Fiesta Veranda was new this year and I really enjoyed it (I also love cream veranda) in part because each bloom looked a bit different, but always very pretty. I can’t wait to see what it will di this summer.

Alfre Sisley was a lot like Fiesta Veranda in that you just never knew what to expect and that was half the fun. it was an exceptionally healthy rose with good repeat too.

Quietness just had an exceptional year and while other soft pinks were riddled with thrips, she looked like this.

Hermosa is the rose in my avi. It is the first rose to bloom and I it attracts butterflies and has stayed a nice compact size. I just love it.

Markay MD-Zone7A I appreciate your amazing bush-shots. It makes me want to move to zone 7. In my zone 5a, most of my roses look like mini-roses, or one-cane wonder with a few blooms.

Annie - great list! I loved reading about your connection to The Reeve. :) :)

Ken - Oh, you grow those roses so well!! They're all so beautiful!! I should get Louise Estes (I think Hortico has it)...I was just cautious about the fragrance. Your Sceptr'd Isle is incredible!! My goodness!! Does it have a really strong myrrh fragrance...or is it a sweeter one?

Markay - beautiful, beautiful!!! I think so many of us will be buying Rosemantic Red next year after seeing your glorious bush!! Your Quietness is another rose that beckons my heart. :) WOWZA!!! Your Bliss is exquisite!! Great job on growing such wonderful roses!

Straw - that's not true. :) :) I've seen so many pictures of your roses...they look huge and full of roses/buds. :) :)

I love seeing everyones favorites

Some I have and lots more that I don't.

One rose that was mentioned frequently is Princess Charlene de monaco. Across the board people seem to love this one.

Time to look into my very own.

Ann, I got Charles Renne Macintosh from David Austin

@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw - I’m the oddball who didn’t love PCdM. The color was muddy and the flowers faded to parchment very quickly, by the second day. Growth habit was scraggly. Probably just my climate. It would have been better here just as a cut flower.

Here are the promised photos of Astrid Lindgren, one of my favorites, from Poulsen via The Rosearie (Waldoboro, Maine) in 2001. . The photos were taken toward the end of the flush, so the blooms are a bit past their prime, but you get the idea

Here are Apricots ‘n’ Cream and Fragrant Lavender Simplicity — both are very fragrant.

Nose, good to know.

Anyway it is too big for my yard.

Thanks for the review

Annie - I loooove that final picture of Astrid Lindgren!!! Lots of charm. :) Apricots/Cream really catches the eye too! Mmmmm :)

Unfortunately the ground squirrels are chowing down on the roses I planted last October and November, so it doesn't appear that I'll have roses again in spite of the wire enclosures.

My ten favorite roses in my past rose garden are, in no particular order:

1. Souvenir de la Malmaison

2. Bishop's Castle

3. La France

4. Aloha

5. Evelyn

6. Bermuda Spice

7. Reve d'Or

8. Mme. Franziska Kruger

9. Aunt Margy's Rose

10. Wild Edric

Oh Ingrid, that is heartbreaking!! I'm so sorry dang it. Can you set up feeders for the squirrels so that they have somesomething else to eat?

Ingrid I am also truly sad that you are encountering such obstacles. I wish I had some advice for you but since I don’t I am sending you a big hug :(

Thank you, dear Kristine and oursteelers. Yes, I've tried the feeders, but that just seems to draw in more squirrels from surrounding areas. I've double and triple fenced the few roses remaining but I just don't know. The big hug is much appreciated!

That’s so frustrating, Ingrid! I hope you are still finding joy in your garden, despite this.

Ingrid - argh. I'm like everyone else here...I want the best for you...you deserve to grow roses. Can you grow them in pots? It's better than having zero roses. :( :(

So appreciate you, noseometer and rosecanadian. Alas, pots would not deter these critters, as they can climb on anything, including 20-foot cypresses, which they munch on as though they're candy. Global warming, the results of which I began to see in 2018 and 2019, has been a game changer in my hot and dry garden. They've taken the bark off my crape myrtles and then the leaves, and gobbled up the jade plants and rosemary bushes - I mean, how tasty can they have been? Rose bushes must be like chocolate truffles in comparison.

Great thread and pictures. My heart goes out to Ingrid. How awful to triple fence and still have such loss. I can't imagine things eating Rosemary.... (well except people).

Oh, Ingrid. :( :( What about a greenhouse? You wouldn't be able to have very many roses...but you could have some.

Ingrid I wonder if you could get a few barn cats. They would keep the squirrels away. If you could set up a little shed in a shady area or something similar, with a small cat door then they could get in there away from any coyotes.

We have outdoor barn cats here and they keep squirrels rats, mice away from the feed but they also keep them away from the plants around our house. Initially there are a few squirrel casualties unfortunately, BUT the squirrels and wild rabbits and wild birds learn quickly just not to come up here. Mice and roof rats are dumb and still try to get into the barn so it gives the cats plenty to catch lol. We have tall gates in our front and back barns with just a small opening at the top that the cats can easily climb in but coyotes cant.

A small dog like a Jack Russel or a dachsund would also chase them off while they were outside. Of course, they couldnt be left outdoors overnight or during the exteme heat etc. Their scent might help deter the rodents. My MIL's Jack Russels catch everything in her yard, lol, even disgusting giant roaches which they proudly bring up on the porch.

sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida) Agree with you that outdoor cats keep all pests away. We used to have a strayed black cat who hid in a hole below the cement step of my neighbor's house. That kept it alive through zone 5a winter, plus my neighbor fed it.

That black cat chased all the squirrels & rabbits away from my garden. The cat did the STINKIEST poop that I could smell far away.

Then my neighbor moved to Arizona and the new owner sealed that hole, so the black cat died in my zone 5a winter. The rabbits and squirrels came back and devoured my roses. I spent lots of money & time putting up brick border and mesh fence, it makes it harder to sniff roses. If my husband can build an underground shelter for a cat, I would love to keep an outdoor cat in my freezing zone 5a winter, at -20 F below zero.

Ha I didnt think about them pooping in the garden! Maybe if one taught them to go in a litter box or give them another spot to go further from the garden. Its funny our barn cats never have pooped in the barn or the flowerbed. They prefer to go out in the fields. They dont usually stray too far out though. I think they are afraid of the coyotes. I have a black one that will follow me all the way out to the ponds (several acres from the barn). She wont go out there unless she sees me start walking out, then she comes running. She is obsessed with running around the ponds for some reason. She thinks she's a wild thing in the thick trees and vines out there.

sultry, we used to have feral cats here in past years, but now for some years there have been none. I'm afraid they've been eliminated by coyotes and perhaps even by bobcats, against which they have absolutely no defense. Sadly, with global warming so many smaller creatures have vanished, including reptiles and insects. The struggle to live is so evident now compared to the past. I thought some of the roses were safe, and now just overnight they've burrowed under the barriers and gobbled up Lauren and International Herald Tribune.

Earth Angel and Geoff Hamilton are beautiful roses, they smell great too.

Even though Geoff Hamilton is a very slow bloomer for me (Zone 8), Earth

Angel blooms repeatedly.

-Earth Angel

-Geoff Hamilton

Sultry - so cute about your cats. I love hearing about everyone's animals. :) :)

Ingrid - I feel so sad for you. There must be some way you can grow roses. You don't think a Greenhouse would work?

Mertin - that is the most beautiful picture of Earth Angel I've ever seen!!! :) :)

Ingrid, grrrrrr.... why to they eat the roses? Maybe pepper spray or something? I'm sure you've already tried everything. I wonder if growing some special grasses (something they like the taste of better than roses...?) off in the distance, further away from the roses would help any. One summer up north, I discovered that the groundhog family living under the barn LOVED my tomato's, but hated the corn. weird.

Sultry, there's a feral cat that the neighborhood has kind of adopted. He visits us all, food one place, shelter a different place. He lets us pet him a little now. He doesn't bother the plants or toilet in them. He does like to lay inside the pole bean and pea A-frame trellis tho. Kinda cute. Nice and shady, cool dirt to lay on, hidden from view and up off the ground by 3'. I keep a bowl of water out for him and some snacks. He's respectful of the garden plants. Only thing he decimated was the catnip lol. And that he trashed with great abandon and fervor. lol. I grow cat grasses/greens in little cache pots and put them around in places. My indoor kitties get such treats too. Neighbors German Shep comes to visit on occasion, she sits and waits to be invited into the 'garden room'. Then she's more interested in playing 'hose squirty' games. Funniest thing. She and I are both soaked in the process. Fun times. I dunno about rabbits though.

Kimberly, how good you are to all your animals. I'm a kitty lover, and it's nice to know how you're helping the neighborhood's adopted kitty. And I'll bet he's repaid your kindness by catching a few mice and voles that you may not know about. We have three eunuch kitties, and one, my boy, Finn, is hell on voles and mice, but the rest of the time, he is a total sweetie. Cats have multiple personalities, and when they revert to their hunting instincts, they become different animals. I don't grow catnip because I just don't have room for another pot, but I do have catmint, and Finn reacts to it, as well, when I give him a few catmint bits. Diane

I love the fact that rose lovers have an affection for animals too and care greatly about their welfare. I believe that all living things are a part of the great One and how we treat them is terribly important. What straw said about the black kitty broke my heart. Domesticated animals need humans to help them survive, and sometimes we fall short.

To put out more effort to try to save my roses is more than I can handle any more, but I'm still hopeful that at least one or two will survive. Even that would be such an awesome thing.

I have some Catnip started in my peat pod thing under the Aerogarden lights. I probably need to start a bunch more. Cats always demolish the catnip plants once they figure out that they are there. I know some people make tea from them etc. I dont know how they get any with the cats around lol.

I am thinking of making some square plant cages out of hardware cloth for the catnip. I could ziptie them together and put a top on them until the plants got too big.

They would work for small baby roses as well. Most of my roses come grafted but when I buy Teas or Noisettes they are usually small own root.

I went outside this morning to holes dug up all over the place up close to the house. The armadillos must be out digging at night. I am gonna set up our game camera and see if I can catch them at it. It couldnt be rats or the cats would get them.

Sultry... too bad I can't get your critters to come 'dig on command' at my place. I need to amend a 13' diameter circle - digging it all up, turning the soils, adding compost, black cow, etc. Raising the level. Not looking forward to that job. Obviously. I'm here reading/typing on the forums when I should be outside! lol.

Ingrid, will troubles never cease? This is so sickening.

Kimberly - oh, that does sound like fun. :) :) Dogs can be so ridiculous which allows us to have fun too. :) :)

Ingrid - I understand. I hope, too, that you'll have a few roses that will survive and bless you with blooms. :) :)

Sultry - were they just holes, or did the critters get some roses, etc. too?

Just random holes everywhere lol. The armadillos like to eat roots or grubs or something lol.

It would be great if I could get our Livestock Guardian dogs to dig on command! They love to dig. However, they wanna dig straight down, down to China lol. They dig big giant holes. The lady we got one of our dogs from: The momma dog had dug a huge cavern tunneling underneath the goat pasture. Thats where she had her babies lol.

Sultry - oh, that's funny!!! She dug a huge cavern underneath the goat pasture. Reminds me of the Looney Tunes carton where the sheepdog with the brown hair that hung over his eyes was always on the lookout for the wolf. The wolf dug under the sheep and tried to sheep-nap them...but the sheepdog always stopped him. :)

Castor oil spray? Those who sell it say it works, but some say it doesn't.

High on my list from my garden would be ’Reine des Violettes’

Some favorites: Ascot

Angel Face

Augusta Luise and Golden Celebration

Love Song

Probably my favorite Austin, Munstead Wood.

Gna - I love the blue-green color of the leaves...they go so well with that wonderful pink. :)

Diane - your pic of Love Song really is a clear, crisp shot...love! Good glory, they're all gorgeous...but the AL/GC picture is above and beyond. :)

Thanks so much, Carol. I love my old camera...and of course, the roses most of all. Diane

Those photos of your Munstead Wood are amazing.