Hi Beth - I'm new to this forum, but not new to coastal Southern Cal rose growing, so I'll chime in too. I'm in San Juan Capistrano on the South end of Orange County and about 2.5 miles from the beach in a coastal canyon. So I know all about roses in the marine layer fog. Mildew, not black spot, is the bane of our existence here. The only blackspot I've ever seen in my garden was on florist roses. But I do spray. And the three most fragrant ones on your list -- Double Delight, McCartney Rose and Fragrant Cloud -- will mildew even with religious spraying. But, the fragrance is worth it and I grow all three. No one has told you about the rose societies here yet. There are several. I go all the way south to the California Coastal Rose Society in Carlsbad. That's probably too far for you. There are two other OC rose societies -- the Orange County Rose Society which meets very near to Huntington Beach in Westminster -- they focus on exhibitions and hold their show the last weekend of October every year at Rogers Gardens. There's also another one that focuses mostly on gardening, garden tours and garden parties -- no exhibiting -- which is the Saddleback Rose Society -- that one's a bit inland for both of us. Wholly different climate those folks have. You can get to either one by googling the names, or I've put a link in here for the OCRS. On the rest of your list, I've grown most of them, and they do just fine. But as a general rule, in coastal cool areas like ours, fewer petals is better. Many roses just won't open like they do in hot climes, and sometimes you just die waiting for a leeeetle bit of heat to get them open, which never comes. So, plan to have some that open without heat. As for colors, try these -- Pink -- Our Lady Of Guadalupe is by far the best pink floribunda. But also check out The Imposter and Lovestruck, both of which do well for me. For Hybrid Teas, I like Memorial Day. Purple -- Intrigue is okay, but try Purple Tiger -- it's better and it's striped. It does really well on the coast. For a Hybrid Tea, I like Neptune and one that Armstrongs carries called Della Reese that is a darker purple hybrid tea with occasional exhibition form. Orange -- About Face Red -- I'm still looking for a good one. Yellow -- Julia Child or Midas Touch. Or even Peace, which gets enormous blooms on the coast. Multi -- get some stripes -- City of Carlsbad if you can find it or Cabana if you can't. Have fun. I seem to move every few years just BECAUSE I get to replenish my garden. Enjoy it. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Orange County Rose Society

Mrs. Dudley Cross' is one of my favorite Old Garden Tea roses, she blooms a lovely hue of pink and yellow in spring with a sublime cream hue in the center. In late summer and autumn the blooms are covered with a light crimson hue. Very few prickles, so few she is said to be thornless. 'Lady Hillingdon' is the best apricot rose I've grown, lovely scent, and it blooms nearly constantly all through the growing season from February past Christmas, nearly twice as long as any of our Austins or Floribundas. 'Susan Louise' for a climber, mine has no prickles on her lowest 4 feet of canes. Big mostly pink roses with a cream center, along with Lady Hillingdon has the longest bloom season of any rose I've grown out of more than 200. Light fragrance. Another vote for Le Vesuve, the blooms have a pert delicacy which I find charming. Another nearly constant bloomer this rose has a smoky scent. Those would be my first picks. The Old Garden Teas are my favorite roses for their vast subtle hues of pink and yellow, always elegant, never vulgar in coloration. I love the fragrance of Lady Hillingdon, Anna Olivier, Mrs Dudley Cross and Comtesse Emmeline de Guigne which changes from pink to pure peach depending on the season, its' fragrance has notes of stone fruit scent. . Old garden Teas need and prefer little pruning and once established I never fertilize them because they don't need it when planted in well amended soil. Photos of each may be seen at helpmefind.com/roses under Search. Best wishes for splendid roses, Lux.

You would be best off building (or having someone build) something yourself. The ones you can buy are usually too flimsy to hold up to a large rose in a strong wind. I would stick with something thornless or near-thornless and not too large to begin with because it will be so much easier for you to learn on. Renae, Allister Stella Gray, Crepuscule, or a modern like Berries n Cream or Eden (tho Eden's a Ruster). Mme Alfred is a monster, way to big for your chosen area. Check youtube for Ashdown Roses videos on climbing roses, attaching roses to structures, there are a couple good ones. Honestly it is far far easier for a beginner to grow a climbing rose on a lowish (5') wide (10'+) fence than it is up columns on a porch. On a low fence you can fan out the canes pretty easily and tie them securely and get a nice show of blooms in a relatively short 2-3 year period. Going straight up and then out is certainly doable but it takes a lot more pruning, tying, thinking, patience, time, etc. What about a couple free standing teepee type structures in front of the columns and the roses on that. That way you keep the roses off your house but still get the height. Key thing in your windy area, let them grow in spring and summer, but get everything securely tied up before the fall/winter winds begin. Widen out the too narrow planting bed in front to reduce your lawn size and give you room to really plant some ROSES! :)

Aw, thanks for the warm welcome back Robert, Connie and Kathy. I have so missed my friends from the forum. Dial up at home is so painfully slow and I don't think they will ever bring broadband to us. I'm trying to talk DH into using clearwire or something similar. School has been keeping me really busy. I love teaching but I've never had a job so constantly changing and so demanding of my personal time and money. The kids are great though and I've made some wonderful new friends (a few of them gardeners - hurray!!!) My garden is starting to look pretty mature. I build two of Robert's rebar teepees to support some found roses that turned out to be BIG climbers. I finally erected a sort of rose allee beside the drive and we've added lots more boxwoods to neaten things up. I'm so negligent about weeding and pruning and tying up climbers. I thought I'd get so much done with summer off, but I spent most of it at the pool - hee, hee. Now that Daphne is a little bigger, I can get in a little more gardening while she plays with Nathan. She is slightly less attached to my hip. ;) I'm sorry I missed your garden Connie. I bet it looked splendid. I was looking forward to seeing your house renovation, too. I do hope we can all get together soon. If not sooner, there are all the May events - Tufton, Robert's and my open gardens. I can't wait to see how much bigger Robert's Teas are. They make me envy your steady supply of fertilizer ;) -Stephanie