Have you try your local municipal rose garden? We have one in San Jose, CA that has many old fashioned varieties along with hybrid teas. I volunteered many years ago trimming roses. I got some rose cuttings from them. We have hot summer(dry heat) with mild winters. Roses do well here. I have good luck with Bishop Castles-David Austin rose. Don't get Janet. I had it in a big pot and got toasted in the heat last summer. Bishop Castle has pink cup like flowers with many petals. It also have a wonderful old rose fragrance. It's easy to start from cuttings too. It has an arching habit and grows to 4' wide in 2 yr. I don't spray or use chemicals on my roses. I don't even fertilize them. They pretty much fend for themselves. Flagstaff, Graham Thomas, Abraham Darby and Crown Princess Margareta are good choices too. I don't have them in my yard but other people in our areas recommend them. See the link below. I also like Juliet Child(hybrid teas), angel face, Oklahoma. Juliet Child is a pretty yellow rose that looks like old fashioned rose and has a light fragrance. I had mistaken it for DA's Golden celebration when it bloomed the first year in my garden. It doesn't get as big and rambling as DA's. That's why I like it. Angel face and Oklahoma are very fragrant and good choices too. I hope this gives you some ideas. I also have some no id roses that are very fragrant. If you want to trade, send me email off line. Here is a link that might be useful: David Austin roses

I have plenty of Zephirine Drouhin and Variegata di Bologna. I really want to cut back the Var di Bologna hard this year so anyone who wants some cuttings can have some for the cost of postage (no trade needed).

I love to see these trades going on. I know that we are technically supposed to post on the plant trade forum but that one has too much to wade through when you are only looking for succs or cacti. For the record. I am sharing largely because I need to get my collection to a more manageable size. In the warmer months everything is outside and can take over the balcony and that is just fine. But I learned this winter that I had too many to keep happy and healthy through the cold months when they need to come inside and go under lights. I have 3 people who I am sending plants to this weekend. I am very glad that they will be going to homes where they will be cared for. :-) Especially after my sister-in-law turned a jade that was nearly 2 foot tall into a pile of mush! I am pretty sure she left it outside when it got too cold and it froze.

I’ve been wondering if I should have gotten Darcey Bussel instead of Munstead Wood. MW is said to be much more fragrant, but in my garden it is only fragrant when conditions are just right. It’s an okay bloomer, but flowers lose their form, size and color in the heat of summer. The flowers crisp quickly in our dry summer heat. The spring and fall flowers are wonderful though. Sheila, do you have a MW? If so, how does it compare to DB? Stephanie? Bishop’s Castle would happily grow to 6 feet in my garden if well irrigated. I keep mine rather dry and the flowers are smaller, but it mostly stays about 4 feet and bushy. When the late summer monsoons come and the weather cools down, it shoots up taller basals that get pruned down in the winter.