I live on a River and we often have high winds. https://youtu.be/i2xIzZPiP0E

I live in South Florida zone 10. I have had to deal with hurricane and gale force winds. I had several David Austins that did ok, I lost some of them, but that was due to brackish water flooding that stood for several days: Pat Austin, Evelyn, Cardin Mill and Abraham Darby. I also have a Lady of Shallot, but it breaks off at the graft, I do not know how it would do own root. None of them seemed to get canker from the wind. I have a Sugar Moon, not an Austin, and if the wind blows, it gets canker.

I have a David Austin, Spirit of Freedom, which I have only had a couple of years, it does OK in regular wind, but I do get some canker if I have heavy gale winds.

If you want any HT's the ones that handle my winds the best is Medallion and Grand Dame, no canker from wind. Another rose that does great handling wind is Beverly. It is a chili thrip magnet, but it can stand up to any wind storm.

I look on Helpmefind.com and roses that get canker easily are probably not good candidates, because when the canes whip in the wind is when mine seem to get the problems with canker and die back.

I live on the Intracostal, so I also have to deal with salt air. My leaves use to be get bad edges, but Geoff Coolidge of Cool Roses, told me after strong winds that brings in the salt I should wash the leaves off. I now do that and they are much better.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

I am going to give the rugosas a try! I am really surprised at how much variety there is, I used to think they were rather plain looking, but that was just ignorance: I am amazed at all the different kinds of rugosas!

@The Rose Geek Wow that's a beautiful garden! That Francis Meilland is amazing! I am impressed many David Austins do well in that wind too. Fascinating to see the ones closest to the river thriving in spite of being so exposed to the high winds. Thank you for sharing!

@seasiderooftop thank you! let me know what works for you next season so that i can consider adding to my garden.

I have grown roses on high wind balconies in the past. I even have a few growing that way now. I grow the roses I like and will use bamboo stakes in each pot to tie in each rose cane. It is sometimes a pain to do, but can make all the difference in ability to thrive in windy conditions. I pick most of the blooms for the house so I am not as concerned with wind thrashing the blooms.

@sharon2079 Thank you for that rundown about your roses! I find it very useful to know the ones that didn't make it: Cankers and breaking off at the graft is definitely not something I want!

I am putting Beverly and Grand Dame on my shortlist, those two seem really wonderful!

Also good tip about rinsing the leaves to get rid of the salt, I never thought to do that but it makes sense!

@Chris Martins Zone6a Chicago Yes, the bamboo canes! I definitely agree they can help! Of course ideally, the plant would not need them and would manage on its own, but for younger plants the exposure might be too much. If they can help keep my roses alive, I'll just have to try them.

Six months after making this thread, I'm now able to have a little hindsight and report.

My rooftop garden has been perpetually windy, but the last month was particularly tough as we have been hit with three major storms with gale-force winds. Two from the East, the most exposed side of my roof, and one from the Southeast, a Sirocco wind carrying sand from the Sahara desert which whipped the life out of many of my roses' foliage. And of course, the winds here come from the sea and always also carry salt.

The damage was extensive. You know it's bad when even the leaves of the olive trees and holm oak have turned brown. I hope the below might be useful for others out there trying to grow roses in extremely windy, exposed seaside locations.

I will update in the future as I experiment with more classes. Here is a listing as of April 2022.

Hybrid perpetual/ Portland/Damask:

Complete fail. The matte, delicate foliage doesn't hold up at all. They are 90% defoliated and are not vigorous enough to put on new growth quickly afterwards. Two still look good, but that's only because they were in the most sheltered spot on my roof, so it doesn't count. I wanted them to do well because they are so lovely, but I will not be buying any more roses from this class.

Rugosa roses:

Pretty good. They held up well through the first storm but then came the sand blast and by the third storm the foliage was pretty fried on most of them. Worst performance in this class: Roseraie de l'Hay. It took considerable damage and half defolated, but it is still recovering quite impressively. Best performers: Wild Edric and Blanc Double de Coubert. Doing ok: Jean de Luxembourg.

Austin:

Variable. Desdemona is extremely damaged, I don't think this rose will survive here long term. Princess Anne lost a full cane right down to the ground, but seems to otherwise be adapting. Olivia Rose is very damaged too but also seems to be recovering, albeit more slowly. Heritage took a big hit and lost all her leaves in the first storm, but is recovering quickly, and barely fazed by the third storm. Crown Princess Margareta is mostly fine. Teasing Georgia is in excellent shape. I am definitely seeing that the Austins with glossy foliage tend to do better in extreme wind.

Hybrid teas/floribundas:

Variable. Best performers: Iceberg, Heidi Klum, Darlow's Enigma, and to my surprise, Charles de Gaulle. Worst: Pink Ekrixis, Pascal Sevran, and sadly, Rosomane Janon in spite of having been put in a sheltered spot. Doing ok: Roberto Alagna, Mamy Blue, Huddersfield Choral Society.

Overall winners:

Iceberg, remained completely stoic through the first two storms and only lost a single flowerbud in the third storm. She outperformed the rugosas.

Teasing Georgia and Darlow's Enigma get the resilience award. They took minimal damage, and I was blown away to see they had both responded to the storm stress by putting out very fast-growing, thick new basal canes.

The test will only get tougher in the months ahead, as the temperatures rise and the heat factor adds stress. Next update in the fall!

Abraham Darby has done so well in my windy, hot back yard. its healthy and blooms are large David Austin pale peach with lighter edges. its beautiful, and i am impressed with how it handles this bad weather. stuff blows sideways here! 4 x 4.5 sized.

That's good to know about Abraham Darby, thanks @ocwildlife ! That is certainly a beautiful rose. HMF says he has glossy foliage which seems to be a good sign when it comes to handling wind!

Seaside - I'm happily surprised that Iceberg did so well for you! :) I've never grown it...but I wouldn't have guessed it as a great rose for your zone. Maybe you should try some of it's offspring? I went to hmf and looked at first, second and third generation offspring. Austin used Iceberg a lot it seems.

-Blushing Pink Iceberg

- Pink Iceberg

- Brilliant Pink Iceberg

- Heritage

- Moondance

- A Shropshire Lad

- Belle Story

- England's Rose

- Geoff Hamilton

- Graham Thomas

- Our Lady of Guadalupe

- Kiss Me Kate

- Happy Child

- James Galway

- Pure Perfume

- Molineux

- Life of the Party

- Sceptr'd Isle

- Carding Mills

- Charlotte

- Jean Giono

- The Pilgrim

- Star of the Republic.

So maybe some of those would do well for you?

Thank you @rosecanadian !

Awesome list.

The only one I have from the list is Heritage and although it is slightly less tough than Iceberg, it is definitely one of the better performers here. Heritage does take damage and loses leaves to wind, but it all comes back so fast that it doesn't really matter. And of course the blooms are just divine!

Seaside - excellent! That makes it worthwhile to try other Iceberg descendants. :) :)

Carol: your looking up of Iceberg's offsprings HELP ME A LOT. THANK YOU.

I'm always interested in low-thorn and toughness from Iceberg. Its offsprings James Galway, Scepter'd Isle, and Carding Mill are very tough in my zone 5a garden, green to the tip despite -30 below zero wind chill factor this past Feb. Our Feb. temp is usually -20 below zero, but the wind chill factor can be -30 F below zero.

England's rose, Geoff Hamilton, Charlotte, and the Pilgrim are cold-hardy, but also thrive in full-sun for Pakistan's rosarians in their 121 F heat.

Heritage and Kiss me Kate bloom well for a friend nearby in his loamy soil, so I need to make my dense clay fluffy for incoming Kiss me Kate from Roses Unlimited this May.

From Carol's list above, I grow and love Jean Giono, Molineux, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Brilliant Pink Iceberg, Burgundy Iceberg, and Iceberg. I got Carding Mill in a trade in November, and it hasn't bloomed yet. I grew Belle Story way back in the day.

Straw - oh that's great that I could help you!! :) :) It sounds l ike Iceberg has passed on its toughness to its offspring. That's good for Seaside to hear. :) Ooooh! You're getting Kiss Me Kate...that's going to be a good climber, I'm thinking.

Susan - I always think Molineux would be a great bloomer...I'm glad it's not offered here because I may be tempted to buy it, and I like to stick with fragrant roses. Jean Giono really looks like an unusual and beautiful rose...do you have a picture of it to share?

Carol, Molineux blooms like crazy. I don't have any pics of Jean Giono, but it should be blooming in a week or so. I'll be sure to take pics for you. Its blooms make my heart sing... the yellow and orange, and the veining! I have a thing for veining in rose blooms :-D

If you like cherry red roses, you should try David Austin’s Darcey Bussell. She has thick glossy foliage, stiff thick canes with dense shrub structure and the petals hold up very well in high heat because a bit thicker. She is only lightly fragrant most of the time, but an occasional bloom will have a quite strong rose scent. I have Star of the Republic (I see it on Carol’s Iceberg decedent list) and the leaves are thin and fragile and don’t hold up well in our Santa Ana winds. The long gangly structure of the bush in year three with heavy hanging flowers also wouldn’t don’t do well for you., plus the flowers don’t last long on the bush.

Susan - Yeah, Molineux's bloomability is why I'd like to have one. If only it were fragrant. :) Ooooh!! Yes!! That would be great if you could post a picture of Jean Giono!

Stephanie - that's too bad about Star of the Republic...I've always wanted to get than rose. Now I'll think twice if I ever see one.

Here is what SotR looks like this morning with its first flush. This is the start of its 4th year so maybe it will fill out more? Zero scent on these blooms, but occasionally a blooms smells like strong lemons.

And here is Darcey Bussell this morning, with nice leathery leaves and dense foliage.

Thank you for sharing your pictures @Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal !

They are both very beautiful roses. I particularly like the look of Darcey Bussell.

I didn't know anything about the Santa Ana winds, I just read the wiki article about them, they seem to be very dry and dusty, and sometimes very strong too!

Your roses are growing wonderfully well and look super healthy, very impressive especially for those conditions!

I love the colors on Stephanie's Star of the Republic and Darcy B. !!

Thankfully the Santa Ana winds are not all year round but mostly fall and winter. Sometimes we have winds as late as April. It can completely destroy the fall blooms though. Darcey Bussell likes to throw a bloom here and there until Christmas then dormancy for a month and a Spring flush. This is her second flush this year since Spring starts early here and she doesn’t rest much between flushes. I wish I could get Golden Celebration, to her left, to bloom more. Along with James Galway, GC gives a Spring flush and not much more. I wonder if some of the Austin’s need a cold winter to bloom well? Or I just need a different fertilizer? DB is treated the same and blooms a lot more. Seaside, is your weather a Mediterranean climate like mine? Are you on the Mediterranean?

Darcy B. was a continuous bloomer for me in a pot, but Golden Celebration gave only 2 flushes in a pot & also in the ground, same with James Galway in my zone 5a & heavy clay & tons of rain.

@Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal

Yes my climate is definitely Mediterranean, I am in Malta, smack in the middle of the Mediterranean! Zone 11.

You are lucky to get at least some dormancy! I do wonder if not getting any dormancy might tire the roses eventually, and lead to a shorter lifespan for them.

Austins so far have done a lot better than I expected in our weather. They do want to get bigger than stated, but because of my seaside location and frequent gale-force winds I have to prune off damage throughout the year, so they don't get huge either.

Well, except for Teasing Georgia. A 4ft shrub, the tag said... she's filling out the 7ft trellis and it hasn't even been a full year yet!

As for Austin blooms it really varies. Wild Edric and Heritage both bloom very well here. Teasing Georgia had only a few blooms in her first year, but now is starting to push out a lot of tiny buds from her laterals so it should get interesting!

The one Austin that has been sulking is Crown Princess Margareta. She's not at all damaged by the wind but just stays very low and sprawls, and so far not a single bloom in a year. I think I will put her in a bigger pot next week and see if that helps.

My other Austins are too new to really know how they will bloom, I just added them in February.

One other rose that has recovered extremely well from wind damage is newbie Roberto Alagna. He lost a few leaves on only one cane, but quickly got new growth and the new leaves are incredibly shiny and tough. To the touch they feel like bay laurel. Blooms soon!

Stephanie - I love your SotR blooms...and to my mind, they sure don't look like the blooms would smell like lemons. :) I also love your garden area....look at how well your roses are doing...and so many buds!

Seaside - look at all of those blooms on Roberto Alagna!! It's doing well! I think your CPM looks really good...just give it a bit more time. And, yeah, in zone 11...I think it may need a bigger pot.

Bloom!

That was faster than expected.

I love his sunset colors. The scent is medium, a peachy rose scent. Maybe it can get stronger as he grows.

Wow !! That's the type of color I like. You have the best color-combo on Roberto A.

I'm annoyed at fading colors ... even Golden Cel. and Crown Princess M. fade in color. But I love deep orange and deep yellow like yours.

Seaside - oh wow!!! Great job growing such a beauty!!! It did well surviving the harsh conditions you have. I love that bloom!!

Beautiful multicolored rose!

Straw I hope you see this because I think you can help.....

A few weeks ago my husband found an unopened bag of Azomite in the garage. He told I should use it up since I bought it.... and he was right. I put it in the rose bed and watered it in good. Then I added a good layer of horse manure with wood shavings as my mulch.....

Then this past week we had 3 days in row (day and night) of heavy winds including gale gusts, I had a bunch of new growth (still red) and I was fretting because I just knew that the wind was going to shred them. Well, I went out to wash my leaves and there seemed to be no damage.., or at least very little on the ones in the ground where I had added the Azomite,,, but I had been afraid to add it to my pots because I always kill things in my pots by over fertilizing.... the ones in the pots were all damaged. I am now thinking I should add some Azomite to them, especially since those are the ones that get watered everyday. They are probably losing their nutrients.......

But I can't get over how well the ones in the ground did..... All of the leaves are nice large and lush. In fact, they are much larger than they have been except when they come from the nursery.

Please comment.... I know you know the chemistry and minerals of why this would be..... and it could also maybe help seaside with her salt and gale winds......

Thanks

Sharon

Sharon: I tested Azomite back in 2014. I sprinkled on top of a few roses. Marie Pavie shot up from 2' x 2' to 3' x 2' (way too tall). Crown Princess Mag. threw 10 foot canes (normal size is 4' x 3'). Azomite is mostly calcium plus many trace elements.

I'm pretty sure it the trace elements that helped with growth. I tested throwing powder lime and DID NOT get such vigorous growth. I tested throwing gypsum (calcium sulfate) and roses break out in blackspots from the acidity of its 18% sulfur.

Since Azomite is mostly SOLUBLE calcium, it causes fast growth of canes & leaves & roots (calcium is the building block), but IT DID NOT INCREASE BLOOMING.

So Azomite is best in spring (after pruning), but NOT BEST in hot summer, when roses become too tall.

I have read Amazom reviews where a lady mentioned that she re-used her old potting soil by revitalizing it via mixing in Azomite. As to the ratio of Azomite to mix in, I quote Roses Unlimited's recipe of 8 gallons of soil (compost & bagged soil & clay) mixed well with 1 cup gypsum plus 2 cups alfalfa meal OR 1 cup fine-powder organic fertilizer, plus 1 cup dolomitic lime (Azomite is a better substitute).

So if you have a 4 gallons of potting soil, it's 1/2 cup gypsum mixed in plus 1 cup alfalfa meal plus 1/2 cup Azomite. Azomite pH is 8.1 to 8.6, it will neutralize the acidity of alfalfa meal at pH 5.

Nitrogen mobility is a 10 (it moves down quickly) so there's no point of mixing in with potting soil, when it's best given from above. It's phosphorus at mobility of 1 or potassium at mobility of 3 that needed to be mixed in below soil.

Calcium is slow to move down, thus best mixed into potting soil such as gypsum or Azomite. Young own-roots need lots of calcium as building blocks for growth.

Thanks for the tip about Azomite for wind @sharon2079 !

I have a jar of it but so far only used in on my seedlings and they do seem to like it! I will test adding some to the roses that are in pots next week! Last week they got a trace minerals solution (Canna Trace, good because liquid, but not as complete as azomite) along with some silicone, then this week was calmag week. So I'll give them a little time before trying the Azomite just so I don't overload them.

I am very excited to use the Azomite, originally because of its selenium content but now even more so if it can help with wind resistance too.

On my jar it says to use 20grams of Azomite for every 10litres of soil. I think I'll start light and try scratching 20g into the surface of the soil of my potted roses at first and perhaps add more later.

Great info, thank you @strawchicago z5 ! Very interesting to consider the pH aspect regarding Azomite too. Well, it's too late to really properly mix it into my potted roses' soil but I will try scratching some in and hope it moves down eventually, and will be adding it to the mix each time I repot from now on!

Another rose that has been faring well here in spite of the winds: Heidi Klum.

And for contrast, these three pots are among the worst performers here so far: the Hybrid Perpetual/Portlands (left to right: Boufarik, Chios, and White Jacques Cartier), looking terrible and still not recovering much.

I always admire Heidi Klum bloom (very nice leaves on your plant). I gave away Jacques Cartier (too big as own-root), plus small blooms & less scent than Comte de Chambord.

Update.

I am observing an unexpected side effect from the crazy, sandy winds we had last month.

Most of the roses' foliage has largely recovered, BUT some of them are now producing tiny blooms.

Desdemona : she lost almost all of her leaves, so this tiny cluster wasn't a surprise:

Boufarik: she was 90% defoliated so again, not a surprise.

Teasing Georgia, now that was unexpected, her leaves had stood up to the winds so well! I was so happy when I saw her covering herself in buds last week, but a bit let down to see that they are opening sooo tiny.

My take is that she focused all her energy on conserving her foliage and surviving and the bloom size was sacrificed in the process.

The tiny blooms are a little frustrating, but I guess it's just normal after such extreme stress. I have been giving them all extra water and careful feeding, so I hope they can get back to normal soon!

seasiderooftop Your roses are very pretty & nice color & many petals. I grow 150+ own-root roses in pots first, before transferring to the ground for my zone 5a. My largest blooms were with peat moss potting soil that can hold water 10 times its weight, plus fertilized with SOLUBLE NPK 20-20-20 (with trace elements) for week-long rain. A potassium of at least 20 is necessary for big blooms.

In hot & dry weather I switch to SOLUBLE Masterblend NPK 4-18-38 to achieve large bloom with LOW nitrogen of 4, but high in potassium at 38.

High nitrogen tends to make blooms smaller. High phosphorus result in more blooms, but poor quality. All the blooms in my bouquets (in below link) were fertilized with high potassium and 1/2 calcium:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2134793/bouquets-of-no-spray-roses

Thank you @strawchicago z5 !

It's funny because the blooms do look just like they should, but miniaturized.

I fertilize all my roses the same. During the storms, I gave them only water, or water with calmag, or with silicone + trace minerals solution. Two weeks ago they got some Plagron AlgaBloom 3-2-5, and then all-purpose Phostrogen 16-10-24 last weekend.

What is curious to me is that these are the only three roses doing this, when they all are on the same rootstock and all fertilized the same.

All the others, regardless of how damaged or not their leaves were, are either not blooming yet or producing normal sized blooms.

I don't see the tiny blooms as a problem as long as it's temporary: of course I prefer big blooms. The small flowers are part of their healing I guess. To be honest I am just glad they are alive!

Oh and a nice surprise: even the tiny blooms have scent!

Seaside they could be stressed from the wind and salt..... then if it has turned hot or extremely warm then the bloom will be smaller...

I am pretty sure that it is temporarily.... my roses here in zone 10 get much smaller blooms (with the exception of Sweet Mad. who loves heat) during my summer...... However, I get lots of growth because of the heat.

Straw do you mix extra calcium into the Masterblend to get 1/2?

Thanks

Sharon

Sharon: Since calcium helps with heat-tolerance, I use plenty of gypsum to break up my alkaline clay, so each planting hole has 10 cups of gypsum (calcium sulfate) mixed in months in advance. For each 3-gallon pot, I use 1 cup of gypsum.

Alfalfa meal NPK 2-1-2 also has calcium and magnesium .. I top my pots with alfalfa meal in hot & dry summer. Calcium helps with more petals, versus potassium helps with big blooms.

Even my tomato plants with too much nitrogen (tons of grass clippings) give much smaller fruits or less fruits than the tomato plants fertilized with high potassium Masterblend. Potassium helps with water osmosis in hot & dry.

In week-long rain, I use a bit more nitrogen to potassium, such as MG-soluble for plants NPK 24-8-16. Nitrogen mobility is a 10 versus potassium mobility a 3, so nitrogen gets leached out in day-long rain.

In hot & dry, I use SOLUBLE Masterblend NPK 4-18-38 (this has zero calcium), but my pot already got calcium pre-mixed as gypsum, also topping with alfalfa meal supplies calcium.

Really interesting discussion!

December update:

After yet another massive storm which hit my garden with 60mph winds, and a year of hindsight, here are some additional observations.

Staking: works very well for everyday windy conditions. However, stakes need to be changed every few months as the rose grows, to ensure that the canes are tied almost to the top. If the cane grows more than a foot past the stake it is prone to getting snapped off at the tie-down point. 

Storm prep: in very high winds, staking is not enough. Even staked roses will suffer from defoliation.

For large roses (3+ feet tall) I have come to accept that the simplest and easiest way to avoid storm damage is to lie the pots down on their side, facing away from the dominant wind. The rose won't mind if this only lasts for a day or two, while the worst of the storm passes through. Large roses in pots WILL get knocked over by gale-force winds anyway, so might as well pre-emptively lie them down gently. I use mostly square pots so they won't roll around. 

For smaller roses, or newly planted bare-root roses that have tender new growth, grouping and wrapping in burlap works very well. The burlap allows some air and light through but is a very effective windbreak. Create a tent-like structure by placing stakes that are slightly taller than the roses to drape the burlap over. Make sure the burlap is tucked firmly under the pots with no loose ends for the wind to catch, and secure with a tie around the pots. Two ties are better than one.

Climbers: avoid, avoid, avoid. I only have one climber, Teasing Georgia, which did well in the spring storms, but this time around the winds actually tore her canes right off of the trellis and there was a LOT of cane breakage and defoliation. Climbers can't be laid down on their sides (although perhaps if they're on an obelisk you could?), so it is really just asking for trouble. I am keeping TG because I love her, but never again another climber.

Once again the Hybrid Perpetuals were devastated. I am doing away with White Jacques Cartier this weekend, this rose just has too many flaws and I am tired of waiting for her to improve. The other two (Boufarik and Chios) will remain, for now, although Chios is also on the shortlist of roses I might get rid of at some point: it was a real PM factory this fall.

Rugosas: now that they are more established, my rugosas did amazingly well against the wind. Very impressed with this class' performance here. 

Hulthemias : also very good performance, although they are not all equal. Eyes for You's leaves are thinner and were much more affected than the more leathery foliage of Raspberry Kiss and Orienta Aylin.

HT's and Austin: I had laid a lot of them down on their sides, so they did mostly ok! Out of those that were left upright, Huddersfield Choral Society, Charles de Gaulle and Heidi Klum did the best. Charles de Gaulle even managed to cling to a bloom in the full gale winds! This rose started out so weak, but I am quite impressed with how much stronger he's getting. On the other hand, Pink Ekrixis is severely damaged, and like White JC, it's one too many flaws, so she's going away. Heritage suffered a bit, but not as badly as I had feared. Finally, Princess Anne is living up to what DA had promised, and is in relatively good shape.

All of this confirms that smaller leaves with a thick, leathery appearance, and rugosa foliage is the way to go in very windy conditions. In the future, this is going to be my main selection criteria for new roses.

seasiderooftop You have the best looking blooms of Desdemona way up there. Your pic. convinces me that I should buy Desdemona in the future. Your Charles de Gaulle has a very nice blue color.

Agree that climbers can't take the wind. Our wind in Chicagoland is strong and I find many broken canes on Crown Princess Magareta.

Thank you Straw! I love Desdemona so much, she has surpassed my expectations.

Here is a pic of her totally unbothered by the heat in the late July heat this year:

Wow !! So dainty and romantic, I love the above pic. How do you like the scent of Desdemona? Thanks anyone for the info.

Seaside - You've learned a lot about roses and wind...I think your idea to lie the pots on their side facing away from the wind is a great idea. And goodbye to climbers. You've even figured out about leaves and wind. :) :) Good job!

Glorioso!! Your Desdemona is fabulous!! I agree with Straw in asking....how is the fragrance? :) :) I have a chance to get Desdemona from a real expensive place...but I have enough white roses...but... :)

Sorry Straw and Rosecanadian, I thought I had replied here yesterday, but apparently it didn't work! 

Desdemona's scent is lovely, although to me it is stronger in cooler weather. Perhaps because of my climate, or because she's still quite young, she's not quite up there in my top most fragrant roses here. 

Definitely not a mild scent, but not as strong as say CdC or some of my others, but more than White Jacques Cartier. Perhaps on par with Heritage, but it's a different type of scent. Let's say medium to strong, depending on the time of day and time of year. I am sure she would be more fragrant in colder zones like yours!

seasiderooftop I gave away my pink Jacques Cartier since the scent is light old rose, and the bloom was really small. Thank you for the info. on Desdemona's scent.

Yes, Straw and Rosecanadian, both JC and his white sport seem to be disappointing in all of our climates! I mean he's fine, I guess, relatively healthy (but not a star either) and stays small, so you almost kind of forget he's there, but the blooms and scent never impress. Like you Rosecanadian, I kept giving him a chance and hoping he'd improve, but he's just so blah. 

First one to rebloom after the storm is Heidi Klum! She had some baby buds when the storm hit and managed to hold on to them! Her scent is stronger now in the cooler months, and her color leans more purple. 

The foliage may seem unimpressive here, but please keep in mind this rose took those salty gale-force winds head-on just ten days ago, with zero protection! The wall behind her didn't help at all, the wind was coming from the side I took the picture from. I'm amazed she hung on to this much foliage and even more thrilled to see her bloom!

Seeing this today when I got home from my trip made my day! Heidi is a tough girl!

The color is pure purple, my favorite !! Heidi Klum has a gorgeous 18-year-old daughter who gets into modeling like her Mom. Heidi Klum is a great rose.