Oh my, 106 last week?! That's way much hotter than my area. Elle is on my must buy list. I am waiting it back to stock on Heirloom. Let me do some research on Chris Evert and Clarie. Thank you, Ben!

Have you considered tea roses? Not hybrid teas — the antique kind, mostly from the 19th century.

if you have the room — they will be 5’x5’ in a year or two— i strongly recommend them. i’m in 9a, same temps as yours, and Dr. Grill has been a standout for me. Blooms eleven months out of the year. Mild but pleasant tea fragrance. The blooms don't crisp, or don't crisp much at any rate.

Memorial Day is a hybrid tea I’m just in love with. No crisping (it helps to hose them down, all roses, with basically a mist, just before or after sunset). Heavenly scent. Also thornless!

Darcey Bussell is a David Austin rose that’s just a workhorse here. Beautiful, large, dark red blooms, good fragrance.

if you are looking for a floribunda, let me suggest Our Lady of Guadalupe. 2.5-3’ tall, light pink with silvery undersides. Not fragrant, but delicate-looking as well as indestructible.

those are my best triple-digit performers!

Sylvia, do you remember where you got your Dr Grill?

Darcey Bussell

Memorial Day

O.L.O.G.

KJ,

Quietness is one great rose, my three 12 yr. olds are going strong. I prune it as a hybrid tea, dead heading the long canes well down below the first 5 leaflet leaf, often taking off 30+" from the spent flower spray's top to the cut. Still, by season's end the final bush height is often 7 ft.

Classed as a shrub rose, Quietness really is a grandiflora in growth habit, rarely single blooms per stem almost always clusters. Some same year grown basal canes will have 30+ blooms per spray.

When grown as a shrub, as one would manage a Knock Out shrub, and left to more hands off pruning, it turns into a jumbled, willy-nilly tangled mess, with small less numerous blooms. It's a shame that in some public gardens it is grown in a carefree shrub manner, so their Quietnesses never get to show their full potential.

My Quietnesses, although zone 6b here in Pittsburgh, PA, is not a desert environment, experience intense, baking heat, my rose garden being sandwiched within a brick, concrete and asphalt cityscape. They get tortured with searing temps almost every day. Respits come only on cloudy days which are getting less and less frequent, possibly a climate change thing. The blooms don't skip a beat never crisping or wilting unlike so many other rose varieties around them. My only complaint is the short bloom life, three days max, that they have. However, the petals drop nicely.

Because of my garden's intense heat qualifications my roses need desert tolerant growth habits. May I recommend that you look into growing these two very good desert rose candidates: Moonlight Romantica and Apricot Candy. Their blooms never wilt nor crisp in my, 'pizza oven,' garden. Their petals hold on in pure beauty incredibly long before looking ready for dead heading, but they do not petal drop at this stage, but hold on making spent blooms look like used, crumpled Kleenex tissue. Can't have everything.

Moses

My #1 heat star is Strike It Rich--it keeps blooming up to 108, and it rarely fries.

Also good are Elle, Rainbow Sorbet, Cherry Brandy, and Trader Joe's minis (surprisingly!)

My newest surprise is Lady Emma Hamilton, which for years I hesitated to buy because I heard she was bad in the heat, but in fact she does fabulously, even still in a pot!

Photos are Trader Joe mini pink and Lady Emma Hamilton today!

Carla in Sac

Sylvia, thank you so much for the wonderful recommendation! I have never planted a tea rose before, But Dr. Grill sure sounds like a terrific rose. A rose blooming 11 months out of a year!

Very happy to know no crisping for Memorial Day. This rose is in my considering list. Just not sure if I will like the color. Thornless is such a big plus!

Yes, hosing down roses before or after sunset is a very good idea. I wish I knew this earlier. When I first started planting roses a few years ago, I was told not to overhead water roses to avoid fungus disease. So I was very careful and only water at the base. My roses were miserable and struggling. Finally I found out it's spider mites infestation. Frequent hosing down is the best way to get rid of them. Now although I don't do daily watering due to the water restriction, I give my roses a good shower from head to toe at least twice a week.

Mose, I bought my Quietness because I saw your recommendation on this forum😊. It quickly becomes one of my top favorites. I saved one of your posts a few years ago about how to prune quietness. I still read it every time before I prune it to refresh my memory.

I did search on Apricot candy before when I saw your raving reviews here. I love the color, but somehow the bloom form doesn't look attractive to me. Let me check moonlight Romantica. Actually I am thinking the other moonlight, moonlight in Paris. I like both the color and bloom form very well, but not sure how it handles the heat.

My quietness this morning.

Carla, we share a lot in common ☺️. I have my eyes on Lady Emma Hamilton for years! Just like you, I didn't buy because I heard it's not doing well in the heat. Now I will definitely get her!!! Does it need regular spray to stay healthy?

Yes, Elle is another one that I will definitely buy. I love my strick it rich too. Below is a picture of its spring flush.

KJ,

Apricot Candy does get less attractive past the full open stage due to an inherant petal shortage (could use a dozen more petals per blooom), but they absolutely do not crisp or wilt.

I gifted a rose friend Moonlight in Paris this spring. It was pretty big, growing in a 3 trade gallon pot, nursery stock. What a blooming machine! Bloom endurance cannot be verified though, because my friend's garden, near me in zone 6b too, but in the 'burbs, is the opposite of mine, with cool breezes from woods all around her garden, though she does get full sun.

BTW, your roses are beautiful! You can tell they get excellent care.

Moses

This is a good resource...with everyone's temps getting hotter. Beautiful roses everyone!

Moses, thank you! I spent a lot of time and effort taking care of my roses. So they'd better meet my expectation. Otherwise I shovel prune them, haha.

Apricot Candy does not crisp or wilt sounds very tempting. I need something to replace Earth Song. I planted it next to Quietness. Both are own root purchased from High Country roses at the same time. While Quietness has loads of beautiful blooms open in the heat, Earth song looks miserable with all blooms wilting in the sun. Also the bloom quantity is way less than Quietness. I am very disappointed at it. Since both were planted at the same time, I don't think Earth Song deserves another year to watch for it's improvement.

Do you grow Beverly? Now my candidates to replace Earth Song are Beverly, Apricot Candy, or Princesse Charlène de Monaco.

KJ,

I had 3 Beverly bushes. I rushed ahead of myself, so taken up with the early press on Beverly, and put in three bushes with high hopes for them. Strangely, especially for a Kordes rose, they all three grew poorly, never gaining any ground.

And, the big, "AND," is that the blooms did wilt for me. Plus, past the exhibition stage, their bloom's beauty went down hill fast. The blooms, for a hybrid tea, did not have the necessary high centers classic hybrid teas must, or at least used to have years ago, but opened rather flat. The petals were tissue paper thin. Their poor substance makes for a "sissy," bloom, subject to crisping, wilting, and balling. They are all long gone from my garden now.

Moses

Ah, thank you, Moses. Then Beverly is out for sure. I will do more research on Apricot Candy. So hard to find a perfect rose☹. We want them to be heat tolerant, rain tolerant, disease resistant, beautiful color, long bloom life, and self cleaning petals............... The list can go on and on, lol.

KJ,

Savannah is a good candidate for heat endurance if you can bear the flat bloom when it's fully open. It's a prolific bloomer, rather columnar in growth habit currently thriving in my buddy, Frank's, garden, with shiny foliage, and with a very fragrant bloom.

Its bloom flatness is why I no longer grow it. When you look at the bloom from a certain angle it almost disappears to be just a band of pink color suspended in the air. Then as you move, the flower appears. It's kind of like watching an aquarium full of discus fish looking round and substantial seen in profile. As they swim toward the front of the aquarium you see an army of exclamation points!

Moses

KJ - forgive this from me . I typed this in my notes when you were asking about Elle a month ago . I never posted it bc I wasn’t done with my thoughts and looks like I forgot already . Lol

Kj - bummer that you are so far ! It’s not that I don’t like Elle .. it just seems unhappy in my pot and has never given me a full flush . Always one - five blooms and I seem to always miss the peak of them . I also have so many potted roses ( 60 ish ) and really it’s too much and I don’t get to enjoy them all so I thought I’d pass it along if I was close to you ! I hope you can find one !!

I’ve had the same results as everyone else with Savannah and it would turn a neon salmon in its final stage so it had to go , my sexy rexy does it too and it also is leaving the nest lol

Back to todays thoughts :

I have great luck with Olivia , the tranquility that heirloom sells , it’s not the austin one. Bathsheba is doing well and my James austin too .

My heat here is so incredibly hot too. So dry.

I went to a private garden yesterday to buy a couple roses and he had shade cloth on . I didn’t notice really , the blooms looked amazing on one rose and I moved the pot to the same conditions but out from under the shade cloth and the blooms were wilted before I left ! I couldn’t believe it . So the shade cloth really does help a lot !

I’ll have to think on some others that I love . It’s hard when so many are favorites! But yep it feels like someone left the oven door open . So dry .

Moses I agree .. Beverly has a very short pretty stage that you could miss! I love the fragrance but not a fan of missing the nice blooms so fast .

Sounds like I need a Quietness !

Moses, lol, what an interesting description! Savannah has been on and off my list. I don't mind the flat bloom as long as it can retain the color well. I really like the color. Based on what I saw from internet, the color seems to be still pretty nice while the bloom is fully flat. I think I will give it a try.

@L Clark (zone 4 WY) haha, I think you do! Quietness is hardy to Zone 4. I heard Bucks roses were bred to survive harsh Iowa winters.

The only thing I have to add to the discussion, other than wanting a Quietness, is Pink Peace and PJPII hold up well in my greenhouse while Firefighter does not. It occasionally gets 100 in there, but it is humid, not dry, so more like a southern USA heat, rather than an Arizona or Southern California heat.

Oh, and I can second that Beverly is a dud. I tried to grow it in a pot and I couldn't get it to thrive. Tried everything.

@L Clark (zone 4 WY) Thank you! I heard the same thing about Firefighter.

In my hot dry garden Savannah fried almost immediately.

I don't think people who live in humid climates appreciate the difference that dryness makes.

Many supposedly heat-loving roses will in fact BLOOM in the heat, but the petals crisp almost immediately when it's dry, which I assume they don't in humidity.

So I can't recommend, for example, Firefighter, Pope John Paul 2, Chrysler Imperial, Etc. even though they still bloom in heat.

Carla in Sac

Sheila, i think my Dr Grill came from ARE in 2015-16,

Now i want Quietness, too!

KJ,

My Princess Charlene de Monaco is very heat stable here, no crisping nor wilting. Blooms in clusters also last a long time before finally needing dead heading. The petals do drop nicely, too. It's a tall, very vertical caned bush, but not gangly. The canes space very nicely from each other, and are practically arrow straight, no arching or flower nodding.

My Pope John Paul II, was a blooming machine but even grafted, after about 5 yrs., never got over 30" tall by season's end. Strange, because it was very winter hardy w/o protection. It never grew a basal cane in its 5 years in my garden! Always laterals from laterals every year all from its original 3 basal canes. Yet it repeated quickly with big, tough blooms, just stayed a very small bush for me. I got it grafted because I heard it was a weak grower on its own roots. It got shovel pruned this spring mostly because it was a bad black spotter.

Moses

If you like reds~ Florentina Climbing Rose is my best rose for the hot temps. We have over 100 degrees frequently in our area. Florentina for me blooms non stop and the blooms laugh at the heat. We are supposed to be high 90’s all weekend and 100 degrees on Monday. Last year it looked good all summer. Only negative is little scent to me.

KJ

That Strike It Rich looks spectacular. I’ve seen it looking great at local gardens here too, I really should find a place for her. Do you know your sunset zone? I agree with you and Carla on Lady Emma too, looks so fragile, but holds up beautifully…a wonderful surprise.

Lala,

Does Florentina repeat well for you? All my friends love their Florentinas, but no one could remember how well it repeats. I had Lady in Red which holds up excellent in heat and repeats well, but I think the color and form on Florentina look nicer.

My problem with Beverly and Savannah is that they wanted to take long vacations in hottest part of summer and not produce any blooms. I always thought about giving them permanent vacations to the dumpster. Agree with Moses that their pancake form was less than ideal , too. Beverly stayed small and meek, Savannah was the Jolly Green Giant Thug.

PJPII was an excellent hot summer rose for me. It could produce a huge, full petaled , perfect formed bloom in the dead of August.

Evelyn, Abe, Just Joey, Sugar Moon, Veterans Honor, Tahitian Sunset, Beautiful Day and Moonstone are excellent in hot weather and resist crisping.

Moses and L Clark - I thought I was the only one who couldn't grow Beverly. LOL L Clark, I grew mine in a pot too.

Lala - my goodness...what a bloomer for you!!

Carla, thank you. Savannah is gone from my list for good😅. Is a rose named with Sunbelt supposed to be love the sun? I had a Plum Perfect before. Also a Sunbelt. I remember this one fried under hot sun too.

Moses, very happy to know Princesse Charlène de Monaco is doing well in the heat. I love the color and bloom form so much that I have to have it no matter what. The only question is where to plant it. Guess I can safely plant it in the full sun location. I saved some afternoon shade spots for possible future purchase from Austins.

Lala, I absolutely adore Florentina! It's a perfect red! But I heard it's a once bloomer with only occasional repeat. Also as a new and lazy gardener, I am hesitant to try climbers which seems requiring too much effort. Cannot imagine deadheading a rose covering a wall😅

Ben, sunset zone is a new concept to me, lol. Just googled it. It looks like San Jose is Sunset zone 15.

Lala,

If your Florentin is young, especially if own root, it should improve in the rebloom dept. Just give it a couple more years.

BTW, I'm rooting for my nephew to get a standard poodle pup for his children, especially since he has allergies. Poodles are my favorite dog breed, wish I could keep a dog, but age and health limitations put that dream on just that, a happy dream basis.

Moses

KJ,

Princess Charlene can get big, but it's bush's form is always well organized, actually dignified and elegant could describe it very well, no sloppy, slovenly growth habit Princess with this bush, really, no pun intended.

Moses

Thank you, Moses. Is Princesse Charlène tall and narrow, or tall and wide? I am choosing the right spot for her. If she is tall and narrow, I will plant her close to the fence. If tall and wide, I will use her to replace Earth Song.

Update from this morning. Yesterday we have 102F. To my surprise, the real winner is a peruvian lily called Indian Summer. It's planted in a afternoon sun location. The blooms look like the heat never happened.

For Quietness, aged blooms did get sun burn, while newly open blooms seem fine. You can tell from the photo below.

Another surprise is Fragrant Lavender Simplicity. Those newly open blooms look fine.

KJ,

Tall and wide, but not spreading as in creeping or arching growth. The basals are pretty vertical. The laterals curve out from their origin then grow vertically. This way of growing makes the laterals space themselves apart in a very refined manner, making for an attractive bush.

For example: If I wanted to plant a solo, centerpiece rose bush in the middle of a lawn, surrounded by grass I would choose Princess Charlene of Monaco over Memorial Day (a great rose, don't get me wrong). Memorial Day 'crams,' laterials too closely, IMHO. Memorial Day is the perfect bedding rose since it does not encroach upon its neighbors. Its columnar, vertical growth is an asset in an all rose bed, especially in a wide one.

Moses

Perfect! Thank you, Moses! Then Princesse Charlène will be used to replace Earth Song. The location is in the middle second row of my front yard, and have enough space for her to grow.

Memorial Day sounds like a good choice for the narrow strip along the fence. How do you like its color? I saw some complaint on HMF that it's color looks dull.

Moses do you have any full bush pictures of Moonlight Romantica?

KJ,

I consider Memorial Day a mauve rose. I like mauve roses, and its shade of mauve is appealing to me, and obviously many others...look at its popularity.

Sadly, MD is not in my garden because of its black spot susceptibility. Unless you experience intense black spot pressure as do I and so many others in hot, humid gardening locales, you will not understand my obsession on avoiding black spotters, no matter how noteworthy their other attributes are.

Moses

mmmm12,

My photographic skills are second to my house keeping skills. My dust bunnies are now a purebred strain, having worked with them for 22 generations now. They are presently exhibiting the fast growth along with an excellent dust to volume ratio, which was my original goal. They are the envy of my competitors! 😁

Moses

Moses - I love standard poodles...I've had 3. :) :) You could rescue an older one? :) :)

KJ - Lavender Simplicity is a winner for you! Who knew it would be so heat resistant. :) :)

Moses - LOL LOL!! You are so clever. :)

Rosecanadian,

My physical limitations now prevent me from giving a standard poodle its hour long morning walk and hour long evening walk it needs, as I gave my long gone Rottweiler. My small yard is all garden, no lawn, no room to exercise a big dog.

I could possibly successfully keep a toy breed who could get all its exercise running around my three story house. However, such a small dog underfoot is a broken leg or fractured hip waiting to inevitably happen.

Moses

Moses. good points. And, yes, no broken bones.

KJ and BenT: Yes Florentina bloomed all summer long! I have two of them. One is 2 years old and the other is on its 3rd year. They both had excellent repeat, they were never without flowers. They are both in FULL sun from morning to night, no shade. I expect the same again this year. I will report back at the end of this summer.

Moses, I adore my standard poodle named ”Lala” but she is definitley high maintence. I have to get her groomed

once a month. She is big, strong and playful. My parents have her sister from the same litter and due to their age (75 & 81) She is alot for them to handle. We all now wished they wouid have got a minature instead of a standard. When their dog plays around and bumps into them I worry my parents may get knocked down and hurt. Other than that, hands down the best dog breed I have ever owned!

Moses, that makes more sense to consider Memorial Day as a mauve instead of a pink. I love mauve roses. I don't worry about black spots here too much except for Double Delight. Rust bothers me more.

Lala, oh my, that sounds like a perfect rose! The information on HMF needs to be updated. Please keep us posted. I heard many gorgeous Climbers are once bloomers. If florentina repeats well, I would like to step out of my comfort zone and try my first climber😉

Hi @KJ (9B, San Jose CA)

I am still evaluating most of my roses. It's too early to tell, but I will definitely post at the end of the summer who lived and who fried on my zero shade frying pan of a rooftop in zone 11.

I am observing my plants and rating them. I hope I don't sound like I'm splitting hairs, but I think there's several degrees of heat tolerance.

In my notes I rank things like this.

A+: Rose is totally unaffected by weeks of 100+ degree weather. Blooms and foliage still pristlne.

A: Plant itself is healthy and undamaged in the heat, but blooming stops. Perhaps some will disagree but to me no blooms is better than fried blooms. A plant that knows when to take a break from blooming to preserve itself is a smart plant.

B: The plant itself tolerates the heat and foliage is undamaged, but blooms fry. Aesthetic inconvenience rather than a true intolerance of heat.

C: Some fried foliage. Canes healthy, or minor sunburn.

D: Foliage and canes suffer sunburn. Plant looks very bad, but recovers when temps come down.

F : Not gonna make it.

I think I need to add GingerSnap to the list! It's still in a pot because I haven't gotten around to getting it in the ground, but it's been a blooming fiend!

Carla in Sac

@seasiderooftop WOW, please make sure keep us updated! This is a wonderful project which can benefit lots of us gardening in hot summer. Rooftop in zone 11! That sounds tough 🤪

Thanks Carla. Your gingersnap looks lovely. Somehow it reminds me Easy Does It.

Do you guys think Princess Charlene of Monaco smells like moth balls or is it just me? Maybe the smell changes as the plant matures?

I don't get that fragrance at all. She's fruity to me. Often, people smell mothballs on myrrh scented roses (I don't, I always get hints of anise, but I understand how it could smell like that for folks). I don't think P Charlene is meant to have a myrrh fragrance. Do you have a photo of your rose you can share?