I dont have New Zealand, but i have a Meredith, i bought it last year from Huntington Library. it’s in container. i like it.

I don't grow Meredith, but I've grown at least one New Zealand for > 20 years. It's in my top 5 of all time. One of the strongest fragrances ever, beautiful, blooms a lot. The only downside to it is that I live ~1.5 miles from the ocean, and it will ball in cold drizzle or heavy fog. But since you're in a warm, dry So. Calif. garden, I say go for it!

There are many reports on HMF that New Zealand doesn’t like hot weather. I dont grow NZ, but I did grow its sport Full Sail, and it was bloomless and had poor disfigured growth in the hot summer months. My summer is hotter than Susan in Santa Barbara so that might be the difference.

my experience was similar to yours BenT. Very few blooms and slow growth from both NZ and FS. Wanted second opinion here.

So it appears that New Zealand is the Goldilocks of the rose world... not too hot, not too cold (and foggy)! I must admit that I live in one of the more ridiculously mild climates. Our August high averages 77, low 59. Our December high averages 64, low 43. Of course, those are averages, so our winter lows sometimes go in the 20s, and we've had 3 or 4 109s, with everything in between. I've grown Full Sail, and while it can be really good, it's not nearly as good as New Zealand. Definitely more prone to balling, and doesn't bloom as much. Have any of you tried Barbra Streisand? I know NZ is only one of her parents, but she's got that great NZ fragrance and is a perfect rose here.

Ben, are you hanging in there okay with the flooding? I knew Sacto was affected terribly, but they had a reporter on the national news tonight from Elk Grove, which (IIRC) is where you moved.

Susan - I'm surprised at your mild temps. :) Wonderful weather!

I have Barbra Streisand, it’s a standard, very fragrant, but i wouldn’t purchase it again. i planted it in the shade and the blooms tend to wilt for some reason.

SoCal, I'm not a fan of HTs as standards, but I'll defer to your expertise growing Barbra and it not doing well in your area.

Ben, I get a variety of true blackspot here that affects a few roses but doesn't defoliate the bush like it does in other areas of the country. I'm sure you know that there are dozens of varieties of blackspot in different areas, but I mention that for folks who might not know that. My Babs are pretty much impervious to disease... never rust or PM, and no black spots, whether true blackspot or cercospora or anthracnose that I've noticed. But she may be too heat sensitive for you in your new location too. I loved Memorial Day, but gave it to a friend when it grew into a monster huge bush, even with my pruning to try to keep it smaller... it wanted to be its true self in another yard! So glad you're okay with the recent flooding :-D

Barbra is my favorite rose, so much so I have two. Not on purpose mind you, but it works out. I agree, for mild dry climates like Susan and mine it’s a wonderful rose. The fact that it’s never bothered by foggy damp weather in May-July is huge because some roses get blackspot and mildew more from the fog than the hard downpours, but she gets neither for me.

I’m curious to try New Zealand after Susan says here rarely balls—we get a lot of fog in early summer and I’d heard it balls so I stayed away. I smelled it at the Huntington and thought it was amazing even if the color was bleached to basic white by their more intense sun.

Barbra Streisand pictures, this is the first year i planted which is 2020, after i moved it around, it never produced nice blooms again. But i had to move it because its a standard and it was blocking our view. i dont spray my roses, nor anything in my garden. I’m an organic gardener.