Luxrosa -- 'Georg Arends' did get hit with blackspot here in NJ -- as did almost all the others, with a few interesting exceptions, notably 'Golden Buddha' bred by Paul Barden, which has remained PERFECT save for the occasional mildew on a leaf or two (and this says A LOT about a rose in the mid-Atlantic), and the only spray I used was neem oil, baking soda and dish soap in water as a modified Cornell mixture a few times up until late June. 'Georg Arends' shed damaged leaves rather quickly, and did get to an "almost naked" stage once, but leafed out again rather quickly. Keep in mind that this is a rose that came only this Spring as a band from Vintage. I let it have only a few blooms, and yes, they were VERY VERY fragrant -- strong, sweet "old rose" that is said to be "pure Centifolia" but being as I've never smelled a Centifolia, I can't comment on the comparison. They were a monochrome, unshaded pure pink, shaped like a typical fat Hybrid Perpetual cabbage but with the folded-back pointed-petal look of a Hybrid Tea. Considering its ancestry (it's about 3/8 Tea and 5/8 Hybrid Perpetual), that makes sense. Oh, and the plant is completely thornless -- I still haven't found the first thorn. It's growing as though it will be a short climber, or at least something that would do best with a little support -- like against an open picket fence -- so I have it where I can attach it to the lower part of the deck railing as it gains a little more height. I think much of the vase-life is a result of it taking a couple days to fully open, due to how many petals it has. Once opened, it holds up another couple of days. I cut one in the "loose-but-closed" bud-stage, sepals fully back, and gave it to my neighbors who share the yard with me. They kept it in a vase inside right by the window where I could see it while working in the yard, and I watched it unfurling over a couple days. By about the fifth day, it started looking as though it was finally past its peak. And I can't imagine they did anything more than stick it in a vase with plain tap water. If you can't find a plant by Spring, let me know and I'll try rooting another piece of mine. I was hoping to interest Linda Loe of Long Ago Roses in growing a few rooted cuttings of some things I picked up from Vintage which don't seem to be available elsewhere, so at least they don't disappear from commerce. 'Georg Arends' was one of them, so I was going to root a few anyway. HelpMeFind has Pickering as one of the other nurseries carrying it, but it's not on their current HP inventory on their website (perhaps they used to carry it?). Hortico may be the only other way of getting it in the US, though once again, I don't see it among their current HP inventory. :-) ~Christopher When it arrived and was repotted, April 25, 2013: First flower I allowed to open, May 22, 2013: A pic showing 'Georg Arends' on the left ('Nouveau Monde' on its right), taken September 2, 2013. At this time, it's recovering from going naked. This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sun, Sep 29, 13 at 2:09

sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida 9a) SAID: "Although Mrs B R Cant might not be technically a OGR (1901), she is still pretty old lol. I really love her fragrance. I think she is one of my all time favorites . . . " BUT SHE IS AN OGR! ARS's official definition of "Old Garden Roses" is that ANY rose OF A CLASS OF ROSES that existed prior to 1867 is considered to be an "Old Garden Rose." SO, if I were to introduce a Tea Rose, say next month ... it would be an "Old Garden Rose." And people HAVE created modern-born "Old Roses". At the same time, Hybrid Musks and Polyanthas (as examples) are NOT "Old Garden Roses" because they did not exist as a class prior to 1867. Why 1867? Because that was the date of the introduction of the first Hybrid Tea Rose -- The first "Modern Rose".

Lisa, you have so many truly gorgeous pictures of your roses, but somehow the photo I wanted to see the most, of you and your daughter (and her precious baby bump) is missing. I'd love it if you could please post it again. The purple clematis and penstemon with the pink roses is wonderful. All your clematis plants are gorgeous. They add a lot to the roses, a perfect contrast. The flowers for the baby shower are also lovely, and I'm so glad you were able to have the shower. Even if done somewhat differently it's the love that counts, always.

Ah @BenT (9B Sunset 14), I have a 50 year old massive clump (tall as me) that I jump into to prune and such. In adding roses to the front, I'm going to divide it out in clumps and replant. It makes a nice 'privacy screen' or back of border. I'm betting the rose blooms will just pop in front of it too. That bird is the reason I went with a lot of orange/apricot, lite pink/mid pink, pale yellow/yellow and white. Zeph D. will be the darkest color. Those colors are in the Bird's bloom, even the yellow, and it's blooms are massive. I'm no designer, but that just seems like a good thing. (Picture is from Wilcox Nursery, Mine looks like this.) I've never transplanted a bird, but there are so many outer baby clumps, I figure I can just sheer off those to be my transplants and effectively 'move' the mama back about 2' by doing so. The mama is about 6' x 8' right now. Worth a shot I think.