If you can find the Veranda styles that are manufactured by Fiberon, that's probably a good choice---or just get Fiberon for that matter. I did a lot of research on this and concluded that among "traditional" composites (that is, mix of wood flour and plastics), Evergrain and Fiberon seemed among the best. I like the fact that Fiberon "Pro" series is reversible and I like the look of Fiberon "Tropics" and I believe HD sells Veranda that is really just rebadged versions of these products. If you've decided on composites over wood, you have your reasons and no doubt, there are some advantages to composites such as no painful splinters and no refinishing every couple years. Wood has it's benefits too, but it's a personal choice and the notion that you should pick one over the other is ridiculous---it's all personal choices and personal needs. If you'd consider one that is 100% plastic, Azek Deck/ProCell is pretty nice. I suggest going to the websites and even calling the manufacturers for samples. The Fiberon people were really helpful.

Greetings, I am far from expert compared to the others here who will no doubt wade in soon enough to provide some advice but just a couple of thoughts that came to mind... 1. Geraniums might work on the northern side. They generally require very little pruning and can neatly occupy about a 1m tall x 1.5m width. Constantly flowering you might not have much of a perfume (unless you crush the leaves as you pass them) but you'd have some visual beauty. 2. Given you're obviously not able to bend or stand, could you buy standard roses at the appropriate height which would allow you to do most of the maintenance and then your husband could get involved once per year as required? I'm thinking of the small neat "balls on a stick" effect that it's possible to get through semi-regular pruning. If you bought them at the appropriate height for your wheelchair (easy to judge when you go shopping for them) then you should be able to do 99% of the the maintenance whilst seated? The final height of the plant would be determined already so you'd not need to be concerned they'd be the wrong size ultimately. 3. You might consider eliminating the fishbone fern (hey, you said your husband would help sometimes!) and laying down some serious weed-barrier (even thick newspapers would work) covered by gravel / white stones / woodchips that requires no ongoing maintenance. Your pots could then sit on this area and you'd have them as a feature without the weed problem. Hope that helps...

Sure, glad to be helpful! The pros of Paloma Blanca are rock-solid hardiness in my zone 4 pocket of the yard, blooms off and on all season, fairly large clusters of bloom, and a nice clean white color. I like the form of the rose in the early and mid stages, though it does open up like a lot of roses do once the blooms are mature. I don't see any particular disease pressure from blackspot on mine either, but I don't tend to notice blackspot sometimes. These photos are from various times of the year and I don't see significant BS on any of them. PB is a fairly compact bush and stays under 4', perhaps as low as 3' some years. Cons include a noticeable browning of the edges on this rose under many conditions. Mine is in part sun so it's probably not sunburned crisping, and I don't see evidence of thrips on my other roses in the area. Also, I can't detect any scent, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have one (I can rarely smell most roses). Here's the closest thing I have to a whole bush shot. You notice the yews to the right are trimmed off to about 4' and Paloma Blanca doesn't come close to the top. The dwarf daylily in the shot is under 2' high. This one shows the blooms a little more closely, in more or less typical form for this rose. Now here's the browning I was talking about on an otherwise nice spray. Obviously not all the blooms brown at the edges and back, but enough to be noticeable before the bloom is really spent, at least when you get the blooms close up. I don't think of PB as a cutting rose, for this among other reasons, including form. At its best, it can have a nice center to the bloom, with clean lines. Bottom line is I quite like this rose, but Cream Veranda still blows it out of the water for frequency of bloom, and both are equally hardy. If you're wanting the pure white tones though, PB is a good rose. Cynthia

@bayarea_girl_z10a_ca Thank you for adding those photos and the head's up about mildew. My first blooms looked similar to your first photo and I thought I received the wrong rose. A few days ago, all of a sudden, it had a bloom with peach/light orange color and many more petals that I looked to see if maybe there were two plants in the same pot (no, just one plant). I guess it's just the difference in temperatures because we just had a break from the constant 100F. Photo is from May 29, 2023. I didn't take a photo of the more petal packed bloom with vibrant color because I thought it was so ugly that I immediately pulled it off the plant (the petals developed wrong). Mine is still young; own root, bought this year as 2 quart pot. Coincidentally, just earlier today I repotted it into a 2 gallon pot. I came across this thread because I was trying to figure out its growth habit to know where to place it. I love the bloom when it's light pink and shows all the stamens. If it's willing to give me lots of those, I'll be happy, even if that's not the look I bought it for. Though I sure do wish it had more fragrance and the blooms lasted longer. BayArea Girl: Have you noticed if yours bloomed better in all sun or part shade?