Drought + heat The difference between this summer and the summer I lost 2% of my roses was the two percent year I kept all the roses well watered. This year we didn't because the well hasn't been happy pumping too many gal per hour. James Galway is in the most watered part of the garden, FWIW. I have already cut the big sick cane back three feet and will take it off at ground level tomorrow when I can find the right saw to cut through a three and a half inch diameter cane (sob!). And one cane next to the sick one was also wrong, but it was only a year old so an easy removal. What made me react faster was the weather forecast for stronger winds out of the south tomorrow (many roses are north of James Galway) and the birds cavorting in that rose. Can birds be vectors for mites? probably. But that's almost unproveable. Here is a link that might be useful: An old related thread on ARF here on GW

This is the first I've seen this thread and it makes me so excited that I already have this rose. When Lilyfinch was moving away I bought from her several of her roses that she had received in the early spring, but realized didn't need to be planted before she left. Poor JG was a nub and hadn't had an easy time of his early life--I think she threw him in the batch I bought from her for her for free. I planted him at the base of my beautiful limestone chimney and it wasn't until late in the summer he seemed to make a recovery a got going. He should start with a few blooms this spring--we'll see. This thread sure has gotten my hopes up!! dianela7bnorthal I'll let you know how he does on disease resistance. I'm just north of you and I suspect we have similar disease pressure.

Gorgeous, as always, bayarea_girl! So are you saying that Bathsheba is a much superior rose? I'm not really looking for a new rose - it would mean that I would have to remove something else. Your photos of Bathsheba show a rose with beautiful form, and are more pink than the DA photos. Those DA photos are much more orange than I want in my garden. If James Galway is going away, and it's a fabulous rose, I may remove an Eden and put it there. And if Windermere is a "must have" rose, I could see removing something for it. Maybe Dee-lish which is a nice rose, but a much more strident color than I'd prefer, or Abe, which is a lovely rose...at times, but opens an eye popping orange which always makes me unhappy, and he has turned out not to be the happily growing bush that I thought he'd be but rather scrappy looking despite my best efforts at pampering. Or Sonia Rykiel, whose bush was a fright last year.

If black spot is an issue for you in zone 6a, I strongly recommend that your climber(s) should be none of your three named possibilities. Austins are not known for black spot resistance except for Olivia Rose and possibly one or two others. That's not too good in light of there being well over 100+ Austins that have been commercially introduced. My many Austins trialed over the past years were all black spotters. As soon as I decide this spring which roses are going to get shovel pruned, I hope to finally put in at least one Olivia Rose. This goal is long overdue, then our Kristine LeGault's strong recommendation of OR to me will be accomplished. Thanks Kristine! I only grew Jeannie Lajoie of the three you are eyeing, and then, that was many years ago. For me its flower was mini, but the bush was quite substantial...not by any means mini in stature. 12' basal canes were the rule. The basically barely scented, light pink bloom itself is 1.5", heavily petaled, high centered, and the bush's spring flush was spectacularly lavish here, to the point where the foliage was almost completely obscured by flowers. However, repeat blooming was sparse, never improving over the years. One JL could easily cover a 8-10' section of 4' high fence, planted on center, and given about 5 yrs. to do it. A bush at either base of your trellis would do the job. When my two bushes were finally dug out due to their annoyingly poor repeat bloom, and need of regular spraying for black spot, the crowns were a foot across! Ah yes, JL is a black spot magnet, just about 2/3 defoliating by mid-summer if not regularly fungicide sprayed. At least, that was my experience, and the same for all who grow JL around here. Do yourself a favor and go black spot resistant. Take a good hard look at Quicksilver, almost the perfect climber, which laughs at black spot. Moses