Roses from Heirloom need to be planted in the ground at least 12 weeks before a major frost hits. (But, probably best to plant there roses in the Spring.) I have planted here in July here with no problems,but, they were larger bands, 12", 8" I purchased a miniature rose from them last August to place in a container. My first container experience. I actually over-wintered it on my open front porch. I had one inch of mulch in the container and I placed the container into a 24" high half-barrel then placed oak leaves in between the container and barrel. The rose itself was exposed most of the winter. I got hurt in a vehicle head on crash, so, my friend offered to shovel a heavy snowfall for me. The snow blew into the porch and covered the miniature rose in the barrel. My friend was using a spade shovel to pick ice. He didn't know the rose was in the barrel and he forced the spade shovel into the half-barrel and cut the miniature rose to pieces. LOL. I figured that thing is dead. LOL. Guess what? A few days ago I noticed it's trying to grow back from underneath the soil, so, maybe it's not dead. LOL

Hi Carol: Thank you for your positive feedback .. I love all the pics. of your garden, esp. of your little girl ... would love to see more! I have 52 varieties. I received 6 yesterday from Roses Unlimited, which makes it 58 roses. Roses in zone 5a stay small due to winter-die back, so I can fit them into my garden. Their being own-roots make them small too. My own-root W. Shakespeare 2000 is the size of a mini-rose. I thought I'm the only one, until Rosefolly reported growing hers in a pot. I'm happy that 2 of my large trees died during last year drought, which means more room for roses. Hi noseometer: In the English Roses Forum, RosarianPK's canal soil has a pH over 8, with temp. near 120 degrees. His favorite roses that bloomed at high heat are Fragrant Cloud and Meilland roses. Firefighter is also a Meilland rose, does well in my hot summer. Dry and hot climate usually have alkaline soil. Some tap water are alkaline due municipals putting lime to prevent pipes from being corroded. French roses like Meilland and Romanticas can handle alkaline soil and water well, plus loving the heat. I agree that Frederic Mistral is NOT good for hot sun ... his color get bleached out to blah, plus he's a water-hog in my zone 5a. When I researched on Peter Mayle for my rose order of next year ... I find people in hot and dry climate really like Peter Mayle. His color is deep-pinkish red, and smells great. Kate (Dublinbay) listed that among her best roses in summer heat. I also saw Braveheart rose blooming at the rose park at 100 degrees, but that has no scent. Roses with thick petals that last one week in the vase can stand up to heat well, I still regret not getting Bewitched Hybrid tea, that smells good also ... but I already have Frederic Mistral, vase life is shorter, and needs more water. If you google "Bewitched rose and HMF", it will show the info. that Bewitched rose is heat-tolerant. If you choose ADVANCED SEARCH option in HMF, click on GROWING option (zone, plant use, disease resistant, growing note), then scroll way down to page, and check the box next to HEAT TOLERANT, then click CONTINUE ... it will list the roses that are heat-tolerant such as: Angel Face floribunda, Stephen Big Purple, Bewitched, and Romantica Auguste Renoir. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, Jun 28, 13 at 13:43

Thanks, Kippy, it was interesting for me to see how this list compared to the one now. Sadly, Baptiste Lafay, Burbank, Souvenir de Germaine de St. Pierre, Souvenir d'un Ami, Rasberry Parfait, China Doll and Earth Song are all gone. On a brighter note, William R. Smith, White Meidiland, Young Lycidas, Belinda's Dream, Miss Atwood and Sophy's Rose are all improved, I'm happy to say. Souvenir du President Carnot has been moved to a new, less stressful location although I'm afraid that now it may not have enough sun. Potter and Moore is still pumping out blooms on a graceful bush that is easily kept within bounds. The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild is still gangly but blooms fairly well, with no disease whatsoever. Bishop's Castle, SdlM and Le Vesuve are all doing well and blooming, with no disease to speak of. The same goes for Rosette Delizy and Mutabilis. The rose I've fussed over the most, Annie Laurie McDonnell, has been in the ground for a few months and I was happy to spot a few buds which I'm going to allow to turn into flowers. It's still a very small rose but seems quite healthy, although I notice some of the newer leaves are quite a bit lighter. My biggest wish (and I imagine I'm not alone) is to have a very rainy fall and winter filled with rose blooms, but which will also revive the trees and shrubs that are so dried out. Ingrid

Maybe where the plants are drying out in front of the wall you need more organic material in the soil to hold moisture. otherwise seems like it would be a good microclimate there.