I had Fred in the ground back in the day, and loved it for its fragrance and color, but it is seriously one of the most vigorous HTs I've ever grown, so I didn't replace it when it croaked from my oak root fungus. It really wants to be 10' tall in my garden... that's the only reason I didn't replace it. Memorial Day is nice, very fragrant, but not super prolific in the repeat. I do love the scalloped edges (common), which I think dings it in its rating among exhibitors. Fred's a much better rose IMO, if it didn't want to go so tall.

I've also grown Sweet Surrender... really nice but I didn't replace it. Have you ever seen Comtesse de Provence? Lotsa petals, very fragrant, doesn't get huge, blooms well. It might ball in your climate though. How about some of the old ultra-fragrant workhorses like Bewitched or Perfume Delight? They have no tendency to ball and bloom very well. Alec's Red and Peter Mayle are other ultra-fragrant dark pinks that are top faves of mine. I know that there are tons of others that I am forgetting at the moment!

Susan

I have both ... planted around the same time. Love both as well. Fred stays smaller in my yard, about 3-4 feet and compact. Memorial Day on the other had is about 6 feet tall! So I don't know if you'd want to get that for a yard with limited space. I have it at the back of the bed against the fence. Pretty good re-bloom for me and a great rose for cutting. Love the scalloped edge petals and nice fragrance. Hope this helps. Of course my climate is probably much different to yours so the growing conditions might be different.

Aprille

Thanks for these responses!

Susan, it doesn't surprise me that Fred could hit 10 feet! It is discouraging to have these amazingly fragrant blooms that are so high you can't sniff them. I thought about just taking several feet off every time I cut blooms for the house, but as it (hopefully) puts out more basals, I can see he is just going to be a monster. I appreciate the feedback RE: Memorial Day. I'm curious-why did you ditch Sweet Surrender? I actually saw Comtesse growing once and don't remember loving it...probably because the blooms were balling but I honestly can't remember. I do love Perfume Delight, great fragrant cut flower, but it gets BS pretty badly here (only 2 years old.) I am impressed that it still produces pretty well. Peter Mayle is actually on order with Sweet Surrender. I'm interested that you mentioned Alec's Red, I was just researching that as a red to add last night...

Hi Aprille, thanks for posting. I'd be thrilled if Fred stayed at 3-4 feet. I am surprised to hear your Fred is not a beast. ;-) Do you prune him hard or otherwise reduce the canes frequently throughout the season? And I'm curious does Memorial Day repeat well for you or last well as a cut flower?

Thanks again,
Dawn

Frederic Mistral is:
1. Huge - 10 feet height, 6-8 feet horizontal spread is easy for this rose. New canes are thicker than my thumbs.
2. Prolific with blooms, but starts later in the season than most.
3. Nice form, but not quite exhibition quality, if you care for those qualities.
4. One of the most fragrant of the roses in our garden. I love it's scent - fruity, sweet, hint of citrus. Fragrance gets broadcast quite some distance away.
5. Disease resistance - in our garden, it is second to A Shropshire Lad in disease resistance.
6. Doesn't seem to ask much of the gardener. Two feeds a season, keep the weeds at bay and that's it.
7. Good as cut flowers.

Downside?
1. Some would say its large size. Doesn't perform well if pruned back too much (which is a bit like Queen Elisabeth). If you don't have the room for it and need to hack it back on a regular basis, you will be disappointed. If you have the space, it will reward you with regular blooms from mid June right till the first frost.
2. Buds balls and rots if there is prolonged rain fall. Withstands a day or two of continuous showers, but don't expect anything else but rotten buds if there are several days of continuous rain.

Dawn,

Sweet Surrender is one of those roses that probably is always gonna be virused, at least at this point in time. Mine was. And while I have no problem overall with growing an otherwise healthy virused rose (I have several), my Sweet Surrender wasn't all that it could be. It's always been one of those few roses that I've ditched, but seriously considered trying again from a good own-root vendor, looking for a better plant. I actually fell in love with it at our local public rose garden back in my early days when I was choosing roses. I definitely think it's worth trying, and you may get a really good one.

I think Alec's Red is one of the best roses ever... probably in my all-time top fave 20 roses! It's actually dark pink. Ultra-fragrant, blooms like crazy, lotsa petals with good substance, lasts well on the bush and in the vase. I have the last bloom before I pruned on my kitchen counter right now... mmmm!

And BTW, what Joe said about deadheading Fred hard made me think about Memorial Day in the same light. It does want to go large (not like Fred, but pretty large), and I do hack it back pretty hard, so that probably accounts for its lack of great rebloom in my yard.

The search for the great ultra-fragrant HTs and FLs is so much fun, and there are so many great ones out there!

Susan

Well I've gotten Sweet Surrender and Peter Mayle planted and now I'm back to thinking about this old post...

Any other comments on Memorial Day?

I'm itching to go pick one up at the local nursery...

Does anyone care to enable me? LOL

Dawn

{{gwi:220745}}
MD in the middle. Great fragrance. Solitary blossoms on long stems...survives my zone 5 winters, not terribly prolific. Beautiful rose, 3-4 ft tall in zone 5. BUY IT (:

For me, MD doesn't repeat enough, gets thrips and mildew, grows over 5ftx3ft, and doesn't really have that much scent. A better pink rose that smells delicious is THE MCCARTNEY ROSE. Repeats well, grows to about 6ftx3ft and no disease.

Different color and effect. McCartney is much hotter pink, reminds me of First Prize. MD very soft, no thrips or mildew here, but DOES not reapeat very well.

Based on a trip I took last summer to El Paso, TX and nearby Las Cruces, NM, I have to conclude that Mem Day is at its best where it's hot and dry.

Memorial Day is a huge HT, very healthy here in my drier climate. I don't know how it would work for you but it is a very nice rose.

Rosefolly

Susan 4952 thank you for your photo & comments---the best enablers include photos! ;-)

Jaxondel & rosefolly, thanks for chiming in. I've been afraid MD would ball just like Fred, and I don't need two huge light pink roses (which I don't have room for) that are going to both ball half the time. (For once this forum may actually dissuade me from a rose!)

Beth, I was hoping you'd see this. I do have The MacCartney Rose and agree the fragrance is one of the few better than Fred, if not one of the very best of all my roses. (It smells similar to Gertrude Jekyll to my nose-love it.) It's very vigorous & doesn't ball, BUT almost totally defoliates from blackspot, mildews badly, & does not last well as a cut flower. (I know you are probably familiar with thousands of roses...have any other lighter pink suggestions for me?)

This is so helpful, thanks again for all your comments,
Dawn

Memorial Day was removed after two seasons here--wonderful, charming, fragrant blooms but even in a perfect spot, not enough of them. Never over 4 feet here; we're juuust on the edge of 7B. Health disappointing-- blackspot and thrips. The contrast between MD and Quietness in the back row was striking. HOWEVER Quietness is a huge shrub--very wide.