Hi ogrose: this year is the warmest in over a decade for my zone 5a, Chicagoland. We had about 3 days of 100 degree summer heat so far. Fall came early here, it's 60 degrees and rainy early this morning.

Last month's heat was enough for me to shop for thicker petals roses. I put Stephen's Big Purple on my list for next year ($11 from Burlington, CA), due to this comment in HMF by Painter:

"Huge purple/mauve/reddish blooms on long stems born one at a time. Excellent cut flower. Fragrance (fruity-sweet-old rose) is second to none and I have 40 something extremely fragrant varieties. Best of all it loves even zone 8 Texas heat and is one of the only flowers here that blooms in 105 degree temps. Very little black spot and no other disease problems. I highly recommend!"

The small Bourbons, and even one larger one, Deuil de Dr. Reynaud, are holding up very well, although the latter, while having beautiful leaves, has flowers that are fried by the end of the day. Mutabilis seems unfazed as do Belinda's Dream, Mutabilis, Sophy's Rose, Potter and Moore, Lavender Mist, Burgundy Iceberg and most of the teas, the latter though with much diminished blooming. Duchesse de Brabant and her sport, Mme. Schwartz, seem too delicate to tolerate this much heat. The crape myrtles seem fine as do the butterfly bushes, so overall the garden doesn't look like a disaster area. Still, plants are far from at their best, and this is a good time to take note of the poor performers because I believe the weather will become increasingly hotter as global warming takes its course. It may be that many of us will have to pare our gardens down to the very best-performing roses to maintain a reasonable appearance and also to save water, which will become an increasingly valuable commodity.

Ingrid

I was looking at the news today, "corn and soybean production falls in key states - Kansas, IL, Iowa, Nebraska.. in the Plains of U.S. That's because key farm states didn't get as much benefit from rains on the heels of temperatures in July so high they broke a record set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s."

Most Austin roses fry in summer heat, even in partial shade. They lost their scents, blooms faded and become smaller. Austins are meant for climate like England: foggy, coastal, temperate with cool and rainy weather. We finally get cool and rainy fall weather, and I can enjoy Austin scents at last.

I am leaning toward French roses created in Mediterranean intense sun climate: Romanticas and Guillot. I also like Delbard roses from Australia, with inland climate. These have firm petals that stand up to the heat, and last longer in the vase than Austin roses. Their scents smell great regardless of the weather.

Teas, Chinas, and Noisettes continue to flourish here -- even tho we are in the grip of a heatwave that goes all the way to the coast.
Thin-petalled blooms open and dry up.
That's just the way it is.

Grasses are happy, but the epiphyllums have quit for the summer, and even some of the plumeria blooms are fried. Cl. Sombreuil is putting on a show, and so is "Secret Garden Musk Climber," which ignores weather conditions.

Several things need deadheading, but my young 'White C�cile Brunner' is blooming on every inch of plant. It looks to be as prolific as its sport-parent. (I don't know why it's not better known, or more widely-available, but I'm glad I have it.

Jeri

We have not had heat as high as others in our area this summer. Most of July was cloudy and rainy with highs in the upper 80s/lower 90s. It has just now started to become hot(ish) with temps edging closer to 100 (98 today). Last year was absolutely terrible with 100 degree weather starting in April and not stopping until well into September. And no rain at that. The only roses of mine that bloomed through that heat were Koko Loco, Pope John Paul II and Iceberg. Pretty much everything else went dormant.

This year so far there's a lot more activity in the garden. Hot Cocoa, Cherry Parfait, Koko Loco and Dick Clark are the heaviest bloomers. Counted 42 buds and blooms on Hot Cocoa just yesterday (plant is 5hx3w). I SHOULD have counted buds and blooms on Cherry Parfait two weeks ago when she flushed her head off (5hx4ish). I counted a good 60 in one of the pictures that I took.

Veteran's Honor is doing very well. I clipped 9 flowers for my uncle's funeral last week. (He was a WWII veteran who served in India. He also LOVED roses, so it was nice to have those.) William Shakespeare 2000 must really like being more than six feet wide because he's got quite a few buds and blooms again. I'm still going to have to move him somewhere though, which I hate to do now that he's happy. I tend to procrastinate about that sort of thing though.

The only thing that's really doing bad is a butterfly bush that appears to be dying. It messes with my sinuses like crazy, but I really love it. lol. I hope it survives. Oh, and the grass is toast. Garden looks great, but my front yard, which is GINORMOUS, looks terrible. It's got a slight slope, so even though we've had rain, it still looks bad. Stupid grass. Stupid HOA who just looooves it. Bah!

P.S. I forgot I was in the antique rose forum again. lol. I tend to visit one and then the other right after, so I don't always know where I am! As far as OLD roses go, Miss Atwood, Leveson Gower and Archduke Charles have really bloomed quite a bit, but they crisp almost immediately. Madame Scipion Cochet has put out many flowers, some with proliferations, and those fry pretty quick as well. Also, my baby Grandmother's Hat is dying. :(

Yes, it's August, and it continues here much the same as July, which was the fourth hottest July since 1864, although I wasn't aware any Idahoans were here in 1864! It hasn't rained since sometime in May--I've forgotten. Most of my roses are in bloom. The problem is the extreme dryness coupled with the heat shrivels the blooms in hours. There are a few exceptions--the workhorse Julia Child, Ascot, Big Purple, Blueberry Hill (turns a nasty pale gray, though), Ebb Tide, of all things, though it's bleached out, and a few others. I haven't found the Romanticas I have to be any better than the Austins in this heat, except for Pink Traviata, which blooms very little, but the blooms stand up well. Today may a bit cooler finally because the extreme haze from fires is blocking the sunlight. I hope all of you have a better August weather-wise than mine has been. Diane

Oops, I forgot to mention one of the best roses in my garden right now--drum roll and extreme surprise (for me, anyway)--Angel Face. Since BS isn't an issue here, there is nothing stopping her.
I totally agree with Ingrid and Strawberry that now is the time to evaluate what's wimpy and what's not in this heat. I don't think the climate is going to become a cooler one, for sure. We've been bumped up a zone this last year, too. Diane

The last two days it finally cooled off and RAINED! Yippee!!! We got around an inch and a half of the nice slow steady rain that the ground really needed instead of huge heavy downpours that just run off. Everything seems to be sighing in relief out there!

I wish it would cool off here.

It's 90 deg. on my patio, and 83 deg. in my living room, and will be about the same tomorrow, and the day after . . .

Jeri

Yes, by August this weather really gets old, doesn't it?

Thanks for the replies and ideas - now I just HAVE to have Big Purple Rose, and will definitely check out the Delbard roses.

It is hot and sticky just up the coast from Jeri.

Things like the Cala lilies are protesting, but they are supposed to. The little birds are finishing off the last seeds from the giant sunflowers, guess it is time to cut those out of the garden.

Our pepper plants love the heat, of course they want some water to go with it. I am hoping the heat does in the pumpkin vines so the pumpkins and winter squash can start their hardening off process. And i wish the tomatoes would just plan STOP. I think we are still getting about 50lbs a week. Hard to yank them out of the ground, but I am running out of canning/freezing ideas and space.

As far as roses:
Ebb Tide has wonderful hot pink flowers
Icebergs are full of buds
Reine des Violettes has 3 nice buds
Sexy Rexy is covered with her first flush since we planted her
And I am looking forward to the Austins opening their many many buds.

Oh the iris rhizomes are waiting for me to split them, I have holes dug for a new support for a water line/hose/sprinkler valve,the winter garden just needs a few more loads of the fine soil under the oak tree and I am 1/4 of the way thru cutting out the base of the last palm tree stump.

Weather man says the fog returns in a couple of days. Looking forward to it too

Oh Kippy - 50lbs of tomatos. Almost fainted from envy. I have already stopped mine (only 4 trusses) and so far, not one single tomato looks even close to ripening. This time last year, I had already put up 3 batches of sauce. Squashes are rampant, just not producing much of anything other than leafage - although the Kuris look OK.....but the potatoes - a true haul, best year ever (although I had to be out with the bordeaux a couple of times to spray against phytopthera).
Plums - rubbish (leaf curl aphid and various fungal issues)
Apples - a good year - so far
nectarines - dead loss
currants - stellar
beans - very prolific, run out of freezer space and eating them every night - fantastic with toasted flaked almonds, lemon and butter (diet down the pan)
roses - weeeellll.......

Crepe Myrtles (I have 4, including 2 Dynamites) just revelling in the heat & blooming their heads off.

Flametree (Delonix Regia) - past the early summer flush when it lived to its name with a vengeance, but this tree doesn't need to flower to be gorgeous. I planted it for its foliage. The flowers are just an extra.

Chinese Flame Tree (Koelreuteria bipinnata)- As pleased as Punch, and so am I (He's my autumn delight, so it's the sweet joy of anticipation as well).

Rose-wise: Iceberg and Gartendirektor Otto Linne are doing great. I chucked all the others (beginner's mistakes), except for Ragged Robin (flowerless, recovering from transfer in pot ghetto) and Golden Celebration (flowering, doing unaccountably well in pot ghetto). I still have murderous designs on GC. He's too yellow for my wellbeing.

I have had nothing to say all summer, our weather has been so dreadful. The heat has been overwhelming. We have broken most records with weeks of temperatures way over 100. I go out to turn on water, and that is it. I walk the dogs before 7:00 in the morning, then look for things to do inside. 110 is not unusual, and we have had no rain. Even when Tulsa had rain, we did not get it, and our town is connected to Tulsa.

My rose blooms are small, and some of the leaves have been burned by the sun. They will live, but it is such a waste to take care of a rose with no blooms, and weather impossible to work in.

We have a nice enough fenced in yard for our dogs, but we have to stop them from eating dirt and weeds. The drought is something we have not experienced before. Two years in a row of this type of weather is enough.

My tomatoes were good for awhile until they started cooking on the vine.

But my garden is recreational. My heart goes out to those who make a living off the earth. The farmers who are always secure that the corn will be good must be devastated. So many are not gentleman farmers, but really need to crop. It makes me feel bad to complain about what I grow for aesthetic purposes, and then I see what is happening to the rest of the country.

I hope next year will be a better year.

Sammy

well yes, we are all going to be paying for the terrible corn harvest, Sammy. Over here, our dairy farmers are also facing ruination, having done deals with supermarkets - those same supermarkets which treat milk as a loss leader (for the farmers, though, not shareholders profits). Found it a little hard to be sympathetic since many of those same farmers have been instrumental in breaking unionised labour and raking in vast sums when the markets were skewed in their favour....but we all pay in the end for that too....unless we all go the inhumane and brutal route of mega-dairies - and many consumers, wedded to cheap produce, happily will sacrifice any amount of humanity to save a few pennies. It is a tricky issue, for certain.

Over here the grain harvest is ruined by rain. I am glad I don't have to live on my produce but it's sad not to get any beans because of the cold. The temperature has reached 75F for a few days only this summer, usually much less than that and with very cold nights. I picked the first cucumber outside today and we ate it with reverence. We may perhaps get two more if we're lucky and get some warmth soon. It's a pity we can't eat roses because they are doing better than ever. The garden is a lush jungle with colour everywhere. Last year we had drought and heat waves. I wonder if we'll ever have "normal" weather again.

Ogrose, I thought of another rose that is holding up to the heat better than my fairly resilient Big Purple roses, and that is the Romantica, Frederic Mistral. This is a beautiful rose with a gorgeous scent. It lasts longer than BG in a vase, too. I love both roses, though, so try them both! Diane

Thanks, nanadoll, probably will try both (like I need any more roses, but I'm not addicted!)

This is the third summer that has been fairly mild here. Someone told me years ago that climate change would make our region more like the PNW. We've had later wetter springs and summer has been milder. This means more blooms and blooms that last longer. It's no fun to take care of roses that aren't blooming. That said it's 96 degrees and has been hot for several days with crispy blossums.
August. By the end of next month I will be sick of the work and resposibility of watering.