If rust is an issue where you are, YES, toss it. All three colors of Eden Rose are terribly afflicted by rust in my climate. Hopefully, that isn't an issue where you are. Kim

Hi Karen -- After a good 4 years, we finally dumped Sharifa Asma -- tho I loved the bloom, and the fragrance -- because it mildewed at a low level ALL the time.

And that was back when we sprayed.

I just don't think the little dear was meant to grow in my part of Coastal SoCal.

Jeri

You would probably get more responses,

and definitely more relevant responses,

if you deactivated the cloaking device and gave us a hint of where in the world you are.

I assumed KarenLA was in LA! Am I wrong?

Your "not" spraying a fungacide to help birds and bees? A fungacide shouldnt impact them at all.. there have been a few studies showing relevent fungas strains gaining resistance against some fungacides, but other then that.. your not going to harm birds, bees and butterflies by spraying a fungacide. Unless you are using some sort of combined spray.

I think after all of this time, that Davids best attribute amongst his roses, is it leads alot of poeple to discover the antiques. Its alot less hassle, and there are roses that will thrive in any enviroment.

Im not against DA roses, I think there are a few charming winners there and in retrospect, I enjoyed everything I ever tried growing here in my harsh climate from him.

Silverkelt

Thanks everyone! Lots of heat and humidity here, but rust has never been a problem for my roses.

to mad gallica, sorry, no idea what a cloaking thing is or how to activate/deactivate -

Gardening for 25 years in the Kentucky bluegrass

Tell us where you are. Being in zone 6 can mean anything from eastern Washington to Stockholm. How any plant performs is going to be dependent on where it is, and if we don't know that, we are all just guessing.

Gosh, I did list that I live in Central Kentucky, Bluegrass region.

Just looking for some friendly rose advice!

Here is some friendly advice. I've heard that Red Eden has blackspot problems. If you don't spray, you probably should give that plant away to a friend.

Sorry, but I don't know any red climber OGRs. An excellent modern red is my namesake, Dublin Bay--but it does BS a bit--not bad,but a bit.

I just planted this year two David Austin climbers--The Pilgrim (yellow/white blend) and St. Swithun (light pink). They are growing very healthily, but haven't had much bloom yet. Both seem very healthy. It usually takes a couple years for climbers to begin really strong blooming. Maybe one of these would be a good substitute?

Let us know what you decide on. It is always interesting to watch another gardener's garden take shape and mature.

Kate : )

I've noticed that newly planted roses seem to be a bit more prone to powder mildew than mature roses. Your roses should be OK as long as they have enough sun. I also noticed more powder mildew this year than I typically see, perhaps to do with the hot summer.

In my no-spray garden setting I've found that organic fertilizers and topdressings keep roses performing well, even with blackspot present in the garden. They get blackspot and drop their leaves, however they grow and bloom well. Red Eden is a beautiful rose, might be interesting to keep it and see what happens with it.

We have had rain almost every day for months, and my

"The Wedgewood Rose" is Blackspot Free. It was a bare root rose in January, and is now about 3' tall and almost as wide. It has about 10 blooms on it now. I don't understand why the Austin Catalog did not include it in the
list of roses for hot/humid areas. It's the best Austin I have, but in all fairness, the others are all much younger/smaller plants.

My "Red Eden" was a band last September. It's been in the ground since March. Very unhappy. It does constantly have many buds. But half of them got sun burn and turned to black.
The rest got nipped by some animal. Just like what Professor Rough's blog post described : http://kansasgardenmusings.blogspot.com/2011/06/missing-eden.html
Our yard visitors include squirrels, neighborhood cats, an owl, some crows. I don't know who the suspect is. And the rest of my roses (even an Eden 88) don't have this problem.
Oh, only one or two flowers finally got to open, but balled and ugly.

Hi Karen...I live in Louisville, KY. so I might have similar conditions to yours in central KY. I grow a few Austins and love them, although they are a challenge to grow here. Concerning your Red Eden....I believe you will have to spray this rose to be happy with it. It is a beautiful rose, but our area is blackspot prone and this rose will spot! I do spray and would need to spray Red Eden. I do have a beautiful red climber I do not spray. Armadeus , from Palatine. A glorious showing for weeks in the spring and small showing the remainder of the season. Every year, I get more bloom after spring. Healthy and huge rose. I wish you luck with your new garden. I hope to add Sceptre I`ale to my garden soon. Lesley

We deal with a lot of BS here in my area. I have five Austins. Two have been in the ground a couple years. One is Queen of Sweden. Tough BS resistance.

Sorry Karen, I don't know enough about roses yet to give you much friendly rose advice, but I do know about horses! Those two you posted look like a PRIME resource for some excellent organic matter! ;-)

Here's a link to the Nashville Rose Society website that has a list of disease resistant roses for the area, including a list of 6 Austins. You couldn't be more than an hour or two north so I suspect the disease pressures are similar. I can't vouch for the list myself, but it might be a resource for you if you haven't already seen it.

Here is a link that might be useful: NRS disease resistant link