Her leaves are always verdant.

Oh, Violet, it's beautiful!

She's beautiful, and smells wonderful. My plant had her first flower recently and I kept stopping to smell it; finally I went ahead and picked it.

And, yes, the leaves are quite elegant also.

Nice photos- thanks for sharing them.

Virginia

I really want this rose.

After tropical storm rainy days...

Yours is absolutely beautiful and I'm sure the rains are helping. Mine has barely grown in the more than two years I've had it. I don't know if it will survive this summer, but I'm glad that others are keeping this rose alive and well.

Ingrid, I think I've had her less than 2 years. She seems to be happy and thriving, still small (not tall). It's very humid in Houston. I even relocated her once from the backyard to the front garden. She did not pout!

Have you tried a little of Neptune's fish fertilizer? It might perk her up :)

By the way, on the old forum, I was mauvegirl8!

I have 3 ALM and have discovered that this rose, in my garden, definitely prefers to be planted. It has been in the low 100's and I noticed a bloom on ALM yesterday. She was planted 2 weeks ago after being removed from my previous home, She is also less than 2 years old and up to about 4'. The gardeners had whacked off about 18" to get the branches off of the walkway prior to her being uprooted. The other two ALMs remain in pots and are about 10" tall. ALM is definitely one of my favorites too.

Lynn

mauvegirl8, it's good to know you're here now too. Pity you couldn't keep your old name but now at least I'll know. I will definitely try the fish fertilizer, thanks for reminding me.

One made it in the ground a few months ago and it very happy and throwing new canes. I think it is fairly good soil but mom forgot to use the water system for a couple of months and she got some random watering

Ms. Violet Grey, those are some pretty pictures. I love her graceful leaves as much as the flowers. I have two Annie Laurie McDowells about a year old. They aren't large enough to really photograph yet, but they'll get there. I have them in a partially shaded spot, where most roses would mildew and they are very clean.

I am on my third attempt. My first one promptly died when I planted it, no idea why. The second one turned out to be misidentified. It was actually 'Renae'. Now I have a grafted one directly from the hands of the breeder himself, and I just planted it two days ago. I transplanted "Florence Bowers' Pink Tea" to another location to give ALM the prime spot next to the front gate that I have always wanted it to have.

So far, so good.

I took a peek at mine yesterday and it's put out a few new shoots. It must be liking the 100-degree days we've been having here!

I have 2 Annies, 1 was planted last summer, survived the cold winter here by the Great Lakes!!! This spring I ordered another Annie, it's growing in a large pot, I will keep it as a potted climber and will storage it in the garage during the winter months, hope it can reach 6-8'. I am just wondering if I am the only one here growing Annie in an ice hole. I am in zone 6a (more like zone 5 in the past 2 winters).

Hi SummersRhythm,

You will have to let us know how it does. ALM is a California-bred rose, and I don't know of anyone else in a cold winter climate who is growing it. This will be valuable information.

Rosefolly

Isn't growth habit rather sprawling to fit in a pot and stay in a pot long term?

I planted mine last November or so, but it hasn't grown an inch yet. Oh well, she looks happy enough (no disease or dieback) so I won't worry about it.

I don't have my ALM YET, but she's in production/being rooted. I'm getting positively antsy to get my hands on her.

...ummmm, that didn't come out right, did it? :P

John

Brittie, I think it is very slow to get started, which is probably why the advice is not to let it flower for a long time.

Annie Laurie McDowell is being grown in The Netherlands and Germany. There have been some lovely photos of it in The Netherlands on Facebook. I'm delighted it is remaining as healthy (and productive) here in the cooler, damper, Central Coast as it did in the savanna and mid desert. The bloom color is lighter here, primarily due to the ultra high UV Index. Colors which fade, fade QUICKLY. Those which intensify with UV are very deep and saturated.

One day Kim it and Secret Garden will get to Australia.

May they come soon!!!

Nope, we're keeping him here forever and ever! :-)

Hey Summer, share and share alike! :-D

Summersrhythm - it's good to hear that your ALM has thrived for you in zone 6a. I have to report with extreme reluctance that I've been unable to overwinter her successfully here in zone 5 over several tries, even in my protected "zone 6" pocket of the yard. These latest efforts were lovingly tended and well rooted own root plants, so it wasn't the quality of the plant itself. I'm beginning to suspect that zone 6 might be her actual limit of hardiness, which might be consistent with Kim's reports of success in the Netherlands and part of Germany. I would dearly love to grow this one, but I'm starting to suspect that she really doesn't like my zone, at least not in my zone 5 Nebraska area.

Cynthia

Thanks Cynthia & Rosefolly. I thought I lost Annie to the winter in the spring, top half of the rose band went brown. You can see from the photo. Before last Christmas I covered her up with a big wax paper envelop , but one really cold day, someone(mailman?) pull the envelop out and left it on the porch, so for a whole day she wasn't covered, I covered her up again at night after work. And I planted Annie in a plastic pot with clematis, the pot is in the ground, bottom of the pot was cut off when I planted clematis 4-5 years ago, I must be lazy that day. :-) I am not sure if the plastic pot helped Annie or not. Renae is next to Annie without winter protection, and is fine. For most of the winter, they both were under 2-3' of snow pile. It will be interesting to find out how tall can Annie and Renae get in zone 6a, they both in front of the house by the front porch (facing north). :-) I don't think they can grow tall here since it's so cold in the winter, so I planted them together to have a longer bloom period (they might take turns in bloom), but these mother and daughter ramblers might fight over the space too, have to wait and see. :-) I will report it back to you guys and Kim. :-)

1 stem produced this many flowers! Photo taken today at 91F.

Sir, you created a masterpiece!!!

Thank you. I will accept that I was fortunate to have raised and selected that seedling, as well as having a wonderful friend who was the best possible steward of the seedling, preventing its extinction.

Alas, my two bands from Burling never grew. I don't think ALM liked cool foggy part shade Pacifica. She must be a child of the sun. Maybe if Kim wants me to try a budded plant if will grow. Hint hint.

Diane

This rose has to be the slowest grower ever for me, but it's healthy, not a spot of disease, and every once in a while there's a bud to pinch off so I know it's healthy. I'm going to give her some fish food mixed with rainwater and maybe that will galvanize her into action. I would love to see her bloom, but one forgotten bud is the only bloom I've had and I'm determined to keep pinching off the buds until this rose has reached a respectable size. This rose is worth waiting for even for this otherwise rather impatient gardener.

How close to the Santa Maria area do you get, Diane?

Mine is about 1 year old. She doesnt want to climb, seems to prefer the bench. She is healthy, does not get BS but in my sandy soil, she gets chlorosis quite often. Blooms are small and often get fried in the heat. I never pinched the buds, they are just too yummy looking! No fragranc.e to my nose but maybe she is too young

I got a wild Annie! :-) I received the rose band in June, put her in a 3 gal pot, now there is a 2' tall cane in bloom! I will post a photo tomorrow. And I have 1 yr old one in the garden, I thought I lost her to the winter, now she is 1' tall, also in bloom. They have light fragrance.

Kim, I get down there rarely but who knows. For ALM I might be persuaded to take a road trip in the fall. Am happy to pay for shipping also. But also would be great to meet you.

Here are a couple of my Annies.

1 yr old Annie in the garden

A wild Annie, planted as a rose band in June 2015

She is really beautiful. I really love those clusters of flowers.

Thank you. Both Long Ago Roses and Angel Gardens may have her. Both were supplied with cuttings this spring.

Kim, I'm not sure if Linda at Long Ago has any more Annies, but that's where I got mine this Spring (as you well know, lol). The one I received was large and healthy. She's been growing for me about two months now, and I'm already having to disbud her. She wants to bloom! But I'm determined she's going to climb ASAP, so no blooms for me this year...

John

Oh, P.S. and OT.. Lauren is in her second year, just finished her third flush :) LOVE this rose.

Thank you, John. I'm glad you also like Lauren. I'd given my plant away in the move but re obtained it a few weeks ago and it's loving it here. I don't blame it!

Continuing OT: Kim, here, Lauren shows signs of true flushes, not so much "continuous flowering", but the flushes come rapidly, with no more than a week or two between. It's amazing how fast she sets buds. I've counted upwards of 30 buds per cluster, too.

John

When I see all these comments and pictures, it makes me want to cry! I babied this rose, had it in a pot for the first year, something I never do for other roses, plenty of water, have fertilized; I just don't know what else to do.

Ingrid,don't despair! The place I have ALM (in her pot) is shaded from the hottest sun. Plus, I potted the band sized plant in a five gallon pot. I assume she would like a little shade where you are, too, and lots of root room. I know Kim bred and tested her in CA, but I suspect your conditions are even tougher right now than what Kim had.

Mine isn't a BIG plant yet, but it has doubled (maybe tripled?) in size in two months.

John

I raised the seedling in the Newhall garden. In those years (early nineties), that area experienced a one hundred degree temperature swing from summer to winter (115 - 15 F) many years. The "milder" years only swung about 80 degrees, with the extremes not quite as dramatic as the more volatile ones. Anything potted remained in the pot ghetto where MANY cans of soil shaded the can sides. I had to create shade there with plants, stacked blocks to create raised beds, and groups of potted plants. As with any "infant plant", it requires creating a "nursery" area where you can more easily regulate and control the conditions. I had that in Encino, where "winters" were not sufficient to stimulate black berries to flower and the hibiscus flowered all winter long. Summer for the past several spiked to the triple digits a few times and was frequently in the mid to high nineties. Fortunately, I could use existing plants and the shade of the house to provide more protection than I could provide in the rear (western and southern exposure) where the adult plants struggled.

I would only plant things in gallons during "winter" when I knew the conditions wouldn't fry them quickly. Once it began climbing into the eighties and higher and remaining there, two, three and five gallon cans were the rule for most plants. It takes a lot longer to completely overheat two and more gallons of damp soil than it does a gallon. Even here, where it has seldom exceeded the low eighties, I have to shield smaller pots from the intensity of the blistering sun. The air and wind are cool, but that sun is brutal and it fries things VERY quickly.

Kim, the plant did well when it was potted because I made sure that the pot was completely shaded. Where it is now it has only morning sun so frying is not a problem, and it is putting out new little shoots, and the substantial rain we had recently seems to have encouraged it. It's just that with these conditions it seems odd that it's lagging so far behind what other people describe. Still, this year, and after the extremely rainy winter we're apparently going to be having, it should put on a growth spurt. So far I've only fertilized with fish emulsion. Should I try something a little stronger (but organic, of course)?

Organic is good, but it is also very slow acting. As long as drying out isn't an issue, you can obtain faster results with inorganic, even plain old Vigoro or MG water soluble. That's where the "weakly, weekly" comes in. Rather than the tablespoon per gallon of water every two weeks, try a teaspoon per gallon and apply it weekly. As long as the pot doesn't dry out fully or bake in the direct sun and you water it regularly to maintain the moisture level in the plant, you can't hurt it by feeding the "weakly, weekly", and it will definitely encourage it to put out more growth, faster. Definitely use whatever organic soil or other products you prefer, but if you want a reluctant plant to cooperate, give it that boost.

Just so people know...Long Ago Roses no longer ships to California. I have purchased from her in the past but can't any longer.

Thanks, Kim, I'll give that a try.