Hi all! I am in the middle of re-designing my front yard & side yard border gardens, the front border gets full sun almost all day & it frames my front porch & it really has the star spot in my yard, so the preassure is on to choose roses that will be the pick of the litter in terms of health and re-bloom & heat tolerance. The side border gets a lot of attention too, but not quite as much as the front, it also gets some afternoon shade.

I already had a decent potted rose collection to choose from, but Spring Rose Madness (anyone else get that?) has led me to purchase a lot of new roses over the past couple of months. Although I have heard good things about all of them, I'm not sure how they compare to eachother in terms of overall health, size, needed sun exposure, and rebloom capabilities.

I live in hot & humid east Tennessee & my biggest garden woe is blackspot, which I know is inevitable since I don't spray, but I am hoping to be able to figure out which of these is least likely to defoliate completely by late summer. I tried to choose varieties that had a reputation for being blackspot resistant, but even within that there will always be ones that are the standouts.

I am also really looking for any input on growth habit or final size of these roses, as I would eventually like to have a staggered boarder with taller roses in the back and shorter in the front. Since these will be a fairly compact beds, I probably can't have any shrubs that are extremely wide in this location, taller shrubs are ok because I can put them in the back, and even support them if need be, but extemely wide shrubs would take up too much real estate here, at least if I stick to my current plan.

I know, it sounds like I'm asking for the moon here.... I'm just hoping I get this right the first time so I don't have to move them all around (again).

I have a few Tea roses in there, but since I have never even seen a mature Tea rose in person in my climate or in any climate really, I really don't know what to expect their final size to be like in my garden, I'm thinking that they may grow to be too wide? Thoughts on this would be appreciated.

I will probably only be choosing a few out of each color family, because I know several of these are similar in color/look, & I don't have space for them all, the rest will be pot-pets for the time being. Most of these are of the lighter color family (yellow, coral, white, soft pink) there are only two reds in there, since the foundation of my house is dark red, I don't want too many dark red roses, they don't show up well against the color of my house, but I do think I need at least a couple.

Here is everyone up for consideration (these are all own root by the way):

• Dark Desire (I know nothing about this rose, I purchased it when Roses Unlimited suggested it to me, can it take all day sun? Anyone know about it's size?)
• Darcy Bussell (new own root version, my grafted version is doing quite well in it's large pot on the partially shaded porch, how does own root compare to grafted)
• Munstead Wood (another one that I have grafted that did well last year, not sure about the size of the own root version)
• Barcelona (aka Francis Dubreil.. he did really well last year in the pot he is in, I'm almost afraid to move him, but because he has done so well I think he might have a guaranteed spot because I LOVE his blooms & want to see him prosper, just don't know about his final size, he would go on the side with afternoon shade so he can keep his rich dark color)
• Irish Hope
• Versigney
• Well Being
• Ambridge
• Charity
• Evelyn (I hear she gets really big for some folks)
• Carding Mill (Another one I've had since last year & has done super well for me, probably going to get a good spot, just don't know the final size)
• Rose Marie (do the blooms shatter quickly like Heritage? if so she may need to live in the backyard)
• Lady Emma Hamilton (new own root version, had the grafted version last year & she did poorly)
• Pope John Paul ll
• Paloma Blanca
• Blueberry Hill
• Fair Bianca
• Saint Patrick
• Love Song
• Polar Express
• Madame Joseph Schartz (too wide?)
• Duchesse de Brabant (too wide?)
• Lady Hillingdon (too wide?)
• Ducher (this rose did well last year then died suddenly, I'm going to try it again)
• Lion's fairy tale
• Sunbeam veranda
• Sunsprite
• Prarie Sunset

Thank you very much in advance for any details you can provide on any of these roses!

- Jessica