Jude the Obscure

Sonia Rykiel

Augusta Luise

Interestingly the Early Kind roses are not necessarily the most heat tolerant. I find Marie Pavie at her best in Winter. She continues to flower in low temp. The flowers blow fast in the heat and it is not a rose that can be used as cut flower. In Winter she smells great and the flowers last on the plant.

Duchess de Brabant on the other hand is very happy in summer heat but will also continue to flower into late winter:

Fragrancenutter,

Interesting post, thank you for the info. and beautiful images. There are many people in areas throughout the U.S., from those near Texas, moving west, to a big part of California, who deal with similar growing conditions.

Coming from another land of hot and dry ( similar temperatures during the summer and <10 humidity essentially year round), I completely concur with your assessment and find similarities regarding roses we have gravitated toward due to our hot summer climates interesting. While I do not grow them now, I found Perfume Delight and Double Delight to be bullet proof in the heat. Barbara Streisand and Firefighter are always offered at local nurseries and are widely grown here. There are definitely roses that in comparison to others, are minimally fazed by the heat.

I grew JtO about 10 years ago and sp'd it because I needed deeper yellow/apricot blooms. JtO always looked like the color of the banana inners. It was also planted in a poor location.

Yves Piaget should be in my garden right now, but a bright lemony yellow rose was delivered instead (aargh!!). Frederic Mistral, Memorial Day, Evelyn, and Sonia Rykiel are all on my list for either the Fall or next year. Right now, I only grow 20-25 modern roses, as my purchases have become skewed toward the OGR's.

I left Marie Pavie at my previous home. I went out of my way to place it in a location to shelter it from too much sun. This approach backfired because in that spot, I do not think the bush received enough sun. No fault of the plant, but it definitely seems that proper placement in hot summer climates should be carefully considered.

This year, I planted a lot of Tea, Noisettes, Hybrid Perpetuals, Bourbons etc.,. Many have become stellar performers, but that reporting would be for another thread....

Happy Gardening!!!

Lynn

What wonderful pics, fragrancenutter--really first rate. I'd hate to pick which one is better than the next one. You are an excellent photographer.

And you have such lovely roses to work with!

Kate

Amazing roses, some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen! I can imagine that your roses are gorgeous in full bloom! It is interesting to know which roses do good in your hot, dry climate. On the Weeks' Roses Wholesale Website they list varieties that are recommended for certain growing conditions: Hot and Humid, which is mine; Hot and Dry, etc. It's a good list to refer to.

Fragrancenutter,

Dr. Huey rootstock is "King" here. I have not tried Fortuniana, and have avoided roses from suppliers on this rootstock. Could be worth trying should a variety I want become available on fortuniana. Thanks again :)

About 15 years ago, I grew about 150 roses, most of them moderns. Off the top of my head, the modern roses that I recall performing well:

Reds: Veteran's Honor, Crimson Bouquet ( I planted it during July - the peak of summer heat, it survived and went on to thrive), Mr. Lincoln, Chrysler Imperial, Oklahoma, Europeana, Black Magic

White: Iceberg and its sports

Pink: Perfume Delight, Marijke Koopman ( drawing a blank with the pinks)

Mauve/Lavender: Angel Face, Sterling Silver, Neptune, Paradise, Heirloom

Orange/ Orange Blend: Outrageous, Easy Does It, Voodoo

Others: Double Delight, Princess de Monaco, Love, Gemini, Altissimo, Don Juan, Cl. America, Brandy, Just Joey, Easy Going, First Prize

Artistry, Color Magic, All American Beauty, Mardi Gras, Peace, Chicago Peace, Pink Peace

Lynn

Fragrance Nutter, thank you thank you, thank you!!! Your roses and pictures are gorgeous! That was so sweet of you to post pictures. Sonia R is fabulous as is Augusta and the Duchess. You can tell that the very double flowers make my heart pitter-patter.

I had to give up my Evelyn this year as she reverted back to rootstock. I didn't replace her as she doesn't rebloom very well here. I just loved her however. Jude, on the other hand, was good riddance. Also poor rebloomer and was never impressed with his flowers.

I think I will probably be replacing some of the roses I put in this year. I am just not happy with them. I hope I don't get too impatient. I know they are babies and will grow and change over time, but waiting is hard. If I do replace, I will keep Sonia, Augusta, Duchess and Marie in mind.

Thank you so much. I have been cleaning the house all day and this was such a wonderful and beautiful surprise!

Hi Lynn,

I have been looking at some OGRs as well. Please do report back when you can which ones smell the best and perform the best for you. So far in my garden the teas are doing very well and flower constantly but while the bourbons grow like weeds they don't seem to repeat flower very well (except SdlM). Blush Noisette has a lot of balling even though it is so dry here and I have no balling with any other roses so I am quite disappointed at her. One OGR that is doing very well is Felicia, and her fragrance is one of my favourite too!

Dr Huey is used by all the rose producers supplying the supermarkets here and I used to buy them when I first started growing roses. They are half the price as roses grafted onto fortuniana. However, I discovered that all the specialist rose nurseries here all graft their roses onto fortuniana and they told me it is a root stock that will out-perform Dr Huey given our poor dry sandy soil. They were absolutely right!! Once I tried roses on Fort there is no turning back to Dr Huey. You can definitely see a massive difference in plant vigor. The ones on fortuniana continue to shoot out huge basals and flower like mad compared with the ones grafted on Dr Huey. The roses grafted on Dr Huey do ok in the first year or two but they are never amazing in the long run. I have replaced all my roses to Fort rootstock over the years. I understand this is only the case with our poor sandy soil. In the East Coast of Australia where the soil is richer and wetter and finer no one grows roses on Fort. Everything is on Dr Huey or Multiflora roots there and they do well.

Wow!!! I'm in love with your roses!!

Papa Meilland is soooo dark!!! I assume it must have a great fragrance as you like fragrance as much as I do. Gorgeous!!

I love your Granada!! The color and the shape are exquisite!!

Double Delightful is perfect!

And I love, love, love your Evelyn.

But my fav of your roses is Papa. Heart stopping!

Carol

Oh Carol you always make me laugh! You are so enthusiastic like a child on Xmas day!

I can see that you've got a thing for high centered HT shape.

Yes Papa M has one of the best rose fragrance to my nose. Complex blend of damask and citrus. Simply delightful. He can be near black and very velvety. His growth habit is not the best but given the quality of the blooms he is definitely staying.

Speaking of fragrance if you get a chance visiting a warmer zone you must dive your nose into one of these babies - Hedychium coronarium (White Butterfly Ginger). One of the most refreshing and deliciously fragrant flowers in the world:

One of the things to do on my bucket list is to visit north America in Spring and smell the once flowering Alba, Gallica and Damask roses. These won't do well in our heat.

Smile :)

I love all kinds of roses, not just high-centered - but I gotta admit the high-centered roses ARE divine!!

Gosh now I really, really want to smell White Butterfly Ginger!! Where is smell-o-vision when you really need it!!

My friend has a lot of OGRs. She has some really rare roses. They smell heavenly!! But my Memorial Day beat hers out in a fragrance test at our rose show. Soooo..... :)

My Oklahoma after 4 years STILL has no scent. Drives me crazy. Maybe Papa would be better.

Carol

I have been admiring your beautiful roses and marvel at how clean and perfect your Frederic Mistral's petals are. My Fred always "has issues" like brown petal edges from thrips or spotting pink on the rare times it rains around here. Now that is a sight, and he's the only rose of mine that does that. I still like the rose very much, but he can be a trial. I think Sonia Rykiel is the rose I must have next year after seeing those eye popping blooms your rose produces, not to mention their quantity. And, of course, your Papa Meilland is a stunner. Must investigate that one. Your Memorial Day is so lovely, and that's a rose that has been a problem child for me. Mine is much lighter in color than yours, and I've noticed other darker colors on your roses. Do you think this is because of the fortuniana rootstock? My roses are on Huey and multiflora. Soil here is alkaline desert, but with some clay, rocks, and who knows what, but no sand. I was surprised at the dark color of your gorgeous Augusta Luise, a favorite of mine. My rose has variable coloring in pinks and apricots. Right now her blooms are very light. Anyway, your roses are truly outstanding, and I'm considering emigrating to Australia! Diane

Hi Diane I think your lighter Augusta luise looks just as good. I think it's the intense sunlight here that intensify the colours, but if I don't cut the flowers and bring them in they get bleached quickly as well. What is the problem with your Memorial Day? Lots of people find it a bulletproof plant. No disease but can be a thrip magnet at times. It is a child of New Zealand and has a reliable fragrance. Very few thorns and plenty of dark green glossy foliage.

Beautiful! I've been admiring your Sonia Rykiel. Do you find that your Sonia Rykiel uses more water than most roses, or about the same?

Thanks fragrancen. I find that our hot, also intense sun (but for a shorter period of intensity than you have) bleaches the heck out of certain roses. Others are not affected so much. Memorial Day is in too much tree shade. We thinned an offending tree and that helped some, but the neighbor's trees are beyond our control. While Mday was growing better this spring, one of our winds came up and tore half the plant off. It wasn't even a bad windstorm, either. It's pretty meager looking now. Thrips aren't too much problem for it, but the blooms don't have very many petals and I can't detect a scent. It's just not a winner for me.
I'm so enjoying seeing your beautiful rose blooms and do love that stunning Sonia. Diane

Hi Noseometer, I water all my roses the same way so Sonia R certainly does not get more water than others. We have water restriction here so can only water twice a week in the hotter months and there is a total sprinkler ban in winter. Usually roses on fortuniana rootstock are not as water hungry when the plant is estalished as the root system is very extensive. I also mulch a lot.

I am sorry to hear about your Memorial Day, Diane. Sounds like a natural disaster! It is a very fragrant rose in my garden, and the fragrance lasts for many days in the vase as well. Half of my Addictive Lure bush got snapped by a storm a few months ago but it continues to flower regardless. She is in a particularly open and windy spot. I am going to secure the new basals with some stakes next year to prevent the same thing happening again.

Here's Gemini from my previous yard.

Lynn

This bouquet from today showcases some of my fragrant favourites:

Top row: dark red Firefighter and pink Tiffany

Second top row: pink Beverly, purple Big Purple, lavender Stainless Steel

Third row: Evelyn, Fragrant Cloud, Memorial Day, Barbra Streisand, Honey Bouquet from left to right

Bottom row: Honey Bouquet in the middle and Dolly Parton on the right

It is winter now for me and I am just happy that the blooms have kept coming. :) Sooooo Fragrant!

fragrancenutter, beautiful bouquet!! I especially like your Memorial Day and Barbara Streisand.

If you, and others who grow roses where summers are hot like lavender roses, here's Love Song. I wouldn't care if my roses stopped blooming during the summer; who could blame them, but some just keep blooming when it is really hot. This bloom of Lovesong opened Friday. Yesterday it was 111 degrees F ( the hottest day of the year thus far). This photo was taken this morning. It is not the best bloom for this rose, but under the circumstances..... This is a grafted rose that was in a pot, then planted about a month ago...

Love Song ( same plant) when it was not so hot, and established in its pot.

Neptune is new for me this year... its blooms are looking gray right now....

Angel Face has about two dozen blooms right now that are smaller, but hold their color. ( I would take a photo, but most of the roses on the plant should have been deadheaded 5 days ago).

Lynn

Thanks Lynn I have heard lots of good things about Love Song. It is unusual for a lavender rose not to fry in the heat. How would you rate its fragrance?

I am not sure if it is available here yet but I will certainly watch out for it.

I am adding good performers in my garden to this post as I go. Today Fragrant Cloud is looking beautiful. She has a very strong fragrance but not my favourite note - a bit too much aniseed. she is a reliable bloomer. Flowers have a lovely form. In Winter the petals show some veining:

Just Gorgeous!!!

Great to see your lovely roses Diane! They are amazing as usual. Does Love Song have that typical wonderful fragrance of a lavender colored rose? Many lavender roses have that wonderful blend of damask and lemon which I really love.

Thank you so much, fragrance. I love, and am astounded at, the gorgeous roses you grow. I'm still thinking about that wonderful Sonia. Sadly, I don't believe Love Song has much scent, but I haven't really checked, and I haven't used her blooms in a bouquet. Both my LS are pretty new, so I've just left the blooms on the plant. Maybe someone else can give a more definite reply. Tomorrow, I'll run out and check for scent. I am so pleased with Love Song, though, not only for the constant flowering, but the rounded, neat shape of the plant reminds me of Julia Child. Diane

Another heat lover is Tipsy Imperial Concubine. Her flowers don't fry very easily in th heat and they last well on the plant as well. Fragrance is better when the weather cools down though.

Thank you for your outstanding rose selection. I also live in a hot area and during the hight of summer my roses turn to dry flower arrangements. Do you provide shade anytime during the day? And in what location are your roses planted? Thank you in advance. Tanya L