Some roses are more prone than others to diseases like blackspot, rust, or mildew. I think that midges tend to like light-colored flowers more than darker colored flowers, or at least the light flowers show the damage. Other than that, I'm not aware of any inherent qualities of roses that would necessarily attract more bugs or critters than other roses. It's more likely to be something with the air circulation patterns or neighboring plants that contributes to the Heritage situation.

In general, Austins can be more susceptible to blackspot in some regions but are no more prone to bugs as far as I know than any other plants. For the caterpillars (rose slugs) and aphids, spraying the rose as well as undersides of the leaves with a vigorous spray of water is the most time-effective strategy for handling those pests, and it waters the plant as well. If you get tough out the bad bugs for a while, the good bugs (e.g. predator wasps, ladybugs) and birds will be attracted to your yard and take care of the other bugs for you over time. I prefer lazy strategies in handling these pests, and for the past 3 years or so I haven't seen any particular aphids or rose slugs in my 1000+ roses, after having some truly epic infestations of both before that.

Cynthia

I haven't found my Austins attracting more "bad bugs" than other kinds of roses. Aphids are pretty much random in where they infest. I either spray them with water, or if I'm "lazy" (like Cynthia), I just take my bare fingers and slide those babies off the buds and stems. Your fingers don't look too pretty after a lot of "sliding". Luckily, we don't get midge, Japanese beetles, or rose slugs here, but my garden can be thrips central, and I know of no predator bugs that go after those awful things. Light colored, many petaled roses like Evelyn are the thrips favorite food (others are Frederic Mistral, and Memorial Day; so Austins are no more susceptible to thrips than others in this garden). Diane

I seem to find more aphids on Heidi Klum, Blackberry Nip, and my three pink Austins than on Bering and Blue Moon.

I live in the GTA and I would say YES ,DA's do attract JB and other creatures such rose slugs. You could spray your roses that would help but if you are not into spraying chemicals I highly recommend KORDES rose check out Palatine rose( Google it) located in NOTL.

No. You'll find varieties that some insects seem to gravitate to but is not specific to any specific rose hybridizer.

Aphids feed on new growth, so your Heritage may be putting out a lot of new growth now that is attracting them. Heritage also has light colored blooms, which Japanese Beetles and thrips tend to prefer. It has nothing to do with the breeder or the rose, just certain conditions at certain times.

In my garden, some roses have far more rose slugs than others. Clothilde Soupert will be covered in slugs but Marie van Houtte, growing right behind Clothilde, has none. I think the foliage texture causes Clothilde to be more popular with slugs. I can't generalize that experience to whole classes of roses but I see it each spring.

Part of the issue may be due to the strength of the plant tissue. Plants can be strengthened by making sure they are getting the right nutrients. If lacking in some, they are easier for the pests to eat; some are too strong for them to chew through. See if you can find some of the posts from strawchicago- excellent resource with lots of great info on what is needed, ph of soil for specific roses, ect....