I dont know but following! Lol! i would love to grow her, but read horror stories about blackspot

That must be it, Straw! Although ironically my grown Zeph was clean and beautiful through the unusually rainy early summer we had, and only dropped her leaves once drought hit. Perhaps I’ll never figure it our completel, but you've certainly given me something to think about.

I heard people say Zephy is bs magnet. I got a band size this May and it has been absolutely healthy for me. It is by our west facing porch, with a big camellia plant overhead. It has grown to 3-4 feet and though it has not bloomed a single flower, it has grown a lot of lateral branches.

I’m wondering maybe the bs prone has to do with age. Younger plants might be healthier than an old one? And maybe grafted vs own root also plays a part regarding disease resistance?

Thanks for sharing your experience, I guess I am not the only one intrigued with Zephy's disease resistance. I bought a gallon size own root Zephy in Nov 2021, put it in a 3 gallon pot to baby it, gave it the best sunny location with plenty of air circulation, monitored the soil pH and moisture, and it suffered PM terribly to the point I gave up and just planted it in an undesirable 4 hours noon sun location (and I only dug about a foot deep of planting hole) and let it be since about September. Guess what, no PM since planted in that terrible spot, and also no BS since rain season started 3 weeks ago. I don' get it.

Some roses like Zeph likes the rocky bottom, its roots are deep enough to go down to the dolomotic rocks below, in a shady spot.

Rocks below are good to supply minerals to chunky roots if it's a good drainage spot.

Same with roses on Dr.Huey-rootstock (chunky & woody roots). I have 2 FlowerCarpets (grafted on Dr.Huey). One is super vigorous in rock hard clay (with rocks at bottom). The other got invaded by tree-roots, so I dug down to put cement blocks to block tree roots. I also replace the soil with fluffy potting soil, and it went downhill. Chopping the tree down didn't help with my mistake of taking out dense clay to put fluffy soil in.

Yeah Straw I am wondering maybe Zephy does prefer some shade. I just took a photo this morning (Dec 12th). Zephy is still full of dark green and red new leaves.

Notice the pink petals dropped from nearby big camellia tree to the north.

To make a comparison, this is Graham Thomas planted at the other side (south) of the railing. there is no tree for shade. It is from a cutting this spring. It has been relatively healthy but did get some light bs and by now has dropped most of its leaves

Neither has bloomed really this year and I am hoping for next spring

My zephy is also sparkling clean, in a maximum of 4 hours of PNW sun which let me tell you isn’t much

forever_a_newbie_VA8 Love that black metal-fence of yours, very nice !! I see pine needles dropping on your Graham Thomas. Pine needles are acidic, even after 1 year. It takes years before pine needles can decompose to neutral pH.

I have 4 white pine trees, and NOTHING can grow, not even weeds on the pine needles due to the acidity.

One time I teste acidic brewer's yeast on 100% healthy Excellenz von Schubert, it broke out in blackspots immediately. Funny to see that sold as Organic fertilizer for plants at Menards. Brewer's yeast is so acidic that I have to use a wad of honey when I mix in with milk for my drink.

As 8th-year own root in only 4 hours of sun, my Zeph. Drouhin with dark-green leaves is always healthy in my alkaline clay with rocks at bottom. It mildewed a bit in hot August/Sept, but pruning it short to 2.5 feet after each blooming helped. Below pic. was taken July 27, 2022:

Below pic. was taken of its spring flush in May/June in only 4 hours of sun:

Thanks straw for pointing out the pine needles being acidic. I used them temporarily as a cover and planed to remove them in spring. Now after reading your comments I just removed the pine needles and put them under the camellia trees instead.

your zephy is really what I hope mine will look like in the future🌹

ZD was one of the select group of roses said to thrive on a North-facing wall (along with New Dawn, Madam Alfred Carriere which come to mind). That's certainly where I grew it for years. It absolutely required space and air though, because it eventually succumbed to powdery mildew as the bed became more crowded. I always loved that fresh new growth - almost a bloom on the leaves and canes.

Rosaprimula, thanks so much for mentioning Zephirine D is suitable to plant on a north facing wall. After seeing your message I took a few cuttings. Hopefully one of them will root so I can plant at the stair to the north facing porch.