If it is "old", and has been in that pot for a long time, that might explain the lack of bloom. I have not had one, but my neighbor got one, and hers is in not only full sun, but reflected light, and blooms all of the time

Jackie

Mine here is nice but not great. I think it needs full sun and full heat.

Ingrid in So California grew it better.

Mine is doing ok-better now that i moved it to the sunniest spot I have in my yard. In my opinion this isn’t a rose that can take some shade.

Sheila, beautiful grouping!

How about a 7a report? I currently have sport SdlM cl. and sport Mystic Beauty and lost sport Souvenir de St. Anne's to voles this summer. They have all been good roses but climbing SdlM seems to have only a couple flushes (but plenty of blooms each time). It is a fairly young rose so it may bloom more as it matures. Mystic Beauty cycles through bloom cycles all season. SdSA's was doing well but I lost it too soon. The flowers of all are lovely and fragrant and the plants are reasonably healthy in my no-spray garden- maybe in the top 20%. They handle our heat and humidity well and handle my far from perfect dry, rocky, acidic soil. They do far better than teas at getting through our roller coaster freeze-thaws in spring. This can be a problem for more than my teas. They require more sun than my China's but a touch less than teas. About average for insect damage. Sadly, they aren't immune to vole damage but none of my roses are.

I have SdlM here...own root...she gets a lot of sun, 6+ hours for sure, but also some shade from a tree...I like her ok. The blooms can be beautiful and she's fairly generous of bloom; but she often balls in wet weather, and the flowers turn brown around the edges...She rarely looks spectacular...overall I like her but I don't love her. I'm not going to shovel prune her but I also might not replant her if she died. FWIW....YMMV of course...

I appreciate the helpful answers to my question. I am sorry to say so, but I think I am also somewhat disappointed in SDLM. Why, I wonder, was it chosen as an original member of the Old Rose Hall of Fame? Some of the other choices seem odd, too. I have never heard anything good about the performance of Gloire de Dijon (beautiful though it is) and most of the others seem second tier to me. While Apothecary, Rosa Mundi, and Old Blush deserve a place for their historic importance. I can't see that the others do. I'm surprised Devoniensis and Lamarque or Safrano haven't seen included.

On more practical matters, Jackie may be right about the pot, so perhaps I will plant the own root SDLM in the European section, where it will not be entirely out of step, and see how it does. The grafted plant was planted shortly after it arrived and dug up and potted the winter before last because it had never performed well--probably not enough sun in its location.

Thank you for the report from Zone 7A. I don't think there are many here in 7A, so it's good to compare notes although our climates differ in other respects. I was particularly interested in your comment about Chinas and sun; I have noticed that my Chinas seem to tolerate partial sun more than the teas and probably more than SDLM if I am to judge by the number of blooms this season.

I do have one Noisette with good repeat--pale yellow, obviously closely related to Lamarque and Devoniensis. Champneys has never been a good performer, but at one time, when its area received more sun, Blush Noisette was almost always in bloom. On the whole, however, I prefer the Double and Single Musk which are non-stop until the onset of cold weather.

Perhaps we should all learn to love the roses that do well for us. I have certainly been moving in that direction and I realize that Zone ratings are misleading. That a rose can survive the winter does guarantee good performance all summer.

Lindsey

PS I agree that blooms of SDLM are easily spoiled by the weather--a problem I have with several other varieties.

Lindsey

Hmm. As I reread my response, I noticed a typo. I meant to say "They do fare better than teas..." , not "They do far better..." but a reader might still get the general idea, I suppose.

SdlM seems to take awhile to come into its own- like, years. The first year I wondered why I thought it would do well here. It took about 4 yrs. to begin to show what it was all about. Mine were all own root. (BTW, remember Ingrid's? It was quite the enabler.) All of my SdlM family have this in common.

Funny, we had the exact opposite experiences with Old Blush and SdlM. Until I moved it, for the first 8 or so yrs., OB blackspotted during first flush then spent the rest of the season without leaves. It is doing better in a bed where it gets morning sun. It's OK, better than it was, but I doubt I'd replace it if I lost it.

Lindsey, much of any rose performance is location. That is one great feature of this forum is that we can see what grows well in our locations. SdlM was great in So California for Ingrid.

The only time I ever got respectable results from any of my plants of 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' was growing it in Toronto, and it only did really well when the summer temperatures were at their hottest (hot days/warm nights).

I have never, ever had good results from this cultivar growing it in Oregon. It did a bit better when grown in a large pot in a semi-open greenhouse, but it clearly needs heat to really do well. For this reason I no longer grow it, unless you count the 2 cane wonder that is the climbing sport out in the garden. The climbing version really only flowers well in the first flush, with a smattering of flowers occasionally later on. It doesn't matter how old it get, it never repeats the volume of the spring flush. In climates like mine (cold, wet springs) this rose is practically worthless, since the spring flush is almost guaranteed to be ruined by the omnipresent rain.

We have hot, humid summers here and relatively cold winters. Spring is unpredictable. This year it was cool and dry, ideal for most of my once-bloomers bloomers, but frosts in April (and very rarely snow) too often ruin the buds of once-blooming Damasks.

Lindsey

I have had SDLM for about 4 years and have not been impressed - until now. This summer, after its first flush, it must have heard me threatening with the spade, because it started blooming well, finally! I moved it to a pot this year to see if it made a difference and maybe the rich potting soil and regular liquid feeding made a difference. It has spent fall next to an east-facing wall and has bloomed fine in spite of only getting sun till noon. And the flowers stopped balling. Right now it has one last, stubborn flower. Not bad for November 9th in Denmark.

But why it improved I can only speculate...

I am really coming to the conclusion that unless you live in one of the perfect locales for rose growth tjese shrubs definitely need time (and I’m talking the sleep, creep, leap theory) to look their best

Interesting. Maybe mine needs a few extra shovels of horse manure and some kelp next spring/summer...I'm willing to go that far to see if she does better....but anyone around here who expects "regular" feedings is going to be disappointed, I can barely remember to do it once or twice a year! LOL

I had SOUVENIR DE LA MALMAISON for years but eventually replaced her (with Mrs. R.M. Finch, a light pink polyantha rose) because I didn't like the short, open growth habit and thorns. Okay, first the good. I too live in USDA Zone 7a. SdlM does just fine because the rebloom is reliable and once the summer heat sets in the blooms don't ball. GORGEOUS blooms and lovely fragrance, but smells nothing like a Tea-rose. The shrub on the other hand is a runt. My Fair Bianca grows taller (yeah, THAT Fair Bianca). Will defoliate from black spot if you don't spray. Reported to be shade tolerant but isn't. If you must have it then look into its sport-of-a-sport MYSTIC BEAUTY, which seems to have a little more oomph.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Results for 7A in MD and VA should be similar although I have found rebloom less than reliable here--maybe because it doesn't get full sun. I don't object to the small size and the flowers are beautiful ( I like the scent, too) , but I do expect good rebloom. MetteBee's lovely picture taken in August reminds me of the single bloom I had in late October. While I was pleased to see a bloom so late in the season it didn't make up for the lack of bloom all summer.

Lindsey