Somehow, I got Bolero at full bud stage and forgot to photograph it bloom, but Bolero is tops for great shape and fast repeat.

Here's a semi close up of the same plant.

Librarian -wow!!! That's incredible!! :) :) Such a fabulous centerpiece for your yard!

Sidonie from this spring. It was a band last year so it was still pretty small but you can see how it covered itself in good quality blooms. More came after this too. And below is a picture of how big it is now, just a few months later. So very healthy, vigorous, and loads of flowers in spring. Minimal fall repeat.

Sally Holmes, another small baby rose that is growing steadily, healthily, and absolutely covers itself with blooms in spring, though also repeats with small clusters in summer and then quite large clusters towards fall. Basically, loads of flowers.

Mme. Plantier, also smothered in many perfect blooms in spring with gorgeous healthy foliage. No repeat.

All gorgeous! Sidonie sounds like a precocious thing!

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) Wow, your Sidonie and Mme Plantier are both just so, so pretty. I just really love that sprawling, natural look to a rose bush; the Hybrid Teas with "exhibition form" blooms just never did anything for me. I just planted both of these varieties this year (no blooms from Mme Plantier until next spring, of course) and Sidonie has already charmed me. Her first blooms were just lovely and smell exactly like what I imagine people describe as an "old rose" scent, although I am terrible at describing/deciphering what I smell, to me she just smells like pure rose.

Two workhorses I highly recommend that out perform all the others in my garden are Pinkerbelle and Apricot Candy. They're both hybrid teas with blooms in the classic form. Being very bushy in growth habit, they are atypical for hybrid teas which characteristically are upright and narrow in bush form...not very attractive as a bush, but great at producing long stem roses they were bred to produce.

The bushy growth habit of T and AC constrain them from producing long stems, but their functioning in the garden setting is more versitile.

They fight black spot with both fists blazing, so spraying for fungus is unnecessarily for here in the 'Burgh.

Moses

Olivia

Blue For You

Munsted wood

@kristine, 

Mind blowing! Is that one Olivia or several planted next to each other? Swoon. I have her in a pot and I ordered Munstead Wood for the Spring. 

I did not prune enough this season so she's a bit spindly, but I plan to give her quite the hair cut for next. 

Just gorgeous both!

@Meg-zone8aOR So happy to hear you added these two! Mme. Plantier is one of my most vigorous roses, flawlessly healthy, and beautiful flowers. Sometimes they get a bit blush in the middle of the new flowers, and I adore the green eye. But one of her best features is her growth habit, so relaxed and graceful, like the Venus of Urbino. Sidonie also grows long canes that kind of drape, but it's a bit less relaxed and more , definite Olympia vibes.

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) I adore the green eye and the little touches of red/pink on the buds of your Mme Plantier. There's something about reddish/pink tinged buds with white blooms that I absolutely love. Sheila has a Marie Bugnet that she posted pics of a while back with red buds and it is just stunningly beautiful.

I agree Marie Bugnet is stunningly beautiful, but that was another lucky gardener, not me.

Magpie - my goodness...those are exceptional roses! While I loved them all, Sally Holmes stole my heart. :) :) Although Mme Plantier has that wonderful green button eye!

Moses - I love what you wrote: They fight black spot with both fists blazing. :) :) Do you have a picture of your Pinkerbelle bush?

Kristine - oh wow!!! Your rose bushes are smothered with blooms! Your Olivia is a showstopper. :) :) And your Munstead Wood is outstanding! And I love the colors of your Blue for You. :)

Oh Magpie - those close ups are fabulous!!!! I can't say which one I love more...incredible!

Kristen, your Olivia is stunning!

Here are some of my best bloomers, shrubby plants with good health:

Gartendirektor Otto Linne

Clotilde Soupert...always blooms in big flushes

Maggie blooms in big flushes, is not quite as bs resistant

Felicia

Teasing Georgia

Right now I'm really appreciating my teas and Chinas. I don't have good whole plant pics of them but Madame Lombard, Mrs. B.R. Cant, Cramoisi Superieur, Madame Berkeley, Sou. d'Elise Vardon, Madame Joseph Schwartz, Madame Antoine Mari, Rainbow, all these are blooming right now and are healthier than most and make very good plants. Mrs. B.R. Cant is incredibly fragrant. Unlike many teas which to me have a tobacco fragrance, Mrs. B.R. Cant has more of a sweet damask fragrance. Very strong. BIG blooms too. Very healthy and vigorous. I don't know one drawback other than that it gets very large.

I have other plants I think are great....can't really list them all. Love many polyanthas.

To the left of the arch is Lavaglut. It's a good plant but bs prone. The white plant to the right is Marie Pavie.

Love most of my Austins and Delbards too. Other great plants:

Well Being, Cherry Parfait, The Faun, Ballerina, Augusta Louise, Ascot, Flamenco Rosita, Braveheart, Oh, there are many! Not to mention climbers. We have a richness of roses to choose from! Most I have are roses I think are very good, otherwise I get rid of them.

Oh my goodness @erasmus_gw your Teasing Georgia is unbelievable!! That picture took my breath away... Perfection!

I can't tell from the picture, is that a giant freestanding bush or is she climbing on a structure?

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b) Your Sidonie is absolutely gorgeous! And with all the extra size she's put on this year, I'm sure she's going to put on a dazzling show next spring!

What a beautiful thread! Kristine, Magpie and Erasmus 😍😍😍 such gorgeous photos!

Wow ! You guys, what incredible bush shots!

Erasmus, I had a Teasing Georgia and it only teased with a handful of blooms. Your yard is a magical retreat that I can only dream of creating. Do you love the Fawn as .much as I do ?

Magpie, you have some glorious bloomers. I am a sucker for a goid white and Mme Plantier is just breathtaking.

Moses, I wish that I could see your glorious garden. I bet it is wonderful.

My Olivia is one rose. It didnt achieve that glory this year but still pretty full.

If I could only have one rose it would be Munstead wood

It is always in bloom.

Amazing pictures and great insights. So nice to see bushes that can tell the whole story!

@erasmus_gw,

That's what I dream of seeing from a distance. There is something about an abundance of blooms all over the bush, with buds that bloom all at the same time, instead of one after another to the point where the bush is never generously covered.

@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw,

I am excited about getting Munstead Wood in the Spring. It seems like such a luscious thing to have, at least the color.

I wonder what is another Austin considered excellent for disease resistant other than Olivia Rose which I have. Princess Ann maybe?

I found it is virtually impossible to get blooms all over if the leaves don't stay on. The closest to that I have had is Dick Clark. The poor thing eventually loses its leaves but still blooms quite a bit. Unfortunately, you realize the bush doesn't look good with just blooms on it but partially defoliated.

I learned the hard way bush performance overall is crucial. Even the most glorious bloom for color and form cannot save a rose from a down-vote if the bush doesn't perform well overall.

Artist, Desdamona is almost always coved i.oo.s. it takes a brief break and then off again.

Erasmus - Sweet Heavens!!! SWOON!!! Your yard and roses...unbelievable!!! Your roses bloom from top to bottom in huge abundance! How in the world do you manage this? Any secrets?

Kristine - beautiful Desdemona!! Well done...that rose loves your care. :) :)

@erasmus_gw

What area are you in , if you don't mind me asking?

Western piedmont of NC. Zone 7a.

Rosecanadian,

Sorry, but I'm all thumbs with cameras, and take lousy pictures. I took one acceptable picture back in 1992 of a canary breeder friend posed in his birdroom and since then it has been camera vs. Moses, and the camera always wins. I have stopped while the stopping was good back in the 90's

Kristine,

I wish my garden was beautiful this year, but disaster struck after a fairy acceptable spring bloom. I drenched the soil with a 12 month insecticide in mid-spring aimed specifically at knocking out the dreaded rose midge fly. Well, it worked for about a month after its application, protecting the late first flush bloomers, but come July, the RMF slowly worked its dirty deeds, to the point that all the large flowered bushes are just about completely midged and bloomless right now. I'm leaving things simmer just now, no intervention.

Did I apply the drench too late? Did the intense summer heat, with the hottest July on record, make the drench ineffective? Did I apply a too dilute amount or was the strength of the drench from the manufacturer too week or a bad batch? These unanswered questions will probably never get properly addressed.

Returning to spraying which generally gave me <5% midge damaged blooming stem tips, is my plan for next year. And a battery operated sprayer is in the picture so that the drudgery of spraying every 10-14 days does not cause me to slack off spraying, especially as the season progresses.

One pretty but weird looking, crooked necked Apricot Candy bloom stared at me today, the bush telling me, "See, I've got enough fight in me to make this bloom under these horrible conditions, but next year, if you get on the ball with a good spray schedule, just watch what I can do.

Moses

Erasmus - there's got to be more than that. LOL Fabulous!!

Moses - that's terribly depressing to have midge. I'm sorry you had a bad summer season.

@erasmus_gw

Does that mean that you water all of your roses by hand?

Artist, no, I don't water many of them. When I say I believe in water I mean I think it's one of the best things for roses but that doesn't mean I do it. I rely on rain for the most part, so that can get frustrating and stressful . I hand water the newest and smallest plants until they're established. Then they seem to handle a fair amount of drought. I water all of my potted plants very often in summer. I used to have drip hoses but didn't think they were that good. Some people say irrigation systems are not expensive and are easy to set up. I may look in to it. But I don't know how I'd afford to keep them watered.

I have a friend who hand waters all of his. HIs are great looking plants and I think they rebloom better than mine in the middle of summer when mine are more deprived of water. I just think it would take forever to hand water, standing over them, as it takes time for the water to sink in. A shallow watering is not that good. Roots go deeper if not drawn towards the surface.

@erasmus_gw

Thank you for this information, this is very helpful as it provides some perspective. I too am in the South but I have encountered very serious challenges during the hot season. I do well with the first flush in Spring but after that everything goes down dramatically.

I can't keep up with a regular spray regimen, neither do I have an irrigation system so I rely on watering by hand as much as I can given I don't have that many.

Four in the ground, five in pots and some ground cover drifts that more or less take care of themselves.

Problem is I probably don't get out there enough to water, never mind spray, because it's hot and the mosquitos devastate me in the summer even after a minute outside.

I tried to figure out what causes them to perform so poorly over the summer when they DO seem to be able to do well in Spring, so I could only conclude it's not enough water and the lack of consistent spraying. They pretty much all succumb to Black Spot sooner or later, almost fully defoliated, spare bloom and when some do show up, they are small and disappointing, etc.

It's very frustrating but I keep doing it for that beautiful party in Spring. In the fall (September) I get another flush which is barely OK (for my generally high expectations of full bush coverage and all) - but it's nowhere close to the Spring.

My ground roses compete with the roots of a tree nearby so they probably want a lot of water to have enough to share with the tree. They also don't grow that large for the same reason. I've seen giant Julia Childs, mine stayed a small, insignificant thing that barely puts out a few blooms in the summer.

Every year I promise myself I will keep up with spraying but it never happens. Never mind sometimes deer munches my buds, so I need to spray for that too.

The ones in pots in fact do better although still not where I would love them to be.

I could not begin to imagine how I could get bushes like yours in my yard - so large and smothered in blooms. Maybe when I extend the small bed in the middle of the lawn. It's s small circle now where I have a small, young dogwood (minimal roots) and some day lilies around it. That spot begs to be expanded to accommodate some roses.

By looking at yours, it's good to know it's possible to have a bush like this in our area without maximum spraying and watering fuss.

Artist, I'm curious which roses you have. Is your Julia Child grafted or own root? I had one at one time and it was puny also. I don't remember if it was grafted or not. Diane in Idaho has great plants of it and I think hers are grafted. I'm guessing mine was own root. Some plants just do better grafted. In my area, Palatine's plants grafted on multiflora do very well. Many of my plants are own root but some plants just don't do well own root.

The teas, Chinas, and Noisettes are good own root for mild climates like ours. Some of them have great vigor and health and don't have to be coddled.

My garden definitely gets away from me during summer. I guess I should conclude that it's become too much for me. When you make a flower bed it is an invitation to weeds and tree seedlings. A lawn doesn't present quite the same opportunity to weeds. So when you sign up for a flower bed you sign up for some work. The work is mostly something that I like to do but I don't like that I can't keep up with it. I have a neatnik neighbor who says my garden is pretty in spring but the rest of the time not so much. I admire his manicured yard....I have to bear with my garden in its pauses.

Erasmus, it sounds to me like your gardening style is English Cottage while your neighbor like having a mini golf course 😅

You garden looks gorgeous in your photos! You might consider an irrigation system. If you time it to water right before sunrise it's far more efficient with water usage. We switched this year and are paying a fraction of what we paid when I had to hand water during the day.

I've got that overgrown style. My goal each year is for my purposeful plants get big and outperform the uninvited plants. Folks with lawns get "weeds" here too, if they don't spray poison (dandelions, clover, moss, etc).

My immediate next door neighbor disliked my English Cottage garden style so much that he built a wood fence that's higher than code allows. His grass is meticulously maintained, but it's constantly coming under the fence.

On the other hand, I've met so many neighbors from other streets while I'm out in the garden because so many folks stop to say they love it. Lots of different opinions in the world.😁

If you're still considering great bush shape and bloom, considering Duchesse de Brabant. It's not a cold zone plant but it is super happy in zone 8. Great repeat, very fragrant, wonderful on its own roots.

I agree Erasmus, each new bed brings way more work. I never did get caught up with the weeds. Most of the beds I stuffed with companion plants and that helped. But soon the frost will take out the zinnias and vinca

I am planting more perenials and it had helped with the weeds. I say helped, not eradicated

Artist, im sorry that your roses were a dissapointment

I know that it can seem overwhelming at times to keep up with everything. I dont spray so that helps timewise but I do hand water and that is kind of a time consuming but it gives me a chance to see what is going on in the yard.

I hope that next season your roses will get with the program.

There's no way to not have weeds, is there? I guess you can just mow them down with a lawn.

Erasmus - but your garden is a haven for bees and other insects. The fuss-pot neighbor with his monoculture of grass has a sterile landscape. :) :)

Librarian - it does take all kinds. I'd far rather look at the beauty of your yard than at manicured lawn. :) :)

@erasmus_gw,

Here are my roses:

In the ground, along the friveway, with a tall tree nearby that provides root competition.

All are quite beautiful in Spring but come Summer that's another story.

Good as Gold

(grafted; severely predisposed to BS; my first rose, I bought it on a whim bc the bloom was magnificent at the nursery, I had no idea what I was doing. I was just told that yes, you CAN grow roses in the South)

Julia Child ( probably grafted and possibly the biggest disappointment considering how its virtues have been touted everywhere.)

Dick Clark (grafted, my second rose and quite a character; I ended up hating the color, so don't ask me why I bought it. I just can't give it up because the dear crazy blooms quite well even when it finally becomes fully defoliated although it stays relatively healthy for quite a while; plus the blooms last forever on the bush and in the vase. Garish but I just can't give it up).

Dee-lish (grafted, this was its first full season in my yard. I love the bloom, but it doesn't seem to be very prolific and many of its buds were eaten by deer).

Five Coral Drifts along the front border of this bed (my most successful rose; blooms throughout the summer, holds well...though it ends up getting some yellowing and black spot too towards the end, but not so much as to become defoliated)

Double Pink Knock-Out at the mailbox (bought this summer; seems healthy and a good workhorse for that spot).

In pots on the deck in the back:

Easy Does It (own root, from a small band, did quite well for a couple of seasons but this year it lost almost all leaves due to BS; I will change the soil next spring).

Belinda's Dream (own root, from a small band, very slow grower, still rather spindly and immature, not vigorous, stingy bloom).

Plum Perfect (grafted, the most BS resistant so far, beautiful bloom color, lasts well in the vase, but it's a monster with thick long canes and comparatively small blooms right at the tippy-top; a bit awkward as a bush).

Olivia Rose ( I don't now what Austin does - grafted or own root; grows well until it succumbs to BS in the summer and very much fails to live up to its "healthy" reputation. In my yard it's not. It wants spraying just like all others.

It became almost completely defoliated only to grow back some leaves in the fall and now it's only half defoliated at the bottom. Rebloom is just OK).

The Fairy (new, sparse bloom in the summer, if it stays like this next season instead of the heavy coverage that it promises in ads, maybe with maturity - it will not be worth it as as the bloom itself is small and rather insignificant).

Order on the way:

Flamenco Rosita (great hopes for this one)

Munstead Wood (pre-ordered for Spring 2023, could not resist the color although I expect problems like with all others).

New plans for next season include more vigorous and professional pruning; a soaker hose in the rose bed with the tree competition; a bit more consistent fertilizing...and maybe a bit of extra spraying, although it is very likely I won't be able to keep the promise to myself on the spray front.

It sounds like a nice selection. I bet you'll like Flamenco Rosita. It's healthy and vigorous. I don't know how much room you have but I'd try a tea or China.

I heard that Pat Henry at Roses Unlimited sprayed her garden once last year, and I think she thought it did some good and was enough. A nearby friend recently sprayed his garden three times in the year and that was enough. I hope you'll let us know how you like the soaker hose.

@erasmus_gw

Right now I have virtually no more room and I won't have anymore until I expand the flower/dogwood bed in the middle of the lawn.

I barely have room to stick Rosita in the back of the bed along the driveway, and that's assuming she will not grow more than 5 ft wide as it was advertised. I heard some say it can get all the way to 10 ft wide, which would be crazy. I don't think it will because in that bed all of my other roses tend to stay way smaller than I saw them in other places, probably because they compete with a tree's roots nearby.

For next season, I am hanging my hopes on this little improvement plan:

- the soak hose

- better pruning, complete defoliation and cleaning the area well (it looks like I wasn't doing everything quite right)

- amending the entire flower bed generously with manure and soil conditioner, not just a bit around each rose's drip line as I did in the past.

- spraying early on preventatively

- no late frost hopefully; this year we had one that destroyed all new growth which made the first bloom less impressive than last year in Spring.

I will certainly report on the soak hose if I reach the Rose Zen I keep hoping for. :)