Great successes, happy for you. May I suggest you give another G. Buck rose, Quietness, a try. I'm zone 5/6 (on the zone map I'm supposed to be 6b, but 'hu-uh,' I have a vortex tunnel that sweeps through my garden each winter because of the tall city hospital buildings surrounding my home. They funnel bitter cold winds that are diverted downward toward my garden. I have tried a half dozen Buck roses, and Quietness is the best of the ones I tried, hands down. Of course, you may already have Quietness, and I am preaching to the minister. 😁

Moses

Robusta had some dead cane and alot of live cane. Still looks pretty gangly compared to other years. Not exactly an attractive bush form.

This is a row of 4 climbers. Each year they are all dead to the ground. I had planned these to be a background for the bed and a wall of color.

From left to right, Sally Holmes, Lady in Red, Above All and Fred Loads.

I've decided to take Above All (planted 6/20) out and put Victorian Memory in that spot. Should have enough room for it to be 6x6 with no interference of other roses. Should Victorian Memory over whelm Lady in Red (planted 4/19) I will not mourn it's passing because it never climbs or gets beyond a short squat bush.

Fred Loads I'm going to keep because it grows really tall each year and is spectacular. Maybe some day it will keep some cane. It is my youngest rose and was planted in 7/2020.

Sally Holmes (planted 6/17) always has the clock ticking on her because she is an on-going disappointment. Just don't have anything better for that spot yet. In the mean time I enjoy her beautiful blooms on a short squat bush.

Dick Koster on the left and Denver's Dream on the right didn't do too bad. Not much to take off.

Neil Diamond, left and Parade Day just to the right of it (tagless - it got run over and broke by the trash can) didn't do too bad.

This looks like a picture of Winnipeg Parks but it was supposed to be of Candy Land (to the right of it) and Love Song (in the foreground). Candy Land, another climber was dead to the ground and Love Song had significant die back also.

Altissimo came with the house and is in a bad spot. It is only one cane every year so we chopped it to the ground to see if we could get it to branch.

Nice, mmm, glad so much kept cane for you. I had a lot more surviving cane this year than I usually do, I think this winter was milder than usual, though of course that's relative as we still spent time down in the -18° area again for a few days 😅 I had a good amount of roses not lose a single inch of cane, so if the hail stays away this year I've got hopes for a good spring flush!

Moses, I would like to add Quietness. It is finally in stock at High Country Roses and I was able to see it on my March trip. When I was populating the bed it was always out of stock. Matt said he had a property order something like 300 of them so until this year I hadn't seen it.

Two Quietness blooms.

Helpmefind says it is tip hardy in zone 4 so that is a huge plus. Also says Japanese Beetles love it so not thrilled about that.

If I got it I would probably have to take something out. Dainty Bess might be my first choice for removal as it was planted 8/18 and is still dying back every year. She is beautiful but the flowers are all devoured by the beetles all summer.

Another option to replace is Neil Diamond. The flowers are pretty but wilt in the heat and the smell is strong but not my favorite. Quiteness would have more room in this location and be between hot pink roses, Pretty Lady Rose and Parade Day so would look good here. I'm not sure about removing it though because I really like the striped roses and it is a pretty one.

Magpie, Looking forward to your rose survival report. Thanks for the pics of Victorian Memory. Can't wait to see how it does in my rock bed. Maybe I will finally have my tall cane hardy rose there.

I can't wait to update with bloom photos and my assessment of my roses (including winter survival), maybe in a month or so I'll put up that post. I spotted 4 roses this morning that have tiny baby buds forming, they're early for sure. And it's absolutely dumping rain over here so I expect all this glorious water to boost growth over the next couple of weeks. Yayyyy

Roses with buds forming: Therese Bugnet, Isabella Skinner, John Cabot, Himmelsauge. Oh, and JoAn's Pink Perpetual!

Mmmm is The Fairy the polyantha fairy rose? I have one of those that’s either 20 or 21 years old. It does great through the winter. My beautiful Polka Rose which was my best new rose last year, died to the ground and shows no signs of life. Rabbits probably helped with that. I’m hoping for a miraculous recovery but not expecting it. Hope you don’t mind me chiming in on the Colorado thread. I’m so close to you.

It’s great to see that Dick Koster and Denver’s Dream came through. I keep looking at those ones at High Country. I guess I need to pull the trigger one of these days!

Hi Melissa,

I believe The Fairy is a polyantha. Mine is also really old. It was original to the house so could be around 30 yrs old. At one point it had a little bit more size to it but now it stays small. When it started to reduce we put a second drip line on it but it never got the size back so I don't think lack of water is the problem. Probably we should give it more fertilizer because it is so old.

When you come to CO if there are any of my roses you want to see just send me a msg and we can coordinate a time. I love showing people the roses!

Sorry to hear about Polka. I looked it up on helpmefind and it is really pretty! Do you think voles could have gotten the roots? When we first put the bands in we put cages that we make out of wire fencing around them to keep the rabbits away but after they get some size we don't need them because the canes are too thick. Sometimes I will see them nibble on the tender leaves that are new but they can't do any real damage. However we also have voles and when they take out a plant bed they do it from underground by eating the roots. When you dig out your Polka look and see if it was eaten from below.

Magpie, I looked up your list but couldn't find Oh. Is there more to the name or do you have a link? Really look forward to your report on your repeat bloomers and whether they get big.

Mmmm I would LOVE to see your garden!!! My Fairy also used to be huge, like 6 foot. It would “attack” my kids when they rode by on their tricycles. I moved it and now it’s pretty small but still tons of blooms.

Melissa, Fantastic! You need to turn on your messaging so I can send you my contact info.

My Fairy was never that big! I would have loved for it to have been but it was more in the 2.5'x2.5' range and now is more like a 1'x1'.

High U

Commenting on Houzz is still annoyingly dysfunctional for me. I was trying to say "Oh, and JoAn's Pink Perpetual" ghCommenting on Houzz is still annoyingly dysfunctional for me. I was trying to say "Oh, and JoAn's Pink Perpetual"

Helen,

Dick Koster is one of my favorites. It was planted 8/18 as a band from High Country Roses and the blooms are super pretty. They also stay on the bush a long time and the Japanese Beetles don't bother it.

June 20th.

Closer up of the blooms. They have a really cool cupped shape.

Here it is June 23, 2023.

Denver's Dream is a good little rose (planted 8/19 as a HCR band). The blooms age beautifully on it. Picture also June 23rd.

June 30th.

Also June 30th.

I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Here is the Fairy on June 23 last year. I will try to figure out messaging on my computer tomorrow. I can’t find it on my phone.

I always have those lefcutter bees!

That is a great looking Fairy. I think it is bigger than mine, although I may have under estimated the size of it right now so when it was larger it may have been 3 ft wide.

July 16, 2023. I think it is more white in the first flush and gets pinker with repeats.

Here it is in Oct. 2023 with much pinker blooms.

The flowers seem to last a long time on the bush. And the Japanese Beetles don't bother them. Lots to like about The Fairy.

I am considering more miniatures/polyanthas due to the ones I have not getting eaten by the Japanese Beetles

My goodness...The Fairy is an inspirational rose!!

Oh, I love The Fairy! I keep saying I am going to get her. I need to just do it because I really need some low spreading roses.