The best bloomers are VIGOROUS as own roots. Below are the best bloomers among my 160 fragrant own root varieties: Bolero is a blooming machine here in zone 5, and I'm stingy in watering .. I use my 7 rain-barrels and water by the bucket. I use my tap-water (via a hose) like 3 times max per year. Below is Bolero loaded with blooms in only 4 hours of morning sun (blooms more in partial shade than in full sun):

Version #1 Evelyn (short & spreading bush) with exposed yellow stamens is my best bloomer at over 100 blooms for spring flush (the entire month of June), and it starts its 2nd flush in July 4 (only 1 week of zero blooms between flushes). It's pruned by my zone 5 winter down to 6 inch. in May, then I pruned it down to 1 foot late June, and prune it again by 1 foot before 3rd flush.

The Dark Lady is a constant bloomer in only 5 hours of evening sun. Scent is very good (old rose with a touch of carnation), and NOT light like David Austin catalog described. My heavy clay is high in iron so red roses like that.

About Face is SUPER VIGOROUS as own root with more blooms than Carding Mill.

Twilight zone is a constant bloomer in only 4 hours of morning sun:

Carding Mill is a constant bloomer & fast repeat own root:

Sweet M gives lots of bloom since it's a wide bush 4' x 3'.

100% thornless Yves seedling give me many times more blooms than Rouge Royal since it's more winter-hardy plus better scent (red wine and old rose). It's drought-tolerant.

Radio Time is super vigorous and repeats fast in only 4 hours of morning sun:

Peter Mayle is a continuous bloomer in 4 hours of morning sun, better bloomer than Firefighter since it's more vigorous. I like its scent (eucalyptus and wild rose) more than Firefighter too fruity scent.

Munstead Wood has fast repeat like Version #1 Evelyn, both are the 1st to bloom in May and only 1 week of zero blooms between flushes.

Mary Magdalene repeats fast (only 1 week of zero blooms between flushes). It has shallow cup like Evelyn & Munstead Wood & Radio Times so all 4 repeats fast:

The Dee-lish in partial shade (5 hours of morning sun) blooms more than the Dee-lish in full-sun. The best bloomers are VIGOROUS as own roots:

Pat Austin is a constant bloomer in only 4 hours of morning sun, blooms blow fast so it repeat faster than Lady of Shalott (slow repeat in partial shade). Below is Pat Austin, a waterhog:

Cream Veranda

Mel's Heritage

Oso Easy Double Red..Always in bloom whether its real hot or cooler out in my zone...Lots of vigor...

I recently posted about my Mel’s heritage on this subject. I must add Flamenco Rosita, she rarely takes a break.

This is THIS week

Olivia

Munstead

Julia Child

Fiji

Our Anniversary

Memorial Day

Lavender Veranda

Bolero

Sweet Madam

Our Anniversary

Sweet Madamouselle

Markay: you dropped a full zone? Were you previously right near the 7b border (with 7a)?

yep! I’m still right near the border, but now I’m on the warmer side of the line. I son’t trust it though. Sll it takes is one polar vortex…

It’s nice having Dahlias winter over in the ground though!

Interesting that I have a number of these roses (Munstead, Olivia, Dee-lish, Radio Times, Evelyn), but they aren't blooming machines in my garden. Dee-lish is pretty good though. But now there are more that I’m curious to try!

Julia Child and White Licorice have ibeen my best bloomers up here north of Denver. Sadly this year I went on vacation in early June and came back to find sawflies had almost completely defoliated Julia Child, which had never happned in past years. But you know, It still gave a decent first flush, and is pushing some new growth now, so it took the damage like a champ.

(Also hello everyone I've been reading a while but this is my first post)

Welcome, Michael! it’s fun to talk plants and roses in particular. Thanks for your input. Your climate is probably fairly similar to mine, so I appreciate hearing your experiences.

Welcome Michael!

With temps of 113 yesterday I eas anxious to see what still looked ok today and not surprisingly it was also my non stop bloomer, Daybreaker, no heat damage at all and loaded with blooms

Welcome Michael. The Roses Forum is a nice place, no cranky old men nor lachrymose ladies to be found here, just fountains of rose knowledge at your fingertips... and it's free!

Can you please supply a little more information other than your name. Your agricultural zone number, like 7b, and the nearest major city that matches your climate would help both you and us a lot.. While you're at it a short weather description, like: summers-hot/humid, winters-cold, would be helpful.

If you do the changes to your name/information, responders to your posts can see at a glance how they can assist you. The advice you receive from rosarians whose garden conditions match yours is the one that's most pertinent.

Moses

You can add that information by editing your name.

Christine that rose is gorgeous. Christine with the K.

Moses - Um, I looked up lachrymose ... now I'm going to cry

- but Moses was right about the rest Michael .

photo is from pinterest

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone, and Moses thank for your helpful suggestion. I've updated my name to give some more info.

noseometer I first found this place looking for info on roses that would do well in hot and dry summers with brutal afternoon sun, and I bet you know all about that! I had a few Violet's Pride in a spot that got all day sun, and the blooms just fried in the sun and heat. This spring I finally gave up on them ever thriving there and moved them to a spot with some afternoon shade where they'll hopefully be happier.

Hi Michael. Welcome to the forum, and we agree that Julia Child is one bloom machine. The two in this photo are 19 years old. Talk about brutal hot and dry. That's where I live--in the hills outside Boise, ID, zone 7 semiarid desert. We'll be 109F on Wednesday. Diane

Colette the climber, Ebb Tide, and two Julia Child roses a couple of weeks before the heat waves started.

Michael, you're cooking with gas, now....or should I say, ELECTRICITY! t appears that you grow roses in a zone that has few fungal issues (black spot, zero, and hopefully very little powdery mildew), and your roses' winter hardiness must be high level to prevent winter dieback.

Berrypie, don't cry!...just plant more roses instead.

Moses

The best blooming machine in my garden is definitely Icecap. Healthy, fast repeat, long lasting, no octopus arms. It's so nice to have a 3'x3' white dome over the front entrance.

Diane, is the dark rose in front of Julia Child, EbbTide? I've never seen such a nice deep ...what color do you think it is? Violet? It's not burgundy...? I'm pretty sure I've seen that rose before and wanted one, then when I went looking for one, those they carry locally just weren't that dark. Ebb Tide repeat blooms? Fragrance?

Hello Michael, welcome. This is a great forum!

Prairiemoon, Ebb Tide repeats well and has a lovely fragrance, though I rarely make a plonk with it. That is all Ebb Tide in the photo. Diane

Ebb Tide

When the heat waves begin to hit, Ebb Tide becomes the Clown Jester with color variation.

Twilight Zone a slightly deeper purple that keeps its color. Its scent is nice, but not as good as ET.

Diane, see, now to me, that is my ideal color for a rose....or any flower for that matter...lol! I LOVE it! That is going to have to be the next rose I try. And I have Julia Child so it will make a great companion. Wow! You do grow in an arid area, right? Not a lot of blackspot there? I'll just have to look for more posts for it on the forum to see if anyone in New England is growing this one. And if you don't mind me asking, where did you buy this? I think you must have a special source. 😀 Again, you do a great job with your roses!

And I love Twilight Zone too! And my DH would get a kick out of the name because he was a fan of that show. [g]

Good luck with your search. Ebb Tide is widely available, and TZ is available but a little harder to get. I grow three Ebb Tides. Two I got the first year they were introduced (the one in the pic and its twin on the opposite side of the sidewalk, not shown. I had my favorite local nursery special order ET at the time because it was so new. It and my third ET, in another location, are all grafted on Dr Huey. I recommend grafted. I grow two Twilight Zones, one I ordered from Edmund's roses the year it was introduced. And the second TZ I got a little later from my fav local nursery. They are also grafted on the doc. And thank you so much. No, we don't have black spot, but we have early heat waves and a short season. We are the same latitude as southern Maine, but a !@#$ of a lot hotter than Maine. Diane

Thanks Diane for all that great info. Usually, I spend a lot of time searching for the next rose to add, but you just made it easy for me. And I know I've seen your photo of both those roses before but it must have been a long time ago and I had too many roses I was trying to decide between. Now I am on a mission! lol

I grow a lot of HT's and a few of them bloom nonstop all season (Crystalline, Hot Princess and Let freedom Ring come to mind instantly) but the bush that is loaded constantly is a David Austin variety. Molineux. New growth on the stems before the bloom actually blooms.

Diane those are incredible! I planted a couple Ebb Tides and Twilight Zones this spring, hope they look that nice someday.

Moses you're right I havent had to deal with any fungal issues. In fact, until the sawflies ate up Julia Child this spring the worst I've had to deal with are some mild aphids and an occasional japanese beetle. As for the winter, everything I have is supposedly hardy to zone 5 or below. Typically get some freeze damage, but so far I've only lost one to winter damage, and that was a tiny thing that never really got established.

Michael,

As long as winter damage was growth that will be pruned away in spring pruning, such a bush is a keeper to me.

Saw flies, rose slugs being their larval offspring, are the damage doers, and can get you overnight. Hand picking and squishing can be effective if just a few are present, but hordes in a large rose collection call for conventional or organic spray interventions. Study up on what you intend to do because they'll be back!

Moses

Michael,

How long have you had White Licorice and is it cane hardy over the winter? It was a blooming machine in High Country Roses greenhouse this spring so kept grabbing my attention. However, I am loath to add any more non cane hardy roses.

Moses Yeah after I saw the damage I spent a good morning scouring Julia Child and the other rose bushes for every sawfly I could find. Probably pulled about 50 off Julia, and a few from a couple other roses.

mmmm I planted it in 2020.I'm kinda new to talking roses and not 100% certain on what qualifies as cane hardy, but my experience is the heavy canes have died back to around 12" above ground every year, and in the particularly cold winter of 2022 - 2023 they died back almost to the ground. It behaves similar to Julia Child for me in this regard. I'm sure this limits how big it will ever get, if it has to start from scratch every few years.

But, gotta admit I'm not exactly the most attentive gardener when it comes to winter protection. I've never pruned them before the winter, and I've never mulched them. Keep thinking I should. Maybe this year...

Michael, I'm following you-ha. Don't prune your roses before winter; prune them in the spring before they're all leafed out. If you have a good snow cover, that will help protect the roses. Mulch or compost is good before winter. And fertilize in spring. Diane

Michael, We also live north of Denver. We don't mulch the roses (they are in a rock bed) and we don't prune until late spring. Always try to wait until Mother's Day but in reality we have to do staged pruning through the spring because otherwise there is too much work built up by Mother's Day.

Cane hardy would be pretty much hardy to the tip. On my cane hardy ones all we have to do is take off the dead flowers from the last fall flush.

We started our rose bed in 2017 and I consider it a big experiment that has gone right. However, we are still learning on alot of things. Also I'm working out what I like and dislike about rose characteristics as I go along.

Diane I've read conflicting things about when to prune. Some of the stuff from CSU says to prune back about 1/3 in November. The reason I've heard is to protect them in the event of an early heavy snow while they still have their leaves.

mmmm Okay that's what I thought cane hardy meant, and by that definition it's not been cane hardy in my experience. What are some roses you've found to be cane hardy up here? Looking at roses in other people's yards just about everything I see suffers some amount of winter damage.

I've never heard such advice== to prune hard like that just before winter. I've been growing roses for decades, and it's always prune in spring. Never believe the so called academic experts. I pay no attention to them. Diane

Michael,

I try to keep track via threads of how my roses do through the winter.

Winnipeg Parks, a Canadian rose, is my best all around rose and is cane hardy. It is also my best blooming machine.

Here are the threads for the last 4 years. This last winter was much easier on the roses than the one before.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6442272/colorado-23-24-rose-survival-report#n=20

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6375517/-20f-in-co-rose-survival-report#n=43

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6266902/putting-some-miracle-grow-on-the-roses-may-18-2022#n=26

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6123034/the-truth-about-my-zone-5-roses-in-spring#n=74

the fairy cDiane BrakefieldBrakefield, In past years They used to do that up north in Columbus at the huge rose garden there, but since Spring comes earlier they have since moved the pruning to spring. I guess it depends when the roses go Dormant And stay dormant.

mmmm Thanks for linking to your threads. I'll give them a read. After a quick glance though Winnipeg Parks looks wonderful in your photos.

Diane Yeah I've never done it up until now, and it sure does seem like with roses especially there's just a whole bunch of "you should do x, y, and z" of questionable reliability.

My best bloomers so far are Ballerina and Sarah Van Fleet.

I have Ballerina in my own difficult front bed that only gets a few hours of morning sun, and in my client's south facing garden that gets every second of sunlight possible in a day, and it blooms constantly in both places.

I've read SVF is not everyone's favorite rugosa, but I love it. It's also in my client's garden and in its second year is already about 5 by 5. She's a monster, with wicked thorns, but perfect for filling a large out of the way spot, smells wonderful and is in constant bloom.

Welcome, Michael!

Good questions, Nose - I'm looking forward to all the answers.

My most bloomiest roses this year are Life of the Party (aka Huntington's 100th), James L. Austin, Moonlight in Paris. Next tier would include Distant Drums, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Love Song, the Poet's Wife, and my newish Munstead Wood (replaced older one that I got direct from DA with mosaic virus -- new one is sooooo much better!).

Distant Drums:

Life of the Party (aka Huntington's 100th)

Moonlight in Paris

‘Desdemona’ might be one of my best for blooming. Here it is in near 100F temperatures for the last week(s). Still smells great!

Your Desdemona is a lot more pink than mine. Mine tends toward creamy ivory-ish with a tinge of pink. I like your pink!

@DDinSB - My Des changes a lot. Sometimes it is more white and sometimes more pink like this. I'm not sure if it has to do with the weather, or irrigation, or fertilizer. In May, it looked like this:

=

Being first year roses all this year, I can't post any of my present roses. For my experience with roses over the past 20 years, here are some of the workhorses I absolutely replaced:

Felix LeClerc - first to bloom in spring and last to stop in winter. It bloomed like this for 5-6 months once established. Here he's trying to reach for the fence to tell me he's a climber - I thought he was just a tall bush:

Edgar Degas - a Volkswagon sized bush with a delightful variety of colors and forms of striped blooms. One of my top 10 roses of all time for sheer visual impact and intriguing variety. This entire photo is all Edgar and it's at least 8 feet wide:

Bad Worishofen - I would frequently wonder "what IS that rose" as I would scan the garden, and it frequently was Bad Worishofen/Pink Emely. Not individually showy blooms, but a powerful presence in the garden. It stays relatively low (maybe 4' at the height) and is wider than tall.

Anne Henderson - I haven't yet been able to replace her from Palatine but she's on my must have list. Intriguing non-fading burnt orange blooms with cool ruffles and darker under side. Bloomed like a trooper in my "hell strip" between the sidewalk and street.

Forever Rose - a robust and enthusiastic bloomer bred by Rene from Palatine that just never quits with big clear pink spiraled blooms that last forever. I replaced mine this season and it's already a huge bush making a significant statement. Don't believe reports that she is a short rose - this one gets to my height or more. I don't have a photo of this one sorted from past years so you'll have to trust my word on this one.

Garden Delight - a cornucopia of hot color blooms from reddish to orange to pink to yellow to cream and every mix in between. A 5 foot (1.7 meter?) high bush with thick branching and nonstop blooms all over the plant. Here's a photo with Heart 'n' Soul in the background - white with deep pink picotee that is a nonstop bloomer. Both of these roses are in my top 10 and I'm fervently wanting to replace them.

Bonica - blooms aren't individually showy but a real punch of blooms on a rock solid hardy and clean bush. One rose that I would recommend to just about anyone in any climate. Caldwell Pink is also a stalwart bloomer but not quite as big or showy as Bonica (pictured). This was in mostly shade and she's still trying to climb and blooming her heart out.

Pinktopia - I could probably list just about any Ping Lim Easy Elegance rose under workhorses, but this one rises to the top. I love Sweet Fragrance form and color a bit more, but Pinktopia just blooms its heart out with nicely formed medium pink blooms on clean as a whistle foliage. My Girl is also terrific and hardy in terrible conditions. In this picture, Hannah Gordon is photo bombing in the upper right corner and she gets credit as a workhorse as well who thrives under lousy conditions and is tremendously hardy.

Dame des Chenonceau - gorgeous fat pink very double blooms that spill out over a low fence all season. The canes are at least 5-7 feet long even though she's reported as a short rose. A real survivor with clean foliage for me and great hardiness. She occasionally takes a break but when she comes back she claims her garden space decisively. Lion's Fairy Tale does the same in a cream color, but she's not quite as showy as DdC. In this picture, Lion's Fairy Tale is in the foreground, Dame des Chenonceau is the pink further along the fence, and Cherry Parfait (another huge workhorse of a picotee rose) is further into the bed behind them. Glowing Peace is the yellow toward the shed that I still haven't been able to replace or find anywhere.

Grandmother's Hat - have to include at least one OGR and this one earns her keep. Also rock solid bloomer, tall, and trouble free for me. None of the spots that hybrid perpetuals get (if she is indeed a HP), and consistent blooms in the season. She's apparently a great rose for hot climate gardeners too yet she's very hardy for me. She's too big to fit all in one photo so here's just a spray:

Guirlande d'Amour gets a mention for sheer size and visual impact of white hybrid musk blooms on a huge mound the size of a Volkswagon too. My husband only occasionally notices the garden outside of bulb season, but he consistently remarks on "that big white bush" when it's blooming (which is usually). It's got a huge Annabelle Hydrangea behind it so it doesn't always stand out as much as it might. This picture is a year or so before he claimed world domination but you can see him plotting his strategy. He often blooms so much you can barely see the foliage.

Heavens, I can't leave out Quadra, the elephant in the room among all climbers. He blooms like this all season once established on an 8 foot arch. Hardy enough to laugh off anything winter can give, as well as a little blackspot here and there in the height of summer. Doesn't slow down the bloom at all that I can tell. When I had to dig him out after the RRD situation, he had a root ball bigger than I could circle with my arms. It mostly filled one garbage can after takng off all the canes.

That's 11 photos and probably one more than Houzz will let me reliably post. I endorse a lot of the other roses like Icecap, Belinda's Dream, Sweet Mademoiselle, Augusta Luise, OSO Easy Double Red, all of the Drift series, Olivia Rose Austin, Cream Veranda (and all the Verandas), and Peach Perfection. There are sooooo many more that I'm missing, as I tend to try to plant as many workhorses as I can. I tried to post some that aren't on everyone's radar above.

Cynthia

Love everyone's photos of their roses! Makes me itchy to get a new one....even if I don't have a place to put it. [g]

Those are some gorgeous examles, Cynthia! I agree with prairiemoon, great photos and comments from everyone.

I want Bad Worishofen!

Noseometer - Rogue Valley had Bad Worishofen this year though I don't know if it's still available. It's a keeper and easy to get established.

Cynthia

Thanks Cynthia! I'll take a look. Although I wonder if I just mostly like the name ;-)

Ashley