I commiserate. I've got one like that. Neil Diamond. This was taken yesterday at the end of the couple of weeks of rainy wet weather.

We will eventually pull it for something else.

I don't know if Lady Ashe is to your liking: high centered bloom form, apricot color, and climbing, long stemmed lateral for cutting, hybrid tea growth form, but I think its thick petals may hold up to heat pressure. I wish you could have seen mine before RR Virus hit it, it was uniquely magnificent!

Moses.

Likewise Aloha, from which Lady Ashe sported, if you happen to favor a more pink color. The flowers are huge, which can sometimes be quite an exciting thing.

I think your Laguna is beautiful, Magpie!

I do too, Magpie!

Magpie - your Laguna is amazing...what a beauty!!! Too bad there's no shade there. Crisping up at 80F is really bad for heat tolerance.

mmmm - I have a Neil Diamond (new, and hasn't bloomed yet) in a spot in half shade/half sun. I was going to move it to full sun, but now I think I'll leave it where it is. That's a huuuuge bloom you have there!

Ingrid - are those blooms from this year?

It is beautiful, Magpie, shame about the crisping and frustrating indeed after nursing it for 4 years. I get that a lot, poor heat and/or rain resistance is the main reason I frequently reach for the shovel.

If a rose is at the back of a border with lots of other things to distract, I would just enjoy the splash of colour and ignore the individual blooms. If it’s in a prominent position so I see every annoyingly crispy bloom, it would be gone.

I understand the hesitation though. Every year I swear I will get rid of La Rose de Molinard because the blooms collapse into a balled, browned mess after our frequent rains and then the damaged petals crisp in hot sun. The problem is, the grapefruit and violet fragrance is intoxicatingly strong and when they open unscathed the blooms are gorgeous. I keep making excuses for it while secretly hoping the conditions will be just right. They never are. This year it’s so bad, I really, truly have run out of reasons to keep it!

I love the color Magpie, but the crisping is frustrating. What to do? Maybe it will get more heat resistant as it ages ?

I was hoping age and lots of water would help, but I also figured 4 years would be enough to show any sign of outgrowing it. No luck so far.

It is still beautiful, Magpie.