Artist,

I don't grow Coral Drift, but I think that it is the best Drift of the lot of them. Wish I had started out with CD, but most of my Drifts are Apricot Drift. AD is nice, but not as heavy a bloomer per flush as Coral Drift. I would venture to say that half the number of blooms are present at one flush on Apricot Drift as you will get from one flush of Coral Drift.

Moses.

You are experiencing what everyone has who grows roses, especially in challenging growing locales. In zone 7b Georgia, almost 8a, you are dealing with intense summer heat and humidity. This combination causes serious disease issues, especially the much dreaded black spot, and roses which just do not hold the beauty of their blooms very long. The heat makes the blooms mature lightning fast, going from perfect form to, 'hurry up and dead head this ugly bloom,' state almost before your eyes.

Assuming you are giving your roses proper care, you have not yet hit the, 'Sweet Spot,' of growing roses. You will if:

1. Choose disease free varieties ONLY. If you don't want to spray fungicides, this means no roses other than those that have excellent black spot resistance. You have to do tons of research before you add a rose to your garden. This research, and the best possible choices you can make from the knowledge gained, will go a long way to making growing roses a pleasant activity.

2. Expect your roses to grow BIG, most of the time! Bush sizes listed are reference points, not dogma, especially where you garden in Georgia where almost no winter die back, long growing season, and good care cause just about all roses to grow larger than their listed dimensions....sometimes considerably larger.

Just absorbing these two items I've pointed out, and applying them will help tons, and keep disappointments to a minimum.

If I've brought up subjects you are well versed upon, please let them just refresh your thoughts.

RRD seems to eventually hit every rose garden. My initiation was about 3 yrs. ago. Consider the disease a part of growing roses, as devastating as it is, and you will just take it in stride, in time.

Moses.

You sound exhausted, Artist. I’m so sorry for all the disappointment you’ve experienced in your garden that was meant to give you pleasure and a sense of fulfillment. Somewhere along the way, we all face some pretty devastating setbacks and we have to decide whether it’s worth the pain to press forward or whether we should switch hobbies. I hope you find courage and a new sense of enthusiasm for your garden, because you obviously have done well already from the photos you’ve posted of your gardens the last few years. We’re all rooting for you!

I'm a happy camper with most of my roses. There have been some disappointments. I think we ALL have had a rose that we wanted to succede, that fell flat on hits face for one reason or another. In my garden I do the unthinkable, I spray for fungal disease. My choice. My bigest problem is trying to make a non cold hardy rose work when it just doesn't work. There are many roses I would love to grow that just won't survive my winters. Here are a couple of my roses that do very well in my garden.

Munstead Wood with Marchasa Boccella behind it.

My own root Green Rose.

20 year old miniflora, Whirlaway.

Orange Morsdag in 10 gal decor pot. No winter protection at all.

Honestly, it sounds like a soil problem. In my garden, soil is THE most important thing.

Drainage is #1. #2 is deep, loamy soil, but in lieu of this, amend what you have as much as you can. #3 is mulch.....conserves moisture, keeps weeds down, keeps soil at an even temperature, 'activated,' with no peaks and lows in microbial action the result.

Moses.

Hi Ken,

Lovely pictures - your MW is so beautiful, as only this rose knows how to be!

As far as soil goes, I have most of my HT and floribunda roses in containers - and when I planted I used approved soil recipes for roses, so I am not sure what else I could do.

I think some of these roses are simply due for re-potting as they have been there for 4-5 years.

Next early spring I will take them out, trim the roots and start them anew with fresh soil and all that. That's the only explanation I have.

But LoS - that one is just a waaay under-performing rose in my conditions. She has the largest container and has not been there long, yet she has been a consistent disappointment in just about all respects: sparse bloom and nothing impressive about them either. Out she will go next season.

Moses,

Drainage is fine and I amend every year with cow manure and add mulch.

That being said, my very first rose that started me on this journey in Spring 2018 - Good as Gold - is still going strong in the ground (8 years now), with good bloom in spring but later it gets a lot of black-spot and the bloom goes down.

The problem is ot messes up my color palette where it is and at times I wish it was kind of done, but it keeps going. Clearly the RRD doesn't want this one.

I don't have much to show yet as they have just started to bloom. They were late after a bad late frost this year that destroyed all of their new growth and they had to start over. Probably something to do with the modest performance this year but I am not sure. Late frost, many need re-potting, oh well.

Artist, I empathise. This rose year has been largely a dud for me, with a couple of exceptions, but I'm afraid neither of those roses is available in the US. I will recommend trying Osmocote Plus. I used some recently for the first time. I have used Osmocote in the past, but not the Plus. A bougainvillea I have in a pot, which has always languished, has doubled in size and is flowering well since feeding it with it a couple of months ago. Also a rose I have in a pot, Bee Scene, has flourished, with a lot of new growth and buds. All the best. It can be a disheartening journey at times.

I’m sorry your rose growing journey has been so discouraging, Artist. We all suffer bad years occasionally but to say you are having a bad run seems an understatement. To get to the point of maturity when a rose such as your Climbing Pinkie are finally delivering the goods, only to lose it to RRD must be devastating.

You are not alone with Lady of Shalott, many folks find it a disappointment, me included. It seems to do well in the UK, but even at it’s best here it‘s at least 80% salad with a few blooms on top. I keep it because it was one of the first roses I planted and I enjoy the blooms I do get. If I ever planted it again I would espalier it against a fence as a short climber to encourage more flowering shoots along the canes. Darcy Bussell is similarly underwhelming here, yet I see others have it loaded with blooms. Munstead Wood is a fantastic rose for me, but is one of the few Austins outside their native home that do really well here.

I have trialled a LOT of roses over the last 10 years - literally hundreds - to find ones that perform well in my particular climate and tough growing conditions. So I would say don’t give up, because if you persevere, you will find the roses that are right for you.

I just wanted to say thank you again to all who have added words of encouragement in this thread. The seasons go on and this one too has been nice because Spring always are, even if with less bloom than other times, at least some of the roses. RRD aside (what a disaster), I attribute the slowdown in blooms to the late frost swe had as well as the need to re-pot some roses in containets that have been there for 4-5 years now. Fair enough.

Ttitian and Nollie,

I hear you about LOS. She is very late to bloom and is not coming up with anything promising either other than a few small buds at the top, so she will most probably have to go especially because she occupies my best container.

I am using Osmocote and some alfalfa but have also added occasional water-soluble fertilizer, but not too weekly.

I have bought the Poet's Wife to replace LOS, maybe I'll have better luck. If she's not performing, she must go. Maybe I'll switch her to a sunnier spot, I am not sure. I also bought a second Belinda's Dream to fill a spot in a flower bed with other plants but she may or may not get enough sun there, only time will tell.

For now, I thought I would add some pictures from Spring 2026, not all with roses, but will try that from my phone. Thank you all so much for allowing me a place to post some pictures just 'cause, since I have no social media of any kind and I feel like I have to show off somewhere, even the little that I get right. :) And also thank you for the hand-holding. Artist, wailing and asking for help since 2018 (when I saw Good as Gold at my local nursery which started the rose obsession. That is still a spectacular rose to this day for its first flush, hanging in there through BS for the rest of each season. It also seems to defy RRD even though others around it have had it) .

All the above being said, I realized I can't do without any roses, I like them too much.

Hence the two new purchases this year despite swearing up and down that I will not bring anything new anymore, only edit out.

And on it goes...:)

Apricot Drift

Coral Drifts and Good as Gold in the back messing with the color palette but it was my very first

Delish

Good as Gold, my oldest rose (2018) who started me on this journey. Still going strong, braving any RRD, Lord help us. Gorgeous on first flush, not so much later when it gets lots of BS.

Olivia Rose, first year of reduced bloom but she is propably due for a re-potting after 6 years of steady service in the same container.

Princess Alexandra of Kent, pretty but I need to see the full bush.

Munstead Wood glorious color, great bloomer, I am rooting two more.

Double Pink KO three on one side of the driveway, another at the mailbox but that ons is a gonner to RRD. They bloom their heads off though. Fantastic plant.

Ring of Fire with Russian Sage nearby (love this plant)

Superbells with Coral Drift

Others:

Azaleas

Clematis

Pansies and Impatients

Geranium, Pansies and some Diamond Frost Euphorbia left behind

Petunia Jazzberry will hopefully cover these beds

Elf House at the tree with impatients

Ken,

I am not sure if I ever got to mention I love your roses!

Munstead is gorgeous and I love how the green one looks so sturdy! They look very healthy, hope you've enjoyed them.

Artist, I hear you. I grow roses in containers too, and I’m way down from my all time high from a couple of years ago. My roses in the ground — New Dawn, Robusta, and White Meidiland— are doing great. All I have left in pots is Lichfield Angel and Itsy Bitsy Peach. I just got Hansa so wish me luck on that one. Like you, I can’t not have roses, so I just keep trying. I think every new year is going to be the best ever!

Artist, I hear you. I grow roses in containers too, and I’m way down from my all time high from a couple of years ago. My roses in the ground — New Dawn, Robusta, and White Meidiland— are doing great. All I have left in pots is Lichfield Angel and Itsy Bitsy Peach. I just got Hansa so wish me luck on that one. Like you, I can’t not have roses, so I just keep trying. I think every new year is going to be the best ever!

Helen,

I wonder if they start blooming well again, like in the past, once re-potted with fresh soil.

That has been my experience @Artist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA.

Artist, I love your Elf House and I bet the local children do too. Just to reiterate, in case I wasn't clear earlier, it has been Osmocote Plus which has made a huge difference to my potted plants. It has minerals and I'm not sure what else that Osmocote doesn't have. The bougainvillea I mentioned before is now triple its previous size and flowering abundantly since using it a couple of months ago. I had always thought the plant was a dud, but clearly it just wasn't getting what it needed.

Good to see that you're enjoying the Spring flush. Sorry to read about the RRD. I can see why you love Good as Gold. I'm drawn to that colour at the moment. And I agree about Munstead. I have a 4yo bush that hasn't done anything much, but the few blooms it gets are so lovely it's going to stay. Your Deelish is way better than mine. Mine has shot to 6' but has had very few blooms. I was going to dig it up but it has just produced a strong basal - it's almost Winter here.

Fresh soil always helps!

Fresh soil always helps! I wish I did it more often, but it's a bit of a chore.

Artist

Welcome to the club ! The Deep south District has many challenges unknown to others .

For myself in FL , I feel like I am isolated from rose growers in other States . I do a lot for my roses and get back little . I have been gardening since 2016 and have gone through many roses . Healthy roses in other places are disease prone here . Do you have a local rose society ? maybe you can email them about the best roses for your area .

In general I have accepted one thing : No matter what I do , the rose will start declining in around 3 years . Maybe due to the extreme humidity , or maybe because they don't get any down time in our climate . I have become ruthless , each year I replace under performing roses .

Artist, Ring of Fire is my favorite orange and winter tender. Artistry that is prob 25+ yrs. old has started to complete with it. I think in my garden ROF produces more during mid summer to fall cause first half of season it’s recovering from winter. The stems are nice and long, love the bloom form, and it has a long vaselife. Your Elf House is precious!

Pink Rose, are your roses grafted on fortuniana because of the nematodes in the soil there?

Sheila z8a

Yes most of them are on Fortuniana , a few are own root . Still they decline eventually . Maybe my soil is infested ! I do put lots of organics at planting time and they do great for a couple of years .

There used to be a wonderful gardener on here from Florida (sherrie from ocala?). I recall the tremendous amount of fertilizer she needed to use because of the sand and rainfall. It was a struggle. She had some beautiful Tea roses. Rosepetals nursery in Florida may have some tips.

Sheila

Actually that is exactly what I do . I fertilize lightly every 2 to 3 weeks . If I dont , the roses stop blooming ! my soil is fast draining sand . Even soil amendments like manure disappear quickly .

unlike gardeners up north who fertilize once or twice per season only .

That was exactly the struggle Sherrie had. She stopped posting when her husband died.

I might still ask rosepetals owner if they had any tips.

OTOH, you could move to Oregon.