She is planted in a droughty, sheltered corner under the south side of a pepper tree, getting full sun for maybe 3 or 4 hours a day and filtered light the rest of the time. She was moved there, into the far reaches of the yard, because it did not look like she was even going to survive during those first several years (started from an own-root band), a very sickly-looking plant, but around year 4 or 5 finally took hold and has become a good but not overly-vigorous grower (she has MAC and an unknown climbing China on one side of her and Reve d'Or on the other -- there's no room to be overly vigorous!). The soil here is a reddish gravelly loam that shows an alkaline bloom in dry conditions.

Mildew can be a problem here. She gets a touch of mildew in the early season, but I wouldn't consider her a mildew magnet. (I've tossed more than a few of those and Celine is still here.) She is a good rebloomer (2nd flush currently beginning after April's first flush, with regular cycles of bloom into the fall), but that also did not happen until she had been in the ground about 5 years.

I imagine a grafted plant would develop faster. I do think her somewhat sheltered position here helps, too (the pepper tree provides a warmer microclimate in the winter and a cooler one in the summer -- Celine's exposed leaves will burn a bit during extreme heat, which we get a fair amount of in our summers).

It is a delightful rose with unique flowers, in my opinion, but required patience in this case. When my daughter asked me which rose I wanted her to support with an annual donation in my honor at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, I chose Celine Forestier.