Thank you for allowing me to kill two birds with one stone! I came across the most beautiful rose the other day on the internet and immediately added it to my wish list. And I KNOW I pasted the name with it, but when I went back to it, -the name was gone! I know the article stated that it was an extremely rare rose, and seems to me it had a German (or possibly French) name, perhaps with a nobility title.

So pictured is my recommendation, and if only someone can provide the name that I so in-artfully lost I would be grateful!

Phasedweasel -- I'm thinking you should be looking at Polyanthas (technically not OGR, but most are pretty old), Noisettes (not the Tea-Noisettes, but the original Musk-China crosses), Chinas, and some of the smaller Teas for easy, healthy, often-blooming roses for your area. Portlands, Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals will be very hit-or-miss in the humid southeast, so you'll have to get input from others gardening in that area regarding specific roses which do well there.

It's hard to make specific recommendations because there would be other considerations relating to your personal preferences. Perhaps you'd be best looking at rose nursery websites and looking through those available in the classes I mentioned, then looking them up on HelpMeFind (link at bottom) for more information. That being said, a few which I grow and you may enjoy are:

"Bermuda Spice" (China/Tea)
'Ducher' (China/Tea)
'Louis Philippe' (China)
'Marie Pavie' (Polyantha)

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Search at HelpMeFind

Your best approach is to take a drive to Roses Unlimited in Laurens, SC, see the roses themselves and have a good chat about your garden.

Clarion, that rose is 'Gruss an Aachen'. It's certainly beautiful, but not especially rare. Here's the link where I found your photo with its name.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fine Gardening link

phasedweasel, I agree with catsrose that Roses Unlimited would be a great place for you to visit, but there is a smaller rose nursery with a very good reputation in the NC Piedmont (Granite Falls), called Long Ago Roses. You might want to start closer to home with a phone call for recommendations and (if possible) an in-person visit.

Please see the link to their web site below.

I believe that some folks on this forum have gotten some nice plants from Long Ago. I can't open their lists of varieties they carry (weird e-mail format), but perhaps you can? Or maybe someone on this forum can give you some idea of good varieties they carry.

As for smaller, disease-resistant and shade-and-heat-tolerant roses, I'm no expert, but I have been researching those conditions since I also have lots of shade and heat. I would certainly look at the Help Me Find web site for info on China roses such as 'Louis Phillippe' 'Le Vesuve' and 'Viridiflora'.

Some of the Buck Roses might also be of interest, even though they aren't really OGR's. They were bred to tolerate a wide variety of conditions, and some are really lovely.

Good luck,
Virginia

Here is a link that might be useful: Long Ago Roses web site

I've ordered from Long Ago Roses, and yes, the web site is rather out of date. A better way to see what Linda currently carries is to see her garden profile on HelpMeFind, then emailing her to see what she has available. Be aware that it's getting or about to get very hot, so you'd be better off having roses shipped in September.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: Long Ago Roses on HelpMeFind

Another happy Long Ago Roses customer. Linda knows her stock and is more than happy to discuss your garden and the qualities you are wanting in a rose and make some good suggestions!

Gruss an Aachen is one of my all time favorite roses. I have two growing in what is now way too much shade from a Sycamore, but they just keep blooming and blooming. Very shade tolerant, very remontant, very heat tolerant, stay under 4 ft here and have a sweet fragrance (light, but lovely scent). Their color is very changeableâ¦spring flush is always a beautiful champagne color; then as it starts to warm up, varying shades of pink, peach, yellow and cream. They will blackspot some, but that is the only negative I can think of with this rose in my garden. The polyanthas, as Christopher mentioned, do well in partial shade here. I have Marie Pavie, Clotilde Soupert (will sometimes ball in rainy weather), Caldwell Pink, Eutin (blackspots if not sprayed), and Verdun (blackspots if not sprayed) all growing and blooming well with only a few hours of sun. I have two of the Portland, Rose de Rescht, which are in full sun, but are reported to be shade tolerant. They are almost never out of bloom here, disease resistant, under 4 ft and have a wonderful old rose fragrance and form. I have two of the Austin, Munstead Wood, that are new to me this year. MW is supposed to be one of the smaller Austins, so I think they will stay under 4 ft. One is in partial shade and one in full sun. The one in full sun blooms more, but the shaded one has much better coloring and blooms decently for a new rose. Both seem to have good disease resistance so far.
I donâÂÂt have any experience with Long Ago Roses, but have been very pleased with my purchases and the help I have received over the phone from Roses Unlimited.

Gruss an Aachen in spring

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And a couple of pics from last week, when it was 97

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Rose de Rescht in spring

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And starting to open in last week's heat

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Thanks, great suggestions and gorgeous photos. Hard to get enough!

Christopher, thanks for pointing out the HMF angle for Long Ago. I thought I recalled seeing that you and others had some lovely roses from them, so I did wonder what varieties they carried. Now I can expand my wish list...

I am very pleased with the roses and customer service I got from Roses Unltd in SC, but it does seem like it would make sense for someone in the NC foothills to start with Long Ago since they are probably closer.

But RU does seem to have a wider selection, and they probably are also pretty close by, so both nurseries are great places to investigate...

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses Unlimited web site

pat_bama, your 'GAA' is beautiful. That's a rose I've wondered about since it is supposed to be so shade-tolerant, but the HMF rating for heat tolerance was not as 'excellent' so I did wonder...

Your photos are a great advertisement for those roses' heat tolerance- they look great!

Thanks vmr423 In my garden, GAA has no issue with our heat/humidity...long lasting blooms throughout the summer. Maybe those who rated it lower have dry heat...I have no experience with dry heat down here...or maybe it doesn't do well in full sun in hot locations. Mine have always been in partial sun, but with the now mature Sycamore, they get even less...only a couple of hours of direct sun a day and another hour or so of dappled sun.
Also, I meant to put in a plug for Felicia, too, since OP mentioned hybrid musks. I think most would be larger roses than the 4 ft criteria, but the two I grow, Felicia and Buff Beauty, are wonderful if a larger shrub is a consideration. Both were new to me last year, and I'm already in love with them. Felicia is much larger than Buff Beauty right now, but I believe Buff Beauty is supposed to be the larger of the two once mature. Felicia might not get over 4 ft height, but I think she will be wide. Mine are in full sun, but both are said to be very shade tolerant. Here they are in that upper 90's heat last week:

Felicia

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Buff Beauty (color fades quickly in full sun)

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Pat_bama your GAA is so soft and pretty looking and I am glad to hear good things about growing her in shaded area and how well she blooms. I was just looking at GAA on Chamblees website and added it to my wish list so I was very glad to see your comments.

Thanks Mr. V! I knew I read rare, and with your help, I found the correct link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Rare Gruss an Aachen

I read HMF and many of the people writing comments seemed to think that GAA does fine with humidity and heat; Pat_bama's beautiful GAA attests to that. Some people even wrote that it performs well in dry heat ) for those like me interested in this rose (For dry heat recommendations/ info., on HMF, I tend to look for comments made by Cliff's - Cliff's High Desert Garden. The issue with this rose seemed to be in Florida, which is really humid in some areas.

Lynn

This post was edited by desertgarden561 on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 0:53

Hi Clarion-

I guess they used the same photo for 'GAA' and for the rarer climbing version that I didn't know existed. That was kinda sneaky of them...

Glad you found what you were looking for, though, and if you get either one, post lots of pix!

Virginia

I'm not familiar with the climbing version of GAA...both of mine are bush form and stay nice and compact. Boncrow and desertgarden, if GAA likes your climate, I really think you will love this rose. Here are a couple more pictures in case you are still on the fence:

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Hybrid Musks, of course, are the first choice for a tough, repeat-bloomer in shade.

Outside that clan, and not an old rose at all, is PEACH DRIFT. They're very compact, and I've planted them at three different residences - twice in Mississippi, and once in Oregon - each time in a fair amount of shade. All are disease-free, and all are still alive and blooming. The color range in the blooms is, of course, quite ambrosial. Foliage is my number one requirement in a rose, and Peach Drift is on my shortlist for 'Best Foliage'.