So, you Midwest gardeners (and anyone else who wants to pitch in), which of the following big bloom Old Roses is the MOST BS RESISTANT?

Alfred Colomb (HP)
Duchesse de Rohan (Portland)
Comte de Chambord (Portland)

Thank you,

Kate

I really want to put in an order this week for next spring, so would appreciate any input from experienced gardeners--even if those experiences weren't totally positive. (I'll survive somehow--LOL).

Kate

Do you already have Jacques Cartier? Unfortunately, I've seen evidence that at least one nursery has confused JC and Comte de Chambord. So even that one is no longer a no brainer.

Ingrid

If you're willing to go the once-flowering route, most of the Gallicas and Albas will be excellent.

Currently, I'm growing Fru Dagmar rugosa--she is very nice, but I can't really get excited about her. Glad I have her since no one else seems to grow rugosas, so I can illustrate them by showing off mine--and she has no disease-problems--but like I said, she doesn't really get my heart beating. On the other hand, I have no plans to get rid of her.

I guess I will just have to give up on the idea of planting anything except moderns. For about 5 years nows, I have grown two HPs, several polyanthas, several hybrid musks (including Ghislaine de Feligonde and Felicia which I planted last year), and ONE Bourbon--the ever popular near clone of SDLM (Mystic Beauty). I guess I'll just have to settle for those, and turn my attention back to Austins and Kordes roses.

Thanks for your good thoughts, however.

Kate

Kate

For what it's worth, I have Alfred Colomb and it doesn't blackspot particularly worse for me than the moderns in my yard, and I know we have similar climates. I don't have the other two, but I've tried Comte de Chambord a time or two and it wasn't remotely winter hardy for me. A zone warmer with you might make a difference on that one.

In general, as you're considering classes of OGRs for your yard, you may not have to restrict yourself to moderns and Austins even with your reblooming and disease resistance criteria. What you may end up doing is picking and choosing among members of a particular rose category, since there's a lot of variability among them. My favorite example is Noisettes, which aren't even supposed to be considered in zone 5, but Madame Alfred Carriere is bullet proof as long as she has any surviving cane to work with. Similarly, Madame Isaac Periere and Reine des Violettes are from classes that are supposed to be blackspotted messes, but they're equally reliable for me. Some hybrid musks melt like butter in my winters and some are rock solid. I have several Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals that do fairly well, and I'm still working on Portlands, but I haven't given up on them as a class. And then there are the teas...

I'm like you that rugosas tend to be plenty hardy and terribly unexciting for me in my yard. Therese Bugnet is highly recommended and has yet to bloom once in 3-4 years in my yard. Rountuit is a Moore creation and it has scruffy quarter sized blooms for about a week in spring and then flops around on an ugly bush. Yet Linda Campbell is a lovely self sufficient true red that reblooms reasonably well and convinced the neighbors they wanted a rose just like it growing into their Black Lace elderberry bush.

Just encouraging you not to get discouraged about reblooming OGRs if you want to pursue them. By all means, grow whatever you like and moderns obviously do well for you, but it doesn't necessarily mean particular classes are written off for you because of your requirements.

Cynthia

But I do look forward to seeing your pics of all your "experiments" in roses.

Kate