Sherry -- I think that MGA is The Rose That Ate Camarillo.
It is beautiful.
It blooms A LOT.
It is blooming well right now, which is neat. It's right below my window,
so if I get up to stretch, I can look out at it.
But I wish I had known, when I planted it, that it would rival Cl. Mlle. Cecile
Brunner, for sheer size.

Be warned that it is particularly well-armored.
Though the prickles are smaller by far than those of R. pteracantha
(the "Wing Thorn" rose) they are similar in color and shape.
When new, they have a ruby-like translucence that I like as much as I like
the blooms.
But training is is not a one-person job, or a task for the faint-of-heart.
If you want pix, I will try to get one.
Part of its problem, however, is that it is located far too close to
other large roses.

Jeri

Jeri's right about the prickles on MGA. Very sharp, very formidable.
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Here it is on the Santa Clara fence. It obviously hasn't been deadheaded but is blooming, hips and all, in Dec a couple of years ago.
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Despite its prickles and vigor, the canes are nice to train - not too flimsy, not too stiff. We grow ours in the cemetery over an archway of two 20-ft rebar pieces, and it covers about 2/3 of it. It blew off the arch and was too big and prickly to put back on, so we cut it back pretty hard in late May. It sent out a dozen new basal canes, started to bloom again, and looks as big as ever by now.

I don't know the other climber so can't compare, although the shrub Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria is a wonderful rose. There are other white climbers, of course. I just got Pleasant Hill Cemetery from Vintage, but don't know how it grows at all. Many people like Lamarque, but it's hugely vigorous, too, and its prickles are so needle-like that it's very nasty to work with. Secret Garden Musk Climber gets huge, but it's a winner.
Anita

Secret Garden Musk Climber gets huge, but it's a winner.

*** ABSOLUTELY! Huge as it gets, we have three of it -- and we don't do that for many roses.

Another cl. we are VERY high on right now is Setzer Noisette, which seems to have a history traceable right back to the first Noisettes.
It's not in commerce presently (Joyce Demits carried it) but I'd love to see it get out.
It propagates like a bunny rabbit, and I think we will have several plants for the Sacramento City Cemetery sale, in April, 2009.

Jeri

Sherry, if you have a high blackspot pressure Secret Garden Musk Climber will completely defoliate. You need to know this before you choose which rose to plant. A huge leafless climber is very unattractive. Too bad, because the fragrance is wonderful. I had MGA but it was too vigorous and much too large for my small garden. Lovely rose, just big and thorny. Does it have to be white or could it be a soft yellow?

Carol

Well, Anita, you have just un-enabled me! A first for this forum, I'm sure. I've had my eye on Pleasant Hill Cemetery, too. I think Roses Unltd calls it Wavy Leaf #2.

Jeri & Carol, I don't think SGMC will grow in Florida. At least I was dissuaded of the notion to get it a while back by folks here. And if it's a BS magnet I don't want it. Soft yellow would be nice because EVH is variably colored pink, apricot, yellow. I have Reve d'Or and Chromatella on the other side of the house and Crepuscule elsewhere so would not want to repeat them. Oh, I also have Duchesse d'Auerstadt on the other side. Alister Stella Gray and William Allen Richardson have strong appeal for me from photos I've seen. I would really prefer not to get another monster. Something medium to kind of weave in and around EVH. I have also lately been smitten by Jonkheer J. L. Mock, Climbing. It's a HT offspring of Mme Caroline Testout, CL and Mme Abel Chatenay, both of which I have. I think it would be neat to bring the whole family together. So pink would be nice, too, but at least medium pink.

Hopefully, this will give everyone wonderful ideas that will direct me to the right choice!

Thanks!

Sherry

Sherry -- Email me.
I've had a thought . . .

Jeri

Sherry, I have SGMC currently growing just fine in my backyard. This is it's second year and it's really starting to take off. It will blackspot if unsprayed-like everything else- but stays clean with bayer spray twice a month, which is pretty darn good, in my opinion.

Elaine

Very interesting, Elaine. Are you going to grow it into trees? It's a once-bloomer for you, right? How long does it last?

Sherry

Why would it be a once-bloomer?

Jeri

Duh, cuz I thought it was but was wrong? Cool if it's not. (Pause while I thumb through HMF.) Aha! "continuous (perpetual) bloom throughout the season." Well, I'll be!

I have R. Fortuniana trying to go up into the trees (held upright with bungee cords - must be a more rosarian way to do this). We'll see how this one takes off and blooms in the spring. Maybe I can add another house-eater to my .17 acre lot.

Sherry

Oh, yeah. I think deadheading increases its repeat, but I suspect it would repeat, even if you didn't.

Jeri

You already have my current favorite in EVH, I LOVE that rose! But I must tell you he ate my Secret Garden Musk and SGM had a couple of years head start.
I'm just a few miles south of you, so our climates should be similar. SGM did quite well with BS in my no spray garden, but never really took off the way I expected. After EVH began growing wildly, SGM just faded away and recently I found it had finally died. Perhaps it was the clone I had since everyone else seems to rave about it.
Two different looks of EVH:
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Did I say I love this rose!

Oh, Julie, that's what I'm waiting. My EVH has been in the ground about 2 months and is growing well but no blooms yet. I tied it to 4' bamboo stakes when I first planted it. I think he's ready to graduate to taller stakes.

Sherry

Sherry, the rose I was thinking would be beautiful with EVH is Marechal Niel. The blooms nod and on your structure you would be able to look up and see a lovely yellow bloom facing you. It makes a nice size climber but it isn't as monstrous as some climbers can be and it is disease resistant. I hope that what ever you pick does well for you!

Carol

Carol, do you grom MN on its own roots? Or budded?
Old books specifically recommend it budded -- but I'm wondering if a warm enough climate overcomes that.

Jeri

I've never grown Marechal Niel, but I do think based on the photos I've seen, it would look great with EVH.

Oh, and did I mention the fragrance of EVH? It's as wonderful as the blooms. Mine gave me a couple of blooms while it was still new, but by year two it became a bloom machine. I'm sure you will be pleased with it.

I mentioned on another thread that I'm growing EVH down a hillside rather than as a climber since it outgrew its original spot speedily (or at least I wasn't willing to climb up 20 feet to tie it to the house wall). I had to chop it back so it may not bloom this year but I'll report back how it's responding to this rather unorthodox treatment when I see some positive results.

Ingrid