Two things stand out in my mind about successful rose gardening. They like moist but not wet feet, and they positively adore Steer Manure. My dad could grow them on fumes alone! (You're ona tear here, Wolfie! I never created so many topics in a row....well, perhaps when I began Geo. Brava!!!)

*bow* my experience has been with hybrid teas although i do have a damask planted two years in one of the front rose gardens. (i have two out front, 1 in back)... would like to venture into antique or old-english roses as i've heard they're not so finnicky and prone to black spot. don't think anyone's rose garden in the state of louisiana is ever rid of black spot.

correction, the damask was misnamed by me. it's actually a hybrid musk named Penelope (1924). she is a beautiful speciman and is over-flowing with fragrant pinkish tinged blossoms.

oh, and i hate misnamed species. for example, i purchased a rose from wal-mart (at the time, this was what i could afford) 10 years ago for my first rose bed. she was called queen elizabeth. no pictures and i trusted what it was called. over the years, i've acquired several books with species pictured in them and this one is no queen elizabeth. it is a rambler with deep red single petals with glorious golden eyes. she blooms profusely once a season and develops long, arching canes. i successfully moved her after 5 years in a bad spot (though she bloomed for me anyway) to a good spot (better drainage and more sun) thinking that this would cure her "once a season bloom" but it hasn't. still don't know the name of this cutey but have found some similar looking roses.

Misnamed plants of any sort are the worst. We must be the aphid capital of the world if you are the black spot capital (sounds like something from "Treasure Island"...)

haha! here's a link to a searchable database to roses: http://www.helpmefind.com/sites/rrr/rsSearch.html

as i've discovered using the above link, there are red queen elizabeth roses (and climbers at that). could be that rose was named correctly. and if you're trying to identify my rose, it's blooms are in clusters, have a mild perfume, and a minimum of thorns.

I think you got a british rose there Wolf! Sounds familiar. My dad was a rose grower.

cool beams. sad that it blooms only once though. but it's a great show!

i adore roses, they're perfume, the blooms, everything. the AM gave me some leather gauntlet gloves since i'm begun grooming a friend's roses (who, despite neglect, were blooming madly). the first rose garden i built is right near my front door. it houses 6 roses and 1 mini in a pot. the second rose garden is smack in the middle of my front yard with 4 roses. and the third, in my backyard, has a climber and 4 mini's. this is my first year planting mini's. when the AM and i were dating, he gave me a mini rose for my birthday. i treasured it but didn't know a thing about caring for roses and soon it was branching out bare legged canes. after 2 years of neglect (and probably pot bound) she passed to rose heaven where i'm sure she's waiting for me to give me a talking to. left roses alone until i moved into my house and i knew i'd have to have a rose garden. don't know much about the science of rose gardening but do follow some of the basic rules, cut at an angle away from a bud, dehead leaving at least one five-leaf leaflet, and not to take too many flowers off the bush. also, if you buy roses to be planted, do dehead all the flowers so the bush can concentrate on putting down strong roots. water well and deeply, as you want the roots to go deep instead of shallow. in louisiana, roses can be planted all year but usually are sold in the spring. i've purchased roses towards the end of a growing season (my climber) and have them do just fine. roses can be moved, unlike some plants such as the peony, who can't stand to be disturbed. i've lost only two rose bushes and i think that was due to bad stock. as far as i know, i treated them the same as my others. (one was angel face and the other a damask). one thing i'd love to learn and actually suceed at doing is to propagate a rose cutting. do be careful as most roses are patented and can't be propagated for sale. but, it's a great way to bring grandmother's rose with you when you find your own home. have attempted rooting cuttings with no success. they've molded up and quit. a friend of mine used to bury his cuttings in sandy soil and they'd sprout right up. i used the rooting powder, cut all the leaves off and buried half the stalk in dirt, covered for humidity and nothing happened. if you know the secret, please let me in on it!

This is what my Dad did (and he could conjure roses out of thin air, I think): Make a slant cut when you take a cutting. Otherwise you are doing ok except that you are burying them too deep. With Gardenias, I think you need more than a green cutting. You need one with some bark on it - even juvenile bark. Keep it moist but not very wet. Don't cut all of the leaves off. Leave some on for the new plant to work with.

The single wild rambler roses I have seen - and there are some here - bloom profusely but only once per season.

ok, i know somewhere i said i wanted to get some antique roses, grandifloras, etc. instead of more hybrid teas, but i fell in love with one that i have to have. (ok, maybe two or three). one is gemini. she has white petals with pink blushed edges. very beautiful. and another is princess diana. lovely rose indeed. the am thinks i have too many as it's hard for him to move about while mowing the yard. i said i could take care of it by planting a huge rose garden that never need mowing! i'm still working on rose pictures that i promised to post here. haven't forgotten!

and here they are (from jackson and perkins website) Gemini Princess Diana

now you know why i must have them in my garden!! too bad i can't give you a hint to their perfume.

I'm sure they are fragrant..love the names!!! How nice! Mine are all but dead, but my desert roses are blooming their little hearts out.

Mine are putting on a grwoth spurt with all the rain we've been having. The red climber, which I can't remember the name of right now, that I cut back too hard last autumn is recovering well and has a strong healthy spur growing. My 'patio' roses are picking up too. Loved the pix.