First, there are a few things you need to know about me: I never grew a rose until 14 years ago when we bought this farm and found that there were 23 varieties of old garden roses that had been neglected and let run for 30 or 40 years. I am allergic to roses, especially the very fragrant, so I can tell you all about petal counts and colors, the thorn length and abundance, height, width, growth enthusiasm, but I'm a bit wary about sniffing them. We have transplanted upwards of a hundred roses in spring, a droughty summer, and fall and have never lost one that we've moved. I've spent the last 14 years researching the roses that were here and increasing the variety count by several. The only roses that I've lost were those that I bought from Wayside Gardens and hybrid teas, although I do have one very old tea rose that is very hardy.
This is the post from puananiloa's thread, "Help, I've been BIT:"
"About roses, my best suggestion would be old garden roses, the rugosas take care of themselves and are a definite presence in any garden. They do not suffer from black spot and laugh at most of the other pests that modern roses fall prey to. They also rebloom, albeit lightly, unlike many of the other ogrs. Gallicas are sweet, small, bloom once quite profusely, do get black spot, but will come back time and time again from even a total defoliation. Multiflora hybrids are often strong and hardy roses. I have an old one called Goldfinch aka around here as Buttercream for its butter colored buds that open to heavy cream colored blossoms. Some older hybrid roses to look for are FJ Grootendoorst, aka the Carnation Rose, in both red and pink, a rose that will bloom well into November even here in the frozen north; and La Reine Victoria, a profuse bloomer with lovely full blown cabbagy type roses. A small species rose that is totally oblivious to pests and disease is the Green Rose, funny little green flowers with dark red accents. As for modern roses, I would recommend David Austin's roses over hybrid teas. They have more staying power."
I failed to mention the Canadian bred Explorer series ( I have one that I think is William Baffin, but the jury is still out), and floribundas, which, along with the David Austin's, I have had very good luck. When I buy a rose now, I make sure it is an own root rose and that it is hardy to at least zone 4.
The first to blossom here are two very old roses, Rosa pimpinellifolia flore rubro multiplici, a rose whose name is much bigger than it is, and R. harisonii, the old garden yellow.
As promised, pictures: R pimpinellifolia etc.
