Hybrid Wichurana, Large Flowered Climbing Rose 'Dr. W. Van Fleet'

My Dr. Van Fleet came from my great-aunt and must be 100 yrs. old. My parents still have the original bush on their farm in central Illi...Read Morenois. I have moved my "start" with me for over 35 yrs., and it always establishes itself in Illinois and Indiana.

Plant is extremely hardy and thrives in the hot, humid summers and cold snowy winters of the D.C. area. Seems impervious to black spot, ...Read Moreand shrugs off aphids.

My favorite and the oldest of all my roses. I inherited my 80 or 100 year plant and she seems to thrive on neglect. I do try to prune o...Read Moreut all the old dead canes in very early spring. He is planted in acid sandy loam, that is never too dry nor too wet. Rhododendrons thrive in the same part of the garden, so what is good for them seems to be good for him.

A great rose. New Dawn's look-alike Daddy but only one long flowering. However, the lovely pink blossoms are somewhat larger and more f...Read Moreinely formed than New Dawn's pretty but often somewhat muddled blooms. Very hardy. The one in our yard must have been over 30 years old, on a hill over a windy harbor in the teeth of northeasters. It rambled over 30 feet right up into an apple tree and bloomed happily and picturesquely there. A contractor bought the property from our landlord and ripped out all twenty-one rose bushes (except one! Dr. W. hid out in some tall weedy grasses until the destruction was over and then, under cover of the grasses, sneaked back up into the apple tree to bloom and bloom. A real hero!). Nice fragrance, too. If you have the space, worth having in addition to New Dawn.