I remember the rose bug. I started planting by planting 3 and soon had over 40 different roses. The smells were intoxicating and the colors made the heart smile. I left them behind when we moved and have not had the motivation to start over...but you make me think maybe just one...or two...

LOL - I did start over! It's all downhill from here...
The negative is we've had so much rain as of late, the Blackspot is rampant.
I will not be deterred.

Zany, I think you should start over!!! They really do make you smile and add such bright colour to the garden! I have no-where near 40 but really love the ones I have!

Kate, don't be deterred I'm trying garlic with my roses as garlic produces sulfur which is a natural fungicide which is supposed to help deter things like blackspot. Or you can plant resistent types like 'the Fairy'. I don't think I've ever had a spot on that one! Even with the endless rain we had last summer!

Since having to leave behind my last 4 gardens when the rentals we were in were sold out from under us I refuse to spend all the time and money to improve another rental unit. I still have a few things in pots but as we get older it becomes harder to move even those when the need arises.

I still admire other peoples gardens though

What a beautiful writing Steven and even those of us who haven't really considered roses.... per say, over all our other choices are made to contemplate deeply on getting to know these beauties a bit better! I'll have to pay more attention and take a closer look Thanks Steven for broadening my horizons................

The Fairy has BS this year - not too bad, but it has been affected.
Interplanting with Garlic hasn't worked with most of the roses here for me.
I will spray & life will continue - BS goes with the territory/weather here. This year has been exceptionally wet/cool so far.
But I will not be deterred.

Steven, I enjoyed your article ~ what pretty roses. Ever since I saw your rose pics over on Turquoise Sun Florals, I've been thinking I need roses too!!! They are so pretty, especially if they smell good! Great Article!

Kate, I've heard that you do get exceptional amounts of rain up there in your area. BS is often transmitted by water splashing up on the leaves and stems. I was just wondering how long you tried the garlic plantings? The sulfur in garlic will not kill the fungus spores already there but it will prevent future generations of them from germinating. BS is very difficult to eliminate once it appears, but maybe with the plantings of garlic you can prevent it from growing in the future. Once the sulfur from the garlic is in the soil, it will keep the spores from growing, better than just sprinkling sulfur ~ I think. Just my two-cents.

I thought 20 years was enough for the Alliums to do the job.
I left as many clumps as possible, but I've harvested some over the years, too.
BS is just part of growing roses here, and while some of the various applications work well, much depends on the frequency of rain during the spring.
Geez, even the slugs are sporting umbrellas these days...

twenty years seems like plenty of time!

That sounds wet! But it seems like you have a great attitude.

I have never made it to WA but have always yearned to go and see the redwoods.

Thanks for all the comments everyone! I am glad you all enjoyed my article!

Kate, I really hope your roses grow well for you this summer, atleast the BS doesn't do lasting damage....only makes them sort of un-sightly. I've never had the BS of the Fairy before.....always thought it was indestructable Maybe the best thing to do is just clean up the dead leaves once they fall off and put them in the garbage.

Christine, have you picked up any roses? I really love my white one, you can smell it when you're working in the garden near by.....

Funny - Voodoo is budded out & ought to put on quite a show the next few days. Blackspot is confined to the lowest leaves on the branches.
Almost all the roses had buds opening which have become mush-balls. Time to prune & wait for the next round.
I don't mean to complain - the rain is good in that everything is green, and time spent watering is minimal. Well, not until July/August which is when our summer truly starts. Sometimes, it's August only, LOL. I can grow terrific lettuces, cabbages & potatoes, though.
We work with the weather we get - it's the only way to approach the garden with sanity. But I so look forward to the roses each year, and it is disappointing when the results are meager. Hope is born in the garden.....

And which white rose is tantalizing with its fragrance, Steve?
I just bought Pope John Paul, and another white - Innocencia. Love the fragrant ones - they add another layer of enjoyment.

Kate, you bought Innocencia? Thats the white one in my article! It has a great fragrance and so far with all our rain it still has shiny green foliage. I know what you mean about the rain..........I don't think we get as much as you but it makes so many things turn yellowy and I don't like that nothing in the ground has really grown much either so far. Sorry to hear about your mush-ball roses I think I would pull my hair out if that happened to me. Hopefully July and August will both be good months for you!

Yes, and I'm waiting anxiously for her to open! I liked her general form/shape, as well as the clusters. I returned to the nursery I bought her at, and thought about buying a few more. I could work her into several areas. I do like to use white/green as a break between colours that otherwise jar the eye a bit. Plus white shows up so well in our very typical grey climate. Oh, and then there's pale yellow which I'm also enamoured with...

With the excess rain, the foliage on many things has turned that sickly palid yellow-green. The soil is still too cool for the plants to be able to take up the necessary nutrients, so a great portion of the annuals I've planted look pathetic. The Slugs are sure enjoying themselves, though.
All this will be forgotten when we hit 85° - perhaps in August! Ah well, this rain is great for the soil - cannot forget the worms...

It's a strange year here too with the weather from very cold to now very hot, no warming up time. some things cannot take the heat already.

It looks like I will be looking for the Innocencia rose!

Christine - I will rate the fragrance on a scale of 1-10 for you as soon as mine opens. We are supposed to have warmer drier weather the next couple days. I will be watching for her to open up!

looking forward to your report !

I posted some more pictures here of Innocencia! I find here smell is the best when the clusters are fully open.
http://cubits.org/beautifulblo...

what a tease - the close-up put me over the edge!

I do grow something with a lovely sweet - clean fragrance: Zaluzianskya capensis. I could smell this for hours & not get tired of it. I feel the same way about the rose fragrance classified as "spicy". And Brugs - I like to inhale that fragrance deeply. So very nice.

Is Zaluzianskya the same plant that is known as Night Phlox? If it is I think I grew it once and the scent was amazing!

Do you ever grow Stocks? They have a really spicy clove sort of fragrance and it lasts when you cut them too

The only scent I really don't like is Stargazer Lilies.......sometimes we get dozens of potted ones in at my work and the fragrance is so powerful it gives me a splitting headache!

I also love Brugs! I have 3 off them plus they are really easy to grow, and as long as they get some water and are protected from freeze you can't kill them for anything!