I purchased 3 Mermaids for bare spots on my large property. All three in different type locations. I bought them from a nursery in Austin TX, online, three seasons ago. They were billed as easy to grow, and received hight marks in my zone. One is still living, I think, will check tomorrow, but it never took off & it's small, like failure to thrive. One lived through the first winter, didn't return in the spring. So, I had one that did well, got huge, in a very large umbrella trellis, and it now appears to be a goner. Needless to say, Mermaid has not lived up to my expectations. It's difficult to kill a rose in my zone - anyone else have such wretched luck with Mermaid?? Honestly, I expected the rose to grow like a weed...

Wow, that's too bad, Sherry. I've never grown Mermaid, mainly because I also expect it to grow like a weed and I've also heard it has truly vicious thorns.

In your zone, it shouldn't have suffered any winter kill, but I've heard that it's ultra-sensitive to wind. Are they in windy spots? If not, I'd say the fault is with the nursery, not with you.

It is odd, huh? And, your are certainly correct re the thorns, they are nasty & hurt so badly, but that was understood - this is the first time I've heard about the wind. Some kinda way I don't think the wind did it but I won't have to fret about it, no more Mermaid for me...oh, no fragrance either...BUT, it was WONDERFUL for bird nests, they loved it, that I will miss...

I have a Mermaid that I grew from a cutting given to me at a nursery. It is growing like a weed - a very vigorous weed! I did plant it where it has shelter from the winter wind. However I didn't expect it to be tender in our area.

Thx, porkpal! They are tender in my area too, and, if that's it, Mermaid is the only one that minds. I wish I could come up with the right replacement for the trellis, but I'm about to give up & do something else with the spot, some sort of tree, I'd love evergreen & wonder if anyone has used a wax myrtle in the front yard?? Happy Weekend

Mermaid is one of those roses well known to be able to swallow a large two story house. At Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham TX there's one growing as a tree with a trunk more than five inches in diameter. It's also about 30 ft wide and 35 ft tall.

Lots of factors affect how a rose settles into a new location. I've found that I have to water roses pretty much every day until they are established. It sounds like the one that was "growing like a weed" got pretty well established. Not sure what would kill an established rose quickly during winter other than a quick chill. Freeze-Thaw cycling. Or some sort of animal eating all its roots over winter.

We lost some tropicals this year, but zero roses, except Merimaid, generally considered the toughest one, the rest of the roses LOVED the cold & Mermaid bit the dust at the end of the season last fall, hung on until about the 1st of the year. One of the main reasons I planted Mermaid in that spot was to offer birds safe(r) nesting from cats - and, WOW, did it ever work, it was full of nests & babies, the only real safety I've ever found.

Now, we're thinking that Mermaid might have been hit by random farm spraying via crop duster. Several weeks ago, we took two potted roses to the cemetery & they were poisoned by farm spraying, prior to disking, and it accidentally hit the roses, the only plants that were bothered. I have two identical roses at home & they're fine. I dunno.