Hello everyone !!! I am just starting to get an understanding of how to properly care for these beauties. Had purchased over 30 and killed them all. Right now I've got 2 doing pretty well. I favor the Hybrid Tea as well as the English Roses but couldn't pass on this beautiful Drift rose. It's a cross between a full size ground cover and a miniature. I've got Drift Apricot and the my beautiful Blue Girl
. Apricot Drift
Blue Girl

ooh, someone after my own heart with that BlueGirl!

Roly - Welcome to one of the smelliest & wonderful addictions ever.. roses! They're like Lays Potato Chips, can't have just one! And I can't even begin to count how many roses I've killed! If you let us know what kind of growing conditions you have, we can overload you with helpful & sometimes not-so-helpful info on how to grow your new hobby!

Welcome Roly....I see from your profile that you live in zone 10b.........I'm in 5b but I'm certain there are those in zones nearer to yours that can help. We all love to answer questions and then you have to decide if that info applies to you are not. Go back and look at the articles from rose week which was a couple of weeks ago.......

Glad to have you join us Roly! I too have killed a number roses in my enthusiasm to grow many that required more care than I gave them. I have a hot humid climate and do best with the Old Garden Roses. I also grow a number of English roses successfully and have Apricot Drift in a container.

Thank you all for your warm welcoming messages. I too grow the Apricot Drift in a container. In fact they are both in containers. Don't want to put them in the ground since we might be purchasing a home soon and I don't want to stress them out with the move and also because I've read that the nematodes would attach the root system yet I keep seeing beautiful plants growing around the neighborhoods.

If you're talking about root knot nematodes, then you probably live in Florida. You can continue to grow your roses in containers without fearing nematode damage as long as you make sure none of your garden soil ever gets into those containers. For planting in the ground, you'll need roses grafted onto Fortuniana rootstock. The nematodes are a terrible problem for roses in Florida, and they especially love own-root roses. Own-root roses probably will die the first year they're in the ground. Roses grafted onto Dr. Huey will live three years or so. Roses grafted onto Fortuniana will live in the ground virtually forever without any problem. The beautiful plants you see in the neighborhoods probably are grafted onto Fortuniana rootstock.

Hello zuzu !!! I am indeed in Florida, to be more specific South Florida in the beautiful yet overcrowded city of Miami...LOL. Can't wait to move somewhere to the countryside. I read about Fortuniana rootstock but they are soo much more expensive and they don't have all of the plants that I like. I honestly like them all except maybe for the Knock Out series. I'm more partial to the David Austin's and then Hybrid Teas. Haven't seen the David Austin's as grafted onto Fortuniana. Is there a verdor or vendors that specialize on grafted roses ??

Zuzu - Palatine ships roses grafted on multiflora .. would those work with Mr. Roly's nematodes? I had to look up what a nematode is.. another problem I don't have thankfully.

Roly - If Zu says that multiflora would work, check out Palatine Roses (http://palatineroses.com/). It's getting late in the season for ordering roses. Ordering usually starts in September, so a lot of places either will no longer be taking orders or are completely sold out of really cool stuff.

Thank you Toni !!! Hopefully the multifloras will work. Otherwise I'll be getting some big pots and containers to put new roses into.

No, Toni. Multiflora doesn't work against nematodes.

Nelsons' Florida Roses is the main retailer of roses grafted onto Fortuniana, Roly. They have a fairly broad selection, and I'm not sure how many Austin roses they have, but I know they have Abraham Darby. Their prices might sound high, but when you add longevity to your calculations, roses from anyplace else would cost a lot more.

http://www.nelsonsfloridaroses...

Another place offering roses grafted onto Fortuniana is K&M Roses in Mississippi. I've bought several roses from them because Fortuniana works really well in California too, and it doesn't appeal to gophers, which are my nematodes.

http://www.kandmroses.com/

I just took another picture of my Blue Girl which has more open blooms now.

And why not. I was just walking out to head back to work and took a picture of Drift Apricot as well. Here it is.