With so many people experiencing extreme weather at the moment I was wondering if there are any roses that have come through it all better than expected? Which roses have not handled the heat? Most of us only think of hardiness when it comes to cold, not heat, so it would be good to know which plants will need extra help in times of heat stress. Lola.

A good topic. I too am interested to hear what others have learned.

Ah, great topic! I am always looking for plants that will do well in my "Hotter than Hades" garden. In my younger (and "less informed") days, I did no research on a particular rose and just bought it because it was pretty. Now, anything I plant, has to go through my "scrutiny" before it lands in my garden. Part of that is because I am curious about the plant, curious about the breeder and where the plant comes from, the plant's heritage and mostly because I have a teeny, tiny garden (and budget) and I want my plants to thrive (and be beautiful). A master gardener once told me that I am a "plant person" and love having different plants and see how they do in my yard and under my conditions.

So, my garden conditions include at least three to four (or more) months out of the year where the weather is over 100 degrees daily. Temps at night are generally in the 70's (for two seconds) and then back up again. This week alone, when I went to bed at 11:30 at night it was still 95 degrees outside.

I also have water restrictions where I live. At least for now, we can water three times a week. However, that is only from June to Sept and then we are back to two times a week and only once a week for part of the year. I only get an average of 11 inches of rain per year, so rain is not plentiful at all and it generally only rains during the months of December through March (if we are lucky).

I only garden organically, so bug and disease resistance is also important to me as well.

Sheesh! Shall I get on to the plants now? Any of the Ralph Moore plants (roses and he also bred crape myrtles as well), tend to do well in my garden. He lived about 70 miles south of me, so his conditions in his gardens were similar to mine. Burling Leon (who worked with Ralph for many years), also breeds to disease resistance and health. Ralph Moore stated that you should breed a healthy plant first as anyone can hang a pretty flower on a plant. So those breeders tend to be my first "go to's" for plants. I also find that Barni roses do very well here as do roses bred in South Africa (however, they are hard to find). Only certain Austins do well in my conditions and they seem to require more water than my other roses. Given my water restrictions, they are not always my first choice, however, I do love how they look.

Roses that do well for me include;
Occhi di Fata (Barni). This rose starts out white and fades to pink as it gets older. Two roses in one!


Peppermint Parfait (Moore). Does well in a pot. Really can take the heat.


Sequoia Gold (Moore). Again can really take the heat. Always in bloom.


Candice (Delbard). So far, seems to do better in a pot for me than in the ground but I am giving it some time.


Flamingo Dancer (Leong). Great climber.


Vick's Caprice (Vick, 1889). Took a bit to get him going on his own root but he is a great rose.


Austins--Pretty Jessica, Munstead Wood, Peach Blossom, Mary Magdelene, Lady of Shallot (needs shade), Brother Cadfael (would prefer some shade), Ambridge Rose, Princess Alexandra of Kent (needs a bit of shade), Alnwick (does OK).

Leong--Maroon Eight, resents pruning but is great rose for heat.

Moore--Wedding Cake and I just ordered Vineyard Song

I also just ordered a McGredy rose Roller Coaster aka Minnie Mouse so we shall see how that one does.

Plum Perfect (Kordes) also appears to be laughing at the heat and produces flowers like crazy. She is own root and first year, so we shall see how she does.

OK ... here are some roses which survived extreme heat accompanied by lack of water in our garden, and came back to shine.

'White Pearl in Red Dragon's Mouth' (Chi Long Han Zhu) --
It took it two years to recover, but it's finally there.


'Gloire de Rosomanes' ("Ragged Robin") --
The mother plant has survived years of drought in a vacant lot that was once a garden. It has been cut to the ground, multiple times. But still, she persists.
Our clone has survived drought, and had gophers eat all of its roots. Replanted, it thrives.
This rose personifies "tough".



"Elisabeth's China" --
A "Legacy" plant in the Historic Sacramento City Cemetery, it has survived a century of drought, and been cut to the ground, multiple times. Still, she persists.
In our garden, a truck ran over our oldest plant, and we thought it was dead ... but this year, she's BAAAACK and blooming (despite not getting enough water):

Several of my roses that easily survived the drought of 2011 when we only got 7" of rain all year and had no supplemental water: Lady Banks (white did better than yellow), Mutabilis, Seven Sisters, Mermaid, Peggy Martin, Robinhood, Katy Road Pink, Ducher. Chestnut Rose - all big or huge, old plants. Martha Gonzales, White Pearl in Red Dragon's Mouth, Red Cascade which were much smaller also did fine. I actually lost very few roses that year but many died back and some are still struggling.

I love that name, "White Pearl in Red Dragon's Mouth". It sounds like a Szechuan Chinese dish!