Neal, sorry I've only just seen your question about how our DAs perform in the heat in France. It does get very hot there (to around 95 degrees) and we normally have no frost even in winter, but the roses seem to love it. We have an automatic irrigation system and they do need a lot of water and food (we have poor, sandy soil there) and regular dead-heading, to keep the blooms coming.
The blooms on Lady of Shalott and Crown Princess Margareta (both in full sun) are in high summer a little bit paler than those of the same plants in England, but Munstead Wood and Claire Austin, which have direct sun only in the mornings, are unaffected. I've noticed that if Lady of S doesn't get lots of water the blooms face downwards, but they perk up if she's given a good drink. If anything, the problem is trying to get them to stop flowering year round so they don't exhaust all their energies. Some of the bugs in France are different to those in England - there are some funny spotted insects (sorry, don't know what they are) that seem to like the roses, but they are easily hosed off.
