I live where blackspot pressure is high, and I don't use fungicides. I also have a handful of Bourbons in my garden, and some do better than others with regards to keeping nice foliage. For me, the cleanest is 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau', followed closely by 'Mme de Sevigne' -- which is like a "free-standing climber" version of 'Mme Isaac Pereire'. I don't know if it's that they're inherently less susceptible to whatever fungal strains are in my area, or if they just quickly shed affected leaves and replace them. In any case, they keep their leaves almost perfect until about November. 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' doesn't seem to get blackspot, either, but does get a touch of mildew in Spring before the first flush when it's cool and damp. This disappears on its own when the temperatures get into the 80s, and doesn't return until about November, when we often have had some cold spells followed by warm spells. In any case, its "ugly times" are when there aren't any blooms, so I don't pay it any attention. "Sophie's Perpetual" is usually listed as a China, but I think of it as a China-leaning Bourbon -- since it smells like a Bourbon. Mine gets touches of blackspot, maybe only slightly more than the others I mentioned, but since it's still small and growing slowly, one affected leaf is a higher percentage of the total number of leaves. So maybe I notice it more. 'Honorine de Brabant' keeps healthy leaves most of the season, but starts to lose those on the bottom foot to foot and a half. To give perspective, it's currently reaching over 6 feet tall. When it loses leaves lower down it doesn't replace them -- instead focusing on extending the tips of its canes and leafing out there. 'Mme Dore' and 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' both go naked or nearly so in July, after the first flush is over. They then leaf out again, only to go naked once more by about October. These two are slower growing, for me, which probably relates to how quickly they refoliate. 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' has me scratching my head, because it does have a few stout canes about 3 feet tall, but it seems to focus on making just one cane at a time, leafing out, then blooming. Maybe I'll give it a harsher haircut in Spring and see what it does. 'Mme Dore' I know doesn't get big, so I just snip off Winter damage and leave it alone, other than dead-heading. "Maggie" is new to me, having come only this year. So far, it's kept its leaves, but it's also still small. We'll see how it does. Then there's poor little 'Eugene de Beauharnais'. I originally planted this at the base of a tree in my front yard, where it got too much midday sun which burned its blooms. I moved it to the back, and it took some time to get adjusted again. Now I think I'll just turn it into a pot-pet, but that will wait until Spring. Why keep it in a pot? Well, I keep hearing how much of a wimp it is on its own roots, and I prefer wimps in pots filled with my "magic mix" to get them to be their best. "Huilito" is a bit of a mystery. It's usually considered a China based on its growth, but anytime I see a "China" with that fragrance, I think it's something else genetically. Maybe it's a Bourbon -- I don't know for sure. This arrived only last Spring, so it's still new. But it keeps healthy foliage for me. So there you have it -- a small but rather diverse group of Bourbons in my garden. Some stay clean, some don't. I may be trying a few more in pots, and if they do well, bring them down to my cemetery project. It's really hard to say for sure what will work unless you hear from others in your area, or are willing to try them out for yourself. :-) ~Christopher

It's always risky to generalize about roses, but I'll weigh in here with my opinion about growing Bourbons (my favorite class, BTW). I was unimpressed with Bourbons until I was educated on their culture by Michael Shoup (Antique Rose Emporium). His approach to growing Bourbons is synthesized in his & Liz Druitt's book, "Landscaping with Antique Roses" (thanks, Jerry!). Here's the most critical part of what they have to say: "(Bourbons) tend to get some blackspot if planted in poor soil, but if conditions are to their liking, disease will rarely be a problem. Ideally, they want rich, well-drained soil, open air, at least six to eight hours of sun and periodic deep watering." My preference for Bourbons results largely from the fact that they perform so well in the heat and humidity of the coastal South. Once I began following Shoup's advice, I found that they truly do have few disease issues here. I've also found that feeding Bourbons regularly is helpful, but does NOT compensate for poor soil. Both Shoup and Companula note the importance of good air circulation to Bourbon culture. Attention to circulation is vital, I've found, not only as an aid in disease prevention, but also to lessen the tendency of the blooms on some varieties to ball in cool, damp weather. IMO, air circulation is a growth factor that is given far too little attention, regardless of the plants being grown. I feel I should add that Shoup and Druitt write that Bourbons can successfully be grown through Zone 6, and possibly even colder (depending on the microclimate). They explain that Bourbons' China ancestry allows them to perform well in heat, and that the Damask element of their makeup makes them reasonably cold hardy.

I bought my Korean maple approx 5 years ago at one foot high for $30 (2 gallon pot). Maybe I just lucked out on finding a good one, or maybe I have a good sheltered spot, but it's done well for me (zone 3, though sheltered city lot). It never developed much in the way of fall color until this year. I believe itÂs because itÂs in a shady spot (3 hours sun). Not as brilliant as MikeÂs photo, but it did get an orangy hue to it with some of the leaves on the branch ends reddish. Nice to see as most of my other plants get yellow fall color. As my tree gets taller however (6 feet tall) the top of the plant isnÂt as shaded by nearby buildings. My only complaint, and itÂs not a big deal, is that here the leaves seem to get frost bitten, then stick onto the plant, instead of falling off. ItÂs just a minor complaint because now I have a tree with crispy leaves ready to fall off into my small pond nearby. According to some sources, this tree can get quite big, but I am happy that it is slow enough growing (at least here) and seems more shrub like than tree like. I also have a couple of Japanese maples, though smaller height ones. For winter I take a box, remove the bottom flaps, place around the tree and essentially fill in around the tree with peat moss, then leaves. Once it snows, mound lots of snow. TheyÂve come through 3 winters this way. I know they will never be huge, because any portion of the plant that I donÂt winter protect wonÂt survive, but itÂs kind of neat to be able to grow at least a couple. I know they too can gain great size with age, but I sort of view these as miniature trees. Glen

It depends on how they're grown, whether they're long-caned or bushy, and how much they repeat. Pegged long-caned Bourbons tend to exhaust their canes after a year or two -- I've found that new canes that shot up after last year's first flush will be the best bloom-producers when pegged for the first flush of their second year, but are more meager during the first flush of their third year, after which I remove them. The ones that don't repeat much do better by doing just a light trim in Spring, keeping as much of last year's new wood, then cutting back harder after the first flush. Bourbons like 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' would probably do best by starting with typical HT pruning, but not cutting back as short, and not reducing to so few canes. Basically, first remove anything dead, damaged, diseased, or going the wrong way. Then look for where two canes are competing for the same space, and remove the less-vigorous of the two. Once you're down to your healthy strong canes, trim bloom-laterals down to four or so buds, and trim back main canes to the highest strong bloom-lateral, or the highest strong bud going in the direction you prefer. Other Bourbons that are more arching but not necessarily long-caned climbers can be scaled back to a sort of high-centered inverted traffic cone shape -- outer canes shorter and extending outward, with center canes left a bit longer and going up. Of course, this would be after removing dead, diseased, damaged, or crossing canes. :-) ~Christopher