I grew 'Ghislaine de Feligonde' as a short climber up a pine tree when living in north Alabama in 3 or 4 hours of morning sun. I had to prune it a lot to try to get it to climb up the pine. I think its natural form is more that of a mounding shrub than a climber, but it is easy to prune because of its multiflora canes. It had a beautiful spring flush and then bloomed a tiny bit through the summer and then a little more in the fall. It stayed pretty clean, foliage-wise, during the summers in Alabama. I grow it here in the PNW as a mounding shrub on the north side of a wall, so it is definitely shade tolerant. It blooms more all through the summer here than it did in Alabama. I am inclined to think the reason it does is because it's cooler here during the summers than it was in Alabama, but it could also be a difference in soil, sun, or clones, I am not really sure. In both places I have grown this rose it has had acid soil. It's a multiflora rambler. How do polys do for you, Kate? Just another thought - if you want a cream/white colored climber that always seems to be in bloom, Kate, take a look at 'White Cap'. It's healthy and blooms a lot although no fragrance to me. Also not the small blooms of the hybrid musks. Another thought is- a new one for me is 'Creme de la Creme'; it has only bloomed a little so far for me, but I think it will bloom more as it gets older. The cream blooms are really pretty and they smell like ripe pears to me. That was a new scent for me this summer; I am anxious to see how this one will do next year. Sorry if I muddied the waters for you! Sombreiul is really thorny - neither of the two above are too life threatening! Hope that helps. Gean Two shots of 'White Cap'

Felicia did really well the first couple of years, then went straight south from there. Now it is a very unattractive plant, knees bare, growth rigid and off balance from the winter kill of canes on one side. Surviving canes are yellowish, sunburned? and unhealthy looking, leaves pale and nasty looking from chlorosis/whatever. Mine is looking at its last season in the garden, will be relegated to the ghetto this spring. Too little real estate and too many great teas to replace it with!

That scent derives from 'R. multiflora', and can be found in those roses with a lot of it in their ancestry -- Hybrid Musks and Polyanthas especially. I have 'Marie Pavie' in the front yard, and can smell it from my front door. In the back, most of the "musk" scent lingering in the yard comes from 'Bubble Bath', a Hybrid Musk I have trained as a climber against the fence. When "Darlow's Enigma" gets going, I can smell that from far away as well. 'Clotilde Soupert' has the scent, but it doesn't travel as far. Interestingly, I find that the true musk rose -- 'R. moschata' -- is scented more noticeably of cloves, but there's still the "musk scent" underneath. You'll find a slight variation on this scent among the non-Tea Noisettes. I have 'R. moschata' and its offspring 'Reverend Seidel', the latter of which smells like a mix of 'R. moschata' and "Darlow's Enigma". This makes sense since it has both 'R. moschata' and 'R. multiflora' in its parentage. :-) ~Christopher

Jeri, I always had buyers regret in choosing Cornelia over Buff Beauty. Truthfully, I still do. I have so many pink roses, and Buff Beauty would have been better in that spot. I’m not swapping them out now anymore so Cornelia it is! Your BB really makes me wish I had it. It’s such a beautiful rose. Funny thing about the picture posting thing above. The photos I took today of the spent blooms,(which I uploaded directly from taking them with my iPhone) posted just fine. It was when I went to post some “glamour shots” of Felicia that I had stored in my phone, that I was informed that I “had no photos” or “my photo library was empty”, something like that. I KNOW that’s not the case. My phone is loaded with pictures. It’s the first time I’ve seen that one. I’ll try again. Nope! No go. Now, what’s going on here again?!?!? Lisa