Well Ingrid, I think you are less interested in the European scene, however FWIW ... My roses have all taken a little break over the summer, but at different times (the benefit of growing all kinds of classes), so there has always been something blooming , although not comparable to the spring flush, of course! Looking through my photos, I tried to pick garden shots as opposed to close-ups. Here's my summer garden (please disregard the long grass and weeds, our mower is "en panne" as they optimistically say here about machinery that will likely never work again). Mme Isaac Pereira with Zeffy, clematis Anna Louise and Siesta in the foreground (mid-July): MIP, last week in August: Molineux in early July: Moly and Buff Beauty (both of whom have had a flush a month) in late August. We have just enlarged some of the beds so there is plenty of bare earth (and labels) showing at left. George Dickson with Ghislaine de Feligonde and the clematis Etoile Violette on the railings in late July: And finally, an experiment ... growing annual Morning Glory through Albertine. So far, A seems undaunted: I have to say, Casey IS the showpiece of your gardens, but I also love the hardscaping, the pathways, terrace, retaining wall, all very classy. Have you tried Nepeta as a companion/filler? Mine seems not to care whether it gets water or not. I have the Six Hills Giant variety. MayBee

Sheila yours is glorious. These blooms are long lasting. The first blooms I posted are still on the bush.

Well, if you have someone who comes and reads your meter you do not want to surprise him/her with a big old thorny rose bush to dig through to read the meter. Even underneath is seriously going to present problems getting close enough to get an accurate reading. My Florentinas are huge already and full of thorns and I just planted them this spring. Quicksilver is even bigger and stiffer with even bigger thorns. Don't even think about Laguna. That having been said, whatever you decide, in my opinion I would not put Darcy and Florentina together. The red colors are different. Darcy is closer to mauve as Florentina is closer to scarlet. I don't think the colors would blend well.

Hi @Ann-SoCalZ10b SunStZ22, I know this is from last year so it may be a moot point. I have both, and Red Eden is gorgeous with huge sprays of blooms that are sometimes fragrant and sometimes not. I wanted to pillar mine, but the canes are NOT flexible. I mean, you can curve them slightly, but if you want to pillar it, no way. They snap. The canes on mine are about an inch thick! And just as you start to bend them, they snap. It's still a gorgeous rose, but it's really more of a very large shrub (gorgeous tho). Mine seems oblivious to disease. Florentina flowers are very similar but a bit brighter red. The foliage is smaller and shinier (pretty). The canes are VERY flexible and lends itself to climbing much more easily IMO. It's a beautiful rose. If you really wanted a true climber, I'd go with Florentina, but if you have room for both, they are both just beautiful.