"Mark. Gooley" wrote in message ...
I bought a bush of `Hansa' a few months ago. In most places
I've lived, such Rugosas have been trouble-free, but I'm in
zone 8b, in North Florida not far from Gainesville now. Most
of my roses (too many of them still in pots, too many of them
bought as bare-root from Wayside Gardens at 2/3 or 3/4 off
list price as end-of-season closeouts) have had some trouble
with black spot; some were almost defoliated...


Florida is a tad warm for rugosas. They are native to places like
Manchuria and Siberia and do best with a definite chill period of
several weeks.

You should also realize that roses in Florida face serious problems
from soil nematodes. The roses that thrive there are almost all
grafted onto
R.fortuniana rootstock. Additionally, as you have discovered,
blackspot is
a big problem in FL.


J. Del Col