In torgo wrote:
Last year's theme was testing out every red I could find to see what
performs well in hot climates. (I'm still hoping to eventually get La
Passionata here in the USA. Georgia and Florida have similar climates
to Brisbane and Perth, respectively. Does La Passionata do well in
those areas?) So far most of the dark reds and fragrant reds have
struggled. Kentucky Derby, Chrysler Imperial, and Oklahoma seem to be
doing best. We'll see if the others fare better in year two.

Torgo, I am in Sydney rather than Brisbane or Perth. Brisbane is not
really renowned for roses as its humidity is a little too tropical -
Perth is a bit better but the summers are really hot.

Anyway I can say that Sydney, which is frost free in winter and warm
temperate overall, is great for La Passionata. It's my best red. Huge,
shapely, and one of those fragrances that makes you draw breath
involuntarily. Interestingly the other reds you mentioned all do fairly
well here too, especially Kentucky Derby (and we're a LONG way from
Kentucky!)

Good luck trying to find La Passionata in the US. The breeders, Delbard (
France) were so convinced it had disappeared that they recycled the name
and gave it to a new rose that's a yellow blend. I kind of shocked
their PR department when I told them, in broken French, that the
beautiful 1969 rose of that name was alive and well here in Oz :-)

You can find some photos he
http://www.hanna.id.au/roses (search for Passionata).