....
I am new to gardening, however I would like to plant a low maintenece
rapid growing climber along my picket fence.

Hi,

I am on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in 7b, and have been very happy with
Climbing White Dawn. It is white, as one would guess, very light fragrance,
and has blooms that look almost like gardenias. It was introduced in the
1940's. In three seasons it has reached almost 15 feet, and has thick,
shiny, almost "leathery" leaves that are very resistant to disease. It is
one of my first to leaf out this spring. It doesn't like a lot of spraying,
although I did foliar feed (stinky fish emulsion with a preventative dash of
copper) last year, in the early mornings. I learned to bypass it, along with
most of my climbers, my Bonicas, the Fairy, and the Pink Grootendurst, when
on a chemical offensive.

When everything else is looking like death warmed over from blackspot, Cl.
White Dawn's fat, dark green leaves appear to be too tough for the fungus to
cause any real problems for it. It's not immune (is any rose truly immune to
blackspot?) but it seems like a "common cold" rather than "pneumonia" for
the rose, to use a loose analogy.

I have about 175 roses, mostly different varieties, including about 9
climbers, and this is by far superior, in vigor, hardiness, and resistance.
Nice blooms, although not a gigantic producer, quite reliable.

It's in my "less care is better" list...if in doubt, don't touch it; it will
survive just fine without whatever Chemical du Jour I've come home with. It
simply prefers to take care of itself, although it has survived several
"can't miss, can't hurt" experiments.



--
Scopata Fuori