"0tterbot" wrote in message

i think the miniatures are more prone to fungal disease & are generally a
bit more delicate; what you describe could be fungal. i don't think i've
ever seen one that's not covered in black spot :-)

I just raced outside to see if mine had any black spot and not a leaf to be
seen, but I'm pretty sure mine haven't been afflicted with BS.

When summer comes, come over to lunch one day and we'll check them out.

concerning roses in general, i'm not a fan of them it must be said, but we
have an old-fashioned-looking thornless climbing (rambling??) one with wee
butter yellow flowers in clumps - i find it really beautiful! and because
it's been forced to look after itself for quite some time now, it's very
healthy. to celebrate this fact, i might give it a prune this winter (i
let it go a bit berserk last year with all those shoots that come off the
sides).

Sounds like a Banksia rose???

I've recently started buying Alister Clark roses - he was an Australian rose
breeder and found they are brilliant for Australian conditions.

The "Black Boy"s I mentioned previously are his and I also have a "Lorraine
Lee" climber over the chook pen fence and it is superb - just keep
sflowering and hides a rather ghastly fence very well. I did no ground prep
at all for it and its in what was formerly paddock land and hard and hungry
soil at that. It's thrived.

I'm not especially fond of many roses but I love the old ones and I love the
smell and form of some of the Hybrid Teas and i think if I could only ever
have one rose, it might have to be Cecile Brunner - such a dear little rose
but as tough as old boots.