Larry, I'm outside of Knoxville, but I know some of the gardens near you well. Soil wise, the very large Garden that honors Ted and Mary Alice Mills in the city park in Soddy Daisy Tennessee is on a valley fill very like your soils. It's been there for at least eight years, so would be a good place to visit to see what mature specific bushes look like. More constrained is the garden at the Chattanooga ChooChoo, but it may have more recent introductions. I don't know the garden in Huntsville, but the Rose Society there are fans of modern roses. You might also be interested in the TriState Rose Society in Chattanooga. The ARS site below links to them or contacts for them on their Find Your Local Rose Society tab. Tri State is in Tenarky District; Huntsville is in with Georgia and Alabama. You do know that one person's fragrance is another's "I can't smell anything"? The best time to sniff is morning, before the heat of the day causes evaporation of some of the scent. (I think Frederick Mistral is a wonderfully scented rose, BTW) Here is a link that might be useful: American Rose Society website

If the liquid iron says 'chelated' on the label, you can use it. I use Kerex Sequestrine 138 Chelated Iron. Comes in a canister or 4lb bag. Chelation allows the iron to be readily available to the rose roots. For only a few roses, I'd go to a feed and tack store and buy alfalfa by the pound. Get it without molasses. I've heard that the pellets sold for rabbits are better to use than the ones sold for horses for that reason. Ferti-lome makes good products but stay away from the systemic products where a fungicide/pesticide is incorporated into the fertilizer. The benefit is limited and longterm usage can stunt the rose and leave toxins in your soil. Best to use water for most problems... aphids, whiteflies, spider mites and powdery mildew all respond to being jetted off the bush with an intense spray of water. Considering it's supposed to be 107 here today, I'd advise planting when the weather has cooled enough to allow you to be outside for an extended period without burning, toasting, roasting or calling 911, lol. Wait another week or two to plant but go ahead and prepare the next planting spot. Dig the holes, add the amendments, water it thoroughly and research the roses for disease resistance, size, bloom and availability.

I don't know much about growing roses in dry climates, but I can tell you that you're unlikely to have problems with bacterial blight in Central OR. Way too dry. Your growing challenges are going to be relatively hot summer with relentless sun, winter cold, and a general lack of water and humidity (you're looking at 10-12" of rain a year). The soil is sandy and may be above pH 7 in some places. The dominant flora in Deschutes County includes juniper, sagebrush, Ponderosa Pine, sulfur buckwheat, Indian paintbrush, and various forms of bunch grasses. Drought-tolerant plants hardy to USDA Zone 6 (or lower) that I would recommend trying in Redmond would be: Salvia dorrii, Salvia pachyphylla, Arctostaphylos pungens, Arctostaphylos patula, Penstemon centranthifolius, Penstemon grinnellii, Penstemon speciosus, and Eriophyllum lanatum.

If you like fragrance, here is a rose that won "Best in show" based on its fragrance alone. Typhoo Tea is very thorny, long stemmed, gets about 7 feet tall in my Chicagoland garden, and relatively narrow for its height, definitely needs spraying for BS. I'd put its fragrance in the Mr Lincoln, Fragrant Cloud, Bella Roma, Lemon Spice category as far as strength of scent goes. It might be a tiny bit stronger smelling, if that's possible. The scent is fruity deep and complex. The picture is accurate, its a bicolor, with the underside being lighter. That being said, my favorite is Double Delight. This post was edited by ameri2nal on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 18:19