Hi, it is a lovely rose. My favorite fragrant rose out of many. I have 2 of them, and wouldn't be without them. They are basically once blooming for me -- a couple blooms after the spring flush but only a couple. In the fall I may get a small flush. The spring flush is amazing and to me it earns it's space in the garden. It gets powdery mildew pretty bad, but still blooms. It also gets some blackspot -- I spray but not on a regular schedule like I should.

Another really great climber I like even better is Viking Queen -- completely disease resistant (no spraying required) and repeat blooms. Very pretty.

Thank you so much for the response, now I am deffinately going to order it, and I might just order that Viking Queen for the other side of my garage. Thanks a bunch!

I only have one ZD, but wish I had more. It's a beautiful climber, the blooms are gorgeous, and smells wonderful. I just put mine in last Spring, and it bloomed like crazy until the drought hit. But it's holding up extremely well in the heat, and I haven't had a bit of trouble with BS or PM on mine. Cheryl

i've had my'Zeph" now for about 10 years. It reached the top of my 18' trellis in 3 years.
The area has grown shady, but zeph still does good in the dappled shade.
The aroma of zeph will molest you in may.
I have one large bloom cycle in may and have had a few blooms into december (Indianapolis)
I love to take my boy's picture in front of zeph, it makes a great background for easter, prom and graduation pics.
I have named my Zeph 'Audrey' from the 'Little Shop of Horrors' because she grows so fast, if you don't keep her in check, she will grab us while getting out of the car.
I have planted a zeph on the north side of my house. It is growing slower, but it is growing. Good luck.

I own 4 and the fact that she withstands some shade AND is thornless makes me happy.I have two on an arbor and two freestanding.Being in Hurricane country I need to bring in anything that might fly away.Well I can weave,unweave, braid, whatever to this rose and NOT get stuck! I gave my married son an arbor bench and he wanted a rose to twine in it. I told him I'd give him a ZD as I want the grandsons to not be ripped apart while playing in his garden and climbing on the arbor bench.

Hmmm...I must be doing something wrong. I have had mine for 2 years and not a single bloom yet! It is thornless, so I'm pretty sure it is ZD, but I wonder why it isn't blooming?? I've heard they are very fragrant, but I thought they were a continuous bloomer. I put mine on the Northeast side of my house to grow up the garage and fence, maybe it needs more sun? I'm still going to try, though, because once they take off, they are supposed to be breathtaking! Maybe this is the rose for the side yard area.

HW

They must be three years old to really bloom,like the perennial saying
The first year they sleep
the second year they creep
the third year they leap!

Oh wow golden! Thank you so much! It looks healthy, so I thought it should be blooming. That's nice to know. I'll keep it where it is, and buy another for the other side!

HW

I'll just add my voice to the chorus: I really like this rose. I've grown it in each garden I've lived in (three here in Seattle and one down in Phoenix). Here in Seattle mine bloom pretty much all summer, with the heaviest flush early in the season. The scent is just fabulous, though the color is a bit, um, hard to place (at least for me). I call it "Barbie Mattel" pink. Yes, as in the doll. Still, it's fabulous and I highly recommend it. I usually frame it with some silvery grey to moderate the flower color a bit and to help it get along with other colors.

I just moved in to my current garden, but I plan on planting at least one (probably more like three) late this winter (good rose planting time in this climate).

Let us know if you get one, what you do with it, and how it does. I'm sure you'll love it in person as much as in the catalog.

Take care,
Grant

Wow, thanks everyone for the valuable input, and thanks Hydrangea for requesting the info.

For the past two years I have also been wanting to purchase ZD. The description in the Wayside catalogue sounded too good to be true, so I restrained myself from getting it. I think I will go for it now that I've read these "testimonies".

Almendra

I've also heard so many good things regarding "ZD" that I went to my local nursery and asked about it. I'll be going back at the end of the month to pre-order a couple. I'm also very interested in the pink iceberg and new pink double knock-out.

I have been watching ZD for several years but wasn't sure where to plant it. We did a remodel and ended up with a perfect spot. Ordered one this spring and it is going gangbusters. The foliage looks really healthy and I had a bloom on it that was nicely fragrant. At a family gathering I was talking to a cousin who also gardens and he said he has had one in Queens NY and one in Allentown Pa for years and loves their low maintainance and hearty growth. Kareen

My ZD is first and last rose to bloom every year. The first bloom is glorious but the foliage in spring when it is wet is prone to BS. But then she shrugs it off, grows some more foliage, and keeps blooming non-stop here. Perhaps she performs differently in different climates. She also doesn't have problems balling in the wet spring like some other roses. Mine doesn't have a really strong fragrance, though, but I sniffed it this spring and it does have some.

So..in looking around the Internet I find numerous different height numbers given for this rose. Am interested to know how tall this plant has gotten for others in the south. And what kind of trellis are you using?

I've also had my zd for 2 yrs. this will be the 3rd. it's has not grown anymore than 2 ft tall. it's on a south east corner of my house and gets plenty of sun. I will watch it closely this year to see what it does. I love it so much. I planted it to replace a 17 yr old Queen Elizabeth that quit blooming at 13 yrs. except for about 6 blooms at the most. I inter planted Clematis purperea plena elegans with it. they have the sweetest quarter sized bloomes. I planted them the same year and the Clematis was over the roof of the house and there sat ZD at 2ft. oh well, this year!!!!!!

Before you plant the ZD, I would suggest that you put it in a pot, and place the potted plant at the location to see how it fares.

Mine is planted, and 4-5 years old, and blooming well; but it gets powdery mildew easily. I am thinking of taking it out.

Certainly you should plant it if you like it. It's truly a beautiful rose if it is planted in a good situation, but it is essentially a once bloomer. If once bloomers are okay with you, there are any number of amazing ramblers to pick from. If you want repeat bloom, there are climbers that I believe will make you happier. In the world of red climbers, my personal favorite is Climbing Etoile de Hollande. It is fragrant, much more disease resistant than ZD, and it repeats very nicely. A long established plant will form a glorious wall of roses, something I have seen for myself. It is technically not an Old Garden Rose, since it is from 1931. But a more beautiful climbing rose would be hard to find.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cl. Etoile de Hollande

My ZD is still 2 ft tall. i am really bummed! i fed her and watered her. the clematis again was superb.
Tanya

Hello flowerchild5,
When you planted your Zepherine in replacement of your Queen Elizabeth, did you happen to replace the soil in that area first? If not, I'd recommend digging up the rose and replacing the area around it with some good topsoil/compost mixture and replanting your Zeph (roses don't like to grow in soil that previous roses have inhabited).
Good luck!

I have 6 ZD's in my front yard (in central SC) in a bed together. After checking on them this afternoon after some other yardwork, I discovered that with the exception of one very happy looking bush right in the middle of the bed, almost all of the leaves are gone off the canes, save the ends of a few lucky ones on all the other bushes. They gave the most beautiful show about a month ago, a testament I guess to their ability to bloom despite my apparent neglect. I can only guess that some normal rose disease like black spot or mildew has caused this almost complete leaf loss. Do I prune them? Do I spray them although there isn't much for the spray to land on? These roses have been a wonderful addition to my yard but I need to do something to manage this problem so they can continue to show off for me! Thanks for any help!

Any thoughts on what to accompany ZD on an arbor in zone 5 to get color all summer? And should I plant one ZD and one companion on each side? Your thoughts are appreciated.

I HATE ZD. I am going to hack her up! Full of mildew. Blooms look blown the minute they open. She is planted with other roses at are all doing really well. ZD is a big loser for me.