I got a 36 inch standard of Peach Drift last Summer - it has been blooming continuously ever since, with no signs of disease. I just went to look at it, and it has 15 fully open roses on it, and many buds. Here is a picture of it when it was a new baby - it is about twice as big now:

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Jackie

Thanks Jackie, that is one gorgeous rose !! and I love the brick-work.... where did you get a 'standard' DRIFT, I have never seen it listed... the only place I find with any DRIFTs is Chamblee's, and they won't have all the colors before Spring.....sally

There is a local nursery here in Petaluma called Garden Valley Ranch - they also grow roses for the cut flower market. When we went there last summer they had about a dozen tree roses for sale - all new easy grow bush varieties. When I checked their web site just now they had 5 kinds of Drift roses, two of which were standards. Check they out.

Jackie

I've had a Peach Drift in the ground here in central FL for a year now. It blooms in flushes, not continuously, but that is likely because mine only gets about 3 hrs of sun. 12" bushy plant, very healthy. I'm not sure if nematodes will shorten it's life, but it does have vigorous roots. I left mine in it's Home Depot pot for a few weeks before planting it and it had rooted itself to the ground. I'm happy with it. If you like China Doll you might also like it's offspring Valentine.

Sally, when I bought my two Red Drift roses at Walmart a few months ago, they had a couple of standards as well ($20). So check at Walmart occasionally. Mine are still in their original pots but they're healthy.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Thanks for the input Jackie, I checked their web-site,it's interesting but I'm going to see what I can find more local, they are so far away...Thanks Cestpete , can you advise me do you spray? and how does your DRIFT do w/Black Spot? does it defoliate?.... Thanks Sherry I check HD but have never seen a DRIFT at my local one, also Lowe's, no luck there either... so Ocala must get different stock.... Sherry I understand you don't spray, I'm asking Fla. DRIFT growers how they are doing in their garden and especially the 'no-spray' folks, I am trying to get roses that don't BS, most of my 'Moderns' are history and replaced with OGRs now...DRIFT is so enticing I'm hoping it is BS resistant... Thanks again folks, sally

I should have mentioned I don't spray. I haven't seen blackspot on Peach Drift, it stays leafy. A few of my other roses do have some though. Feel free to stop by and see it.

Thanks Cestpete- I may take you up on your kind invite, and anyone wants to come see my garden is welcome, the bad and the good as well as all the weeds and overgrown stuff, it all hangs out there..... I love meeting GWers and love the Plant Swaps, a lot of stuff in my garden comes from the Swaps.. but not the roses, they don't get swapped very much....glad to hear that Drift is not BS prone, You made up my mind !! Thanks, sally

I saw the Drift roses blooming at Chamblees and was smitten with Pink Drift and Coral Drift - they are gorgeous en masse. I also loved Peach and Apricot Drift [bought all 4]. They have not had time to perform yet, I planted them in the fall. I have seen no BS on any of them and they are growing well - I look forward to a real show in the spring. I am making a new bed and plan to use Pink and Coral Drift in groups of 3. I think this is going to be an outstanding group of roses. A friend bought Sweet Drift, a pale pink, and it looked good also.
Judith

I'd love to see your garden Saldut. Gardens are rarely perfect. My mostly shady yard has several homeless plants in pots, I move them over there in the am to get a little sun, then I move them over here in the pm to get a little more. I feel sorry for them. I'm tempted to cut down a tree, but I know I'd regret it in the summer. I'll email you a list of non patent roses I have.

This link shows some of the Drift roses, Youtube has a lot of gardening videos.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drift roses video

Saldut, you mentioned China Doll is hard to find. I just saw that Roses Unlimited has China Doll, Weeping China Doll, and Pinkie - which is an open pollenated version of China Doll in the Polyantha section for 16$. Hope that helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Polyantha page

Hi Sally...I live in Tarpon and have good success with red drift. Bought mine at HD and Walmart. Bought the HD one first a couple of months ago and it has done very well..dark green foliage with lots of deep red blooms. So I just got the second one at WM last week. I have them in clay pots on the deck...very pretty!

oh yes....I don't spray my roses...:-)

Sally, Angel Gardens has china doll.
Nancy

Don't know why I missed the last few postings here, but I'm sorry I didn't respond, I sure appreciate the feed-back.. and Cestpete I think you did come to my house, when Tom was here (???) we talked abt. the kitties, etc.. well come again, contact me at my E-mail addy, it is in my Profile... and I have more cuttings some growing good, and plan on going to Lori's Plant Swap on April 21... she doesn't have roses but has listings on the Florida Forum and others bring great stuff, worth the trip over to Tampa....I did find a red Drift at HD on sale last month and have it here, but not planted yet, it was half-price, it was pretty ratty-looking and I want it to recover before I plant it... sally

Thanks Nancy, I didn't know Angel Gardens had China Doll, I just got an order from them several months ago but didn't see CD so must be something new... I appreciate your 'heads up', thanks, sally

We're growing about five different colors of the Drifts in the no-spray organic garden at the Virginia Zoo (Norfolk, Virginia) and all are fabulous except the white, which seem to lack vigor. They are almost ever-blooming with NO disease problems.
We're only Z8 here but we are hot and very very humid, so its hard to find roses which don't defoliate from BS.
The Flower Carpets were a miserable failure in this same garden, as were the Pavement series Rugosas.

I am also interested in hearing others' experiences with the drift roses. I am really considering purchasing coral drift for a mass planting, but I'm hoping to hear more input.
Molly

Good to hear that they may work here. I need some low growers, too. I just saw several at HD.

Veronica, northeast Hillsborough County, no spray.

I just got my Bulletin from the CFHRS and they talk abt. the Earthkind roses, and that Kordes has had a similar program in Germany, comparable to the program in Texas... Kordes has lots more cultivars other than Drift and seems they should be pretty BS resistant as well... any comment and/or testimony ?? especially from Fla. growers?? Chamblee's has some Kordes roses, also a Nursery in Carolina has a good assortment, as I recall.... the Earthkind roses are so hardy and really a boon to spray-free gardeners it's hardly worth trying to grow the HTs anymore....sally

For gardeners in northern Virginia: Meadows Farms nursery has the Drift roses in stock. They are just beginning to leaf out, no blooms to analyze yet.

I'm considering adding drift roses to my garden. Do deer or rabbits eat these?

Deer eat any rose, at any time they can get hold of one. They especially like rose buds. Makes no difference whatever what type of rose it is. If I have a new baby rose, or one with lots of buds, I frequently spray with one of those deer sprays - they are made of rotten eggs, smell horrible, but do not harm the environment, the deer, or other animals.

Thank heavens we don't have rabbits, so someone else will have to respond to that.

Jackie

I'd like to report on the drift roses I did get-- the one from HD finally came around, I planted it and it is great, a nice red... I found another later, and it is still in the pot... I then found 2 of the coral drift, they are still in the pots... but the main thing I'd like to report is that they all don't seem to get BS, and even better, they seem to be CHILI THRIP immune! I cant' believe it, but the rest of my roses are suffering from Chili thrips bad, but these drifts don't show any damage.... also, there are a few others w/no chili thrip damage- Louis Philippe, Spice, Ducher, Champney's Pink Cluster, Prosperity, Cl. Fairy, Cl. Devoniensis, Bermuda Kathleen... also these don't seem to get BS.... so many of my roses are just bare sticks, or sticks w/a few leaves at the top, all twisted, so seeing these others is a bright spot and reason for hope! sally

I put in a Peach Drift in early July and went back to get another, I liked it so much. We are quite humid here so my roses often struggle with blackspot, but without spraying, those two drifts are completely spot-less. I love the dark, shiny leaves against the variety of flower colors--peach, baby pink, yellow and dark pink--all on one plant.

In Mississippi, I discovered Peach Drift does quite well - for years - in small pots in partial shade. Got too busy to plant them, and ended up massing them with houseplants sent outside for the summer.... one summer following another. They bloomed happily in their little pots. Peach drift had no problem overwintering outside in those small pots, either. They remained semi-evergreen over winter.

Funny thing: they have sulked since I planted them (in partial shade, at a dry corner of the house, and also in slightly deeper shade/moister soil at the home's entrance). The new owners of the house say they are alive and disease-free, sporadically throwing short new blooming canes throughout the growing season - well into autumn - but not thriving. Such a happy color, though, nobody is thinking about replacing them.

In any event, the color is wonderful, and the plants have no noticeable disease in Mississippi. Most importantly, there's consistently a lot of dark, glossy foliage. I drive Lexus because they never fail to 'proceed'. And the primary requisite, to me, for roses, is that they keep their foliage. I will not buy a car unlikely to consistently 'proceed', and I will not (knowingly) buy a rose unlikely to keep its foliage.

Peach Drift passes the 'Foliage Test' with flying colors.

Looks like we're headed back South. Sold the new house we're building here in Oregon before the plaster is even dry, and the lowball/half-what-it-cost-to-build offer we made on a 'grand estate home' in Mississippi was accepted. Peach Drift is on the list of roses to order for the Mississippi house.

I think our old house in Ms had soil poisoned by the herbicide-crazy Troglodytes who owned it briefly before us. And Trogs around us were having their lawns sprayed with toxic goop from those 'Professional' outfits. Paul Barden says that stuff travels on the wind, and he's probably right. It may have been stunting our roses.

In Mississippi, I discovered Peach Drift does quite well - for years - in small pots in partial shade. Got too busy to plant them, and ended up massing them with houseplants sent outside for the summer.... one summer following another. They bloomed happily in their little pots. Peach drift had no problem overwintering outside in those small pots, either. They remained semi-evergreen over winter.

Funny thing: they have sulked since I planted them (in partial shade, at a dry corner of the house, and also in slightly deeper shade/moister soil at the home's entrance). The new owners of the house say they are alive and disease-free, sporadically throwing short new blooming canes throughout the growing season - well into autumn - but not thriving. Such a happy color, though, nobody is thinking about replacing them.

In any event, the color is wonderful, and the plants have no noticeable disease in Mississippi. Most importantly, there's consistently a lot of dark, glossy foliage. I drive Lexus because they never fail to 'proceed'. And the primary requisite, to me, for roses, is that they keep their foliage. I will not buy a car unlikely to consistently 'proceed', and I will not (knowingly) buy a rose unlikely to keep its foliage.

Peach Drift passes the 'Foliage Test' with flying colors.

Looks like we're headed back South. Sold the new house we're building here in Oregon before the plaster is even dry, and the lowball/half-what-it-cost-to-build offer we made on a 'grand estate home' in Mississippi was accepted. Peach Drift is on the list of roses to order for the Mississippi house.

I think our old house in Ms had soil poisoned by the herbicide-crazy Troglodytes who owned it briefly before us. And Trogs around us were having their lawns sprayed with toxic goop from those 'Professional' outfits. Paul Barden says that stuff travels on the wind, and he's probably right. It may have been stunting our roses.

My Drifts are blooming their heads off!...so glad I got them....I see Chamblee's has run out of several colors, when they have some more I plan on getting a few more, the Coral really pops and people walking by stop and comment. Can't beat that! sally

After this season, I'm very impressed with both Peach and Pink. They bloomed much more than any of the Kordes groundcovers in our climate. Pink has the truer ground cover habit. Saw Peach at NY Botanic in early Fall. Their entire garden is no spray. Peach had every leaf on it and was blooming like mad. The Kordes ground covers had no evidence of flower and were growing into monsters.

planning a new island and thinking of using drifts in groups of 3. was told they came in coral but do not see anyone mentioning coral. Do they mature to the point that 3 would be too tight?

I have 2 coral color next to each other, and they are great, I now wish I had gotten several more they really pop...and never any BS...I also have 2 red and they are also gorgeous.....sally

One selling point of drifts is that they spread - but I see no mention of spread in anyone's comments. SO, do they spread? If so, how much?
Lowell

I have two coral drifts and 2 apricot drifts that have been in my garden for several years now. I wouldn't call them spreaders by my definition. I think of spreaders as something that roots/suckers/colonizes...my Drifts don't do that. They are wider than they are tall...if that is what is being described as spreading. They are extremely resistant to blackspot and extremely prolific bloomers. Only negatives to me are that they have no fragrance, and they aren't good about self cleaning (spent blooms hang around on the bush too long unless deadheaded).

I bought 4 coral drifts and 6 peach drift trees last fall from Walmart (they were on sale for 5$ each) and they are growing pretty well for being the sad leftovers but the color is starting to blend / fade .....The blooms are off white with pokadots of color it's so weird

China Doll is still available from Roses Unlimited. I am lucky to live near them & buy all my roses there...have never been disappointed.

You are so lucky! I just got in my 2nd order from them - roses are so healthy! My Tangerine Skies just opened a bloom - lovely! Have you taken any photos of the nursery? Would love to visit them!

Update on the mass planting around the Virginia Zoo rose garden gazebo. Our Peach Drifts spread SO much that we ended up taking out every other plant so they would have the room they deserve. We had spots to replant the ones we remove and they haven't missed a beat, adding new growth and getting ready to bloom away!

We had mildew problems with Coral Drift elsewhere in the zoo. This was despite cutting back the many, many Coral Drifts in the "rose ribbon" to 12" at the end of the season. This was a prominent location so those Drifts were removed.

I have not taken photos there.... they have the "mother" plants there and many greenhouses full of rooted cuttings (for sale) and new cuttings.. you can tell from the arbors that it was a showplace at one time. Now it's not so much to look at but still the original owners - very friendly helpful staff. They give classes locally - I hope to sign up for some classes this year. It's a wonderful place but easy to get overwhelmed. I do best to go with a list of what I'm looking for. Here is a photo from last summer of my 1 year old Tess of the D'ubervilles, Teasing Georgia & Heritage. All 3 of these were purchased around Mother's Day 2015 & photos taken in April 2016. They are even more spectacular this year.

we purchased 4 red drift roses from a nursery in Land O Lakes with great expectations. It might be all the rain we have been getting but they have terrible black spot, been spraying and fertilizing but so far they look terrible. We are hoping for the best but we have been underwhelmed so far.

Drift roses do wonderfully in Florida. If you can, get yourself sweet drift. It is by far the best performing of the drift roses. It is ALWAYS in bloom and disease free. Also chili thrips ignore it. Here is a shot of one of my many sweet drifts. It even grows in partial shade.

I also highly recommend the sunrosa series. They are similar to the drifts but they are a bit taller in stature and not as wide. Here is a photo of my Red Sunrosa

She's pretty much always like this. This one is growing in a large pot in the center of the garden.

Theres also the lovely and charmant Soft Pink Sunrosa which is cute as a button.

Yellow Sunrosa does well for me too, but is not as prolific a bloomer. Her bloom are more full however. I dont ahve a pic of mine, but I recommend those three.

I tried fragrant pink, and Orange sunrosa, but those did not thrive for me.