The Poet’s Wife has done well for me in 6b. My two plants are in their first year and have both grown and bloomed multiple times. This is in contrast with Golden Celebration, which is also in its first year and has been pretty inactive so far. I have read that yellow roses can have more difficulty with disease, particularly black spot, but I have not had that problem with this rose in a zone that has constantly high humidity—I have multiple other plants with more of a black spot issue. One thing I love about this rose is that the color of blooms changes markedly depending on the temperature—hot weather softens the color into a pastel yellow while cooler weather brings an almost orange hue! The two photos show the differences by weather.
Planted 3 roses from Heirloom in early May then went away for a week. The deer nibbled on all three (we have deer? News to us!) while we were gone. Now in late July all have bloomed and are happily growing. Poet’s Wife has already bushed out, put on new canes, and currently has 5 fragrant, lovely roses in bloom and lots of buds. Wow!
I’m very pleased with The Poet’s Wife. Planted in May, it’s been blooming ever since and keeps churning out leaves