Abbaye de Cluny was a complete success last summer 2010 in Connecticut. But, then again, it was one of the warmest summers on record and it was very dry from Spring through mid-summer. My parents came up in July 2010 and to this day by mother still raves over Abbaye de Cluny. I can only hope this summer is fairly dry. Now, June 2011, It is budded up and ready to bloom. We haven't had any significant rain since Memorial Day. If the rains return when it is ready to bloom, I swear I'm going to tent the darn bush to keep the rain from causing the flowers to ball. I love this rose. But, like John said in a previous post, it might be too much trouble in areas where you get frequent rain. Maybe I'll dig it up and give it to my mother. It doesn't seem to rain in North Carolina anymore!

I was recently gifted this plant from another rosarian who grew it and had trouble with it balling in wet and cool weather. I planted it in a very large container and plant to keep it that way. This way, when it rains I can move it and keep it dry and then when it is sunny and dry I can move it back into the nice outdoors to encourage it to grow and the blooms to open completely and not ball up and get ugly. So far the transplant seems to have been taken well by the plant and I look forward to seeing how it does. I did grow it's seed parent, Just Joey, and wasn't at all pleased with it for mostly the same reasons. In my rose beds it never grew very tall and the flowers were few and far between and when the weather was damp or cool the flowers would no open well. I finally shovel pruned it tiring of trying to coax good blooms out of her. Hopefully by growing Abbaye de Cluney in a pot so it can be moved around I can remedy this problem.
John

The pictures of Abbaye de Cluny here on HMF really remind me of my second year rose Mother of Pearl. It's color, size, and bloom form are very much alike. The bush on my Mother or Pearl bets very big and bushy. It's foliage stays quite clean. I don't recall seeing any BS or PM on mine in the two years I have had it. It is also winter hardy as I don't winter protect 99% of my roses including this one and it came through with flying colors and was vigorously growing and blooming in very short order. Also, the blooms on my Mother of Pearl have never balled even when the rains are aplenty.
SO, if you aren't happy with your Abbaye de Cluny, I would suggest trying Mother of Pearl as is sounds to me that it is probably an improved version of AdC.

I bought this rose potted in a 1gal container this past Spring. One week after I planted it the crazy rains came to the Northeast. It grew and it attempted to bloom but it balls very badly in the rain. I so looked forward to seeing some flowers but my hopes and dreams were dashed for a good 6wks as the rain kept falling, seemingly daily, as did bud after bud after bud. After July 4th, the clouds finally parted occasionally and the flowers started coming. It really wasn't until August that I got a good flush and it continued into September. It got a bit of blackspot which is expected with the wet weather we had. I sprayed every couple weeks and it kept it from taking over. Other than a little leaf removal maintenance, it remained healthy looking. I abolutely love the soft fruity fragrance and the large loosely cupped form, not to mention the color. I'll look forward to seeing how it performs in its second year in 2010 and hope for much less rainfall.