Doing plant torture at Santa Fe Dam, east of Los Angeles, California, having put in a 'waterless' (no water once-established) garden including roses. Evelyn looks like a plucked chicken during the long, dry summer, with defoliation, and the remaining foliage having browned edges. Honesty compels me to add the plant had powdery mildew and rust in late spring. But the canes remain healthy (little to no sunscald), even after Santa Ana winds which killed some waterless 'Graham Thomas' and a waterless 'Le Vesuve' rose. Also, doesn't really look worse than many nearby native plants including Salvia and Encelia.

This past summer of 2019 was the first for the plant to go 'waterless'. The last soaking rain was in early June, the next soak was November 21. 'Evelyn' appears to be filling out and growing vigorously, as it would in the spring. Nice finally seeing a lush plant after months of waiting. It's actually the most lush plant in the garden, other than my waterless lawn.

People say that English roses need lots of water, and I believe this is true, but here in southern California 'Evelyn' appears to be able to grow well in the winter, when rainfall takes care of it (hopefully). Once it 'cycled off' in the summer drought it was fine. It sent out basals in July but they stopped growing some weeks later, showing the compacted internodes that many roses show when stopping growth for winter.

In order to really know, the plant needs to be evaluated for 2 more years, but it appears to be a candidate for waterless gardening in Los Angeles, especially away from the fungal issues of the coast.

Nate

Edited to add 2 weeks later: it appears many of the plant's shoots are blind--while some are extending normally-- it probably won't have a full, spring like flush of flowers this winter. Maybe not perfectly adapted for 'waterless' conditions.