You can all of these roses on www.helpmefind.com/roses

Carrie, I'll be able to tell you something later about Sunny Today. I have it on order. I think Joyce Barden is good and maybe I've looked at ordering it before. I've considered Gloire Lyonnaise also.
Did I ever send you my list for you to have cuttings?

Carla

I have Coquette des Blanches and Marechal Niel. I purchased Marechal Niel as an own root band from Vintage in 10/05. It is now 2 to 3 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide with a zillion blooms. Three are open now; the beauty and fragrance are unbelievable. I expect lots of growth this year. CdB I received from ARE in fall of 2005 as well. It came in a 2 gallon container. It is 4 feet tall with only 3 canes. The bush is healthy and the flowers divine, but it is a tall skinny bush at this point. I love them both, but MN is by far my favorite. I have no experience with Sequoia, but I have heard many good things.

White Pet is a nice little mound of fluff for me. It is getting a bit sprawly (I'll attribute that to more fertilizing than usual last year), but is easily kept in shape with light pruning. No more than 2.5' tall by 2' wide. Some fragrance, and the blooms do shatter, but there are a lot of them. Rebloom is OK in mid summer, but heaviest in spring and early fall.

Thanks everyone.
Carla, I did get your email and I thought that I responded to it! I am really tired of doing cuttings and will be taking a break from it for a while once this newest crop of babies get hardened off. Thanks, though. I do have a bunch of roses rooted if you ever want to trade your babies for mine.
Carrie

Purple Buttons is a delightful, low-growing, very productive Shrub Rose, created by Kim Rupert. It is a child of Cardinal Hume, and looks and smells just like it, but for the size. It's actually suitable for a large-ish pot.

I was recently advised that White Pet was most attractive when two were planted together.

Coquette des Blanches has been slow to develop for me. It is now on its fourth spring. Last year it produced one spray. It was exquisite, granted, but that was all she wrote.
This year, it needs to do better.

Jeri

Marechal Niel was always a weak grower on it's own roots. I've seen accounts to that effect in the 1800s. It may grow well on it's own somewhere, but apparently not where you live. Find a grafted one since one has died already.

I have a 4 years old own root Magenta. Very weak grower (still 2x2), ugly shape bush (only about 3-4 stems), few blooms throughout a year (if I get 5, I am lucky), and weak fragrance. She has a position in my yard because my daughter liked this name, otherwise, she would found a new home much earlier. To be fair, I heard a grafted Magenta is a very strong grower.

Well I'm kind of bummed out now. I just heard from Sequoia that Lavande wasn't available so I'm going to wait and order in the fall.
Jeri, maybe by then you will know whether CdB did any better during it's 4th year.

Jeri, maybe by then you will know whether CdB did any better during it's 4th year.

*** Yes indeed.
It's not in bud yet. But then, neither is Mme. Plantier, and I KNOW she's going to bloom. :-)

Jeri

Carrie, I got Souvenier d'un Ami last year. It's in a pot, and has stayed fairly small so far - about 3x2 - I got a huge crop of flowers in the fall - the blooms are just gorgeous - don't remember if it had a fragrance or not.

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aprille

Thanks for the pic. That really IS gorgeous. If you think about it, let me know about the fragrance when it blooms this spring.
You too, Jeri, because the pictures I saw of CdB made me write "YES! YES!" on my list.

Here's a photo of Sunny Today. It's been vigorous and lovely.
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Magenta has a simply wonderful flower and very fragrant. Takes after other lavender colored roses. But it's a very weak grower on it's own roots. Mine died after malingering for a couple of years. I'm going to try again with a grafted version. Actually two sources of grafted, Wisconsin Roses and Hortico.

Thanks Pam. Now I'm totally excited about ST.

Carla

For several years I grew an own-root Magenta in a large pot. The first three years it did absolutely nothing. It sat there and made no new canes- barely grew at all. Alfalfa tea and epsom salts didn't help. Then I mulched it with several inches of aged horse manure and it took off. From then on I gave it regular doses of horse manure and it grew and bloomed. The flowers are gorgeous and it does smell good. It likes horse exhaust, so if you try it, keep that in mind.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:237222}}

I have a Coquette des Blanches that I planted last spring from ARE and it was one of the most incredible roses in my garden. It grew 5 feet tall, well rounded with the most beautiful leaves ever. But the best part was the flower. Mine bloomed all summer long and had a wonderful fragrance. I originally saw this rose at a nursery in Oregon years ago and was blown away by the fragrance and bloom size so I made a mental note to find this rose again! Coquette is one of the healthiest and vigorous roses in my garden. I highly reccommend it.

I strongly suspect that for most people, peaches experience of Coquette des Blances would be valid. I suspect the issue is whether or not one can give it a few chill hours.
It is beyond doubt an incredibly beautiful rose.
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Jeri

Thanks for the heads up on where to get a grafted Magenta. Do her blooms crisp?
Thank you everyone for your comments and pictures.

I had a near six foot grafted Souvenir d'un Ami--nice flowers when they opened but they balled too often in our humid climate which I suspect is not profoundly different than yours in North Texas.
Gloire Lyonnaise is one of the very best HPs in my climate, a fine white, and a full and upright bush moderately scented. It bspots less for me than many other HPs.
Madame Creux I had briefly before I inadvertently killed her. She was nice, rather like Gloire de Dijon but in apricot. I don't remember if she had GdDj's occasional reluctance to open well. I do remember that she didn't blackspot on me.

I have Coquette des Blanches, Magenta and Taischa. CdB is a very beautiful rose. Not white as advertised though. More of a pale pink but as you can see from Jeri's pic that doesn't detract from the attractiveness of the bloom. Fragrance is sweet and pervasive. Now if you want pure white then plant Boule de Neige.

Magenta and Taischa have both been disappointing. Each is on their forth year own root and have yet to top 1 foot. I'm not kidding. If I didn't know better I'd think they were miniatures. Magenta's flower are sort ho-hum for a mauve rose. I guess having REINE DES VIOLETTES has spoiled me. The dusky mauve color is rather "flat" in my opinion. As soon as I find the time she is getting replaced by PRETTY JESSICA.

TAISCHA on-the-other-hand has flowers that make my jaw drop. They are so beautiful it is impossible to describe adequately but I shall try. Tightly quartered in the middle but with a starry outline in the outer petals, a flower formation that reminds me of some of the older Tea roses. Color is this gorgous shade of lilac. Yes real true "lilac", not mauve nor cool pink or lavender. I define lilac as an equal mix of clear pink and lavender. The fragrance is identical to Sterling Silver. Absolutely stratospheric in both strength and complexity. If she doesn't do better this summer then I'm going to move her to a pot so I can provide maximum coddling. Some roses have flowers that are so beautiful that they are worth diva treatment. Taischa is one of those roses.

The picture in the link below is very true to the actual rose. The few flowers I've gotten from Taischa have looked just like the rose in the pic, but only about half the size.

Here is a link that might be useful: TAISCHA at HelpMeFind Roses

Some roses have flowers that are so beautiful that they are worth diva treatment.
* * *

and they wont get caught drunk driving or parading around town in a short skirt and no panties. Or go to a celebrity rehab.

Now I really want Taischa.
But I can restrain myself. The only way I'll get this rose is if Sequoia actually does sell Lavande this summer. Because I know Lavande will do well here.