Veterans Honor is a very nice rose but as far as the contributions to Veterans fund, that is quite miniscule but it is a very beautiful rose and has the best bloom for cut roses that I have in my garden save florist roses, of which it should be one. It is tender, and I wonder if it would be hardy to your zone.

If you want to grow roses, joining your local rose society would be a great investment. It is rather inexpensive and the rosarians and consulting rosarians, rose growers can help you decide what care to provide roses in your area and which roses grow best, how to amend your soil, etc. Growing hybrid teas is not a one-size-fits-all as it depends, more than anything, on your area and the care and roses which will do well, are totally dependent on those conditions.

There's a post from another "newbie" just down from yours with a response from Karl about planting a rose that you may want to read. Also, one of the big online nursery sites , Roses Unlimited I think, gives a recipe for soil amendments and information on what to do with your new rose. Someone recently mentioned on this forum that there actually is a good book titled Roses For Dummies. There's every other title out there like that so there probably is such a book though I haven't seen it. In your local library though, you can find a lot of books on roses that should be very helpful. It seems like a big thing with Veteran's Honor will be making sure it is hardy to your zone and if it's "iffy" , you would want to really protect it over the winter with lots of mulch (and there are a lot of posts you can search here on how people in cold zones protect their roses during winter months). I just got Veteran's Honor too this year due to everyone saying how wonderful it is. Can't wait for the first bud to open! Good luck with yours.

Most important, first and foremost, is assuring that you have not picked a rose too tender for your zone and this rose appears to be a quite tender rose, even in my garden.

First of all please don't tell yourself that you always kill everything you plant. You will learn how to care for things if you are persistent and do a little studying and observation. All good things take time. Stephen Scaniello wrote a very nice beginner's rose book. I think it's called The Year in Roses(someone please correct me!) It tells you what to do with your roses every month of the year in a friendly, easy way.

Working with disabled veterans made this one really catch my eye. I resisted buying one until I went back to Lowes and they were starting to faint from lack of water. I asked about watering them and was told they had no intention of doing so. For my money that is so disrespectful to our young men and women who are being injured and killed that I told him off and did buy one. She's sitting on my porch where I try to figure out where to put a red rose into my peach and pink bed.

This rose has just about the most wonderful scent. It's described as "raspberries" but I can't tell that...only that I can hardly take my face out of the blooms. I'm sitting here thinking I need at least one more. But where, oh where, can I put them????

I have to agree that joining a local rose society would be a great investment. I very strongly recommend this.

I just planted a Veteran's Honor this year. I got it bare root at Costco and since it was dormant, I planted it the end of March. It is well leafed out now and beginning to grow. I've heard nothing but really great things about this rose. I can't wait to see it's blooms.

On the other hand....I have Arizona and Hot N Spicy which I think I'm going to shovel for Mrs. Oakley Fisher and Vesuvius. Hot N Spicy gave me two blooms last year and is weak this year. Arizona is simply ugly in my garden and failing as well. I also have By Appointment that has been failing the past couple of years. That one might go too.

julie22 - I was just reading through this post because scent is important to me - I might check out Veteran's Honor. BTW, sadly, Arizona was a terrible, mildew-ridden MESS for me, surprising after what I had read about it. I couldn't wait to SP the one I had.

Veterans' Honor only gets a few inches of lawn clippings for winter protection. Canes are dead back to the mulch line in spring. It is planted with the graft 3 inches below ground level. VH puts on a good show each year for us.

This rose can survive Z6 Connecticut gardens with winter protection--we have one that is a few years old. It won the best red rose at the Rhode Island show last year!

You may need to regularly spray it with fungicide to prevent Black Spot, if you have a climate that allows the leaves to stay wet for more the 6 hrs with warm temperatures.

The Roses for Dummies book is pretty good.

I mix our clay soil with Miracle Grow Tree and Shrub soil. Lately I've been tossing in some bone meal, though others recommend superphosphate instead.

What can you do if you can't spray fungicide because of the dogs? Is there something systemic I can use instead?

And how far apart should you plant a Veteran's Honor? I must have another, maybe 2 and some help with spacing would be appreciated.

I saw VH in a nursery on Saturday and only the $24.99 price tag stopped me. A truly lovely rose.

Another thought is that maybe after winter, the rose looks dead - but it might not be. Next spring give your rose a month to see whether new growth will come through the soil. Don't be too quick to assume it's dead.

Roses are so wonderful - keep trying!

Carol

Dave has magical powers and roses do better for him than most of us. :) I think his pretty wife casts spells on would-be-problems.

LOL, my beautiful garden sorceress says hi Patricia :) We all know I am joking when I talk about Deb casting spells..... it would be crazy if I believed that. OK, I'm crazy. She insisted on getting Veterans' Honor and I'm sure it gets more than its fair share of attention from Deb.

janegael, are the dogs outside all of the time? If you spray fungicide while they are in the house and allow it to dry, the dogs can then be allowed outside. If they eat the foliage, even a systemic fungicide would cause problems. If you don't want to apply a fungicide at all, give up growing hybrid teas and grandifloras (and a lot of roses in the Shrub class too).

Here, 3' on center is plenty, but you might be able to get them closer. Zach might be able to help here, I know he grows HTs.

I've never used it, but Bayer has a product that you mix with water and pour at the plant base. One 32 oz bottle should be enough to treat four roses for a Connecticut rose growing season, roughly 1/2 a year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bayer all in one

Julie, if your Veteran's Honor is highly scented it is probably mislabled.

My dogs are outside a lot and they tend to investigate new smells. Add that to a fair amount of humidity so the leaves won't dry quickly and it is probably a bad combination. They won't eat the leaves...just brush against them.

Mendocino, if your VH aren't fragrant I don't know what is wrong with them. The ones we have up here in CT are some of the most intensely and beautifully scented roses I've ever seen. My husband is so enchanted with them that he wants to get more of them.

I am in a very humid area in NJ (1/4 south of a river, 5 miles west of the Atlantic), and my fungicides are usually dry on the leaves within minutes.

Spacing HT roses in Z6A CT is really hard to figure. I just planted four potted plants with 2 foot spacing--if any of them decide to get big I'll just replant them while they are dormant.

I have a bunch of HTs that need three foot spacing--Artistry, Signature, Peace... any closer and they will be a mess of crossing canes.

I also have HTs would be just fine with two foot spacing, but because I grow just one or two of each type, it is hard to say whether they will stay small in our zone.

Close spacing may look nicer, but it makes the care of the roses harder. Fungal diseases are more of a problem if they don't get enough air flow to keep the leaves dry. Spraying helps, but isn't a cure all. The HTs I just planted are basically between two long driveways--they get much more air flow than something planted next to a house or solid wall. Chain link fence along a property line are also good for air flow.

Just wanted y'll to know I'm going to buy a VH as my next big HT Rose. I only own one other HT, Double Delight.

Am so excited, thanks for the enabling:)

Veterans Honor has no fragrance, probably the reason it is such a good cutting rose. Roses with fragrance shatter much more quickly, not VH. No fragrance and if you have one that has fragrance, you have the wrong rose, regardless.

IÂd had my VeteranÂs Honor for at least a week when this post was put up. I STILL have the original flowers on it! It is blooming, slowly and gracefully with the blooms lasting an amazingly long time. The scent is so heavenly you will find both my husband and myself going out with the dogs first thing in the morning to smell it and its one of the first things I do when I get home from work.

This rose is definitely a keeper. :)

As for fragrance Help Me Find describes it as "raspberry" and that is correct. As the blooms mature they definitely have a sweet fruity scent. HMF also lists it in the Ratings tab as being "Excellent."

Rose-Roses lists the fragrance as medium to strong http://www.rose-roses.com/rosepages/hybridteas/VeteransHonor.html

Pacific Southwest District of the American Rose Society http://www.pswdistrict.org/text/articles/romnov00.html Lists it as the 2000 Rose of the Year with "large medium red blooms with moderate fragrance."

Our own Gardenweb Hortiplex http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/p1/gw1047146.html Lists it as having and 8.5 rating for fragrance.

I could go on but you get the idea. Patricia I have no idea where you get the info that they have no fragrance but a lot of folks disagree. My color scheme is peach and apricot. I had to dig a whole new bed for them. I wouldn't have done that for a rose whose scent didn't thrill me to my toes...

Here is a link that might be useful: Help Me Find - Veteran's Honor

I guess I got it from the 6 that are in my garden, most of which came from various vendors. It has no fragrance. Blooms without fragrance last longer, it's like fruit that smell strong, starting to go bad. Roses do the same thing. Regardless of what anyone says, this rose has no smell and that is not just my opinion, but even from the J&P expert who speaks to our rose society.

Paticia, isn't it interesting that mine have a lovely scent, many others agree and yet yours don't smell and you have an expert by the company that I read developed them as Veteran's Honor to support their lack of scent. Yet J&P's own site lists that "As the raspberry-scented flowers mature, their bright color is softened by overtones of pastel pink."

I'm honestly puzzled. Lowes has tons of them in J&P containers and all are supposed to be Veteran's Honor and all smell incredible as does the one I found at a local nursery.

I guess that all I can say is that whatever it is that I have is wonderful and I'm sorry yours don't have the same scent.

>>IÂd had my VeteranÂs Honor for at least a week when this post was put up. I STILL have the original flowers on it! It is blooming, slowly and gracefully with the blooms lasting an amazingly long time. The scent is so heavenly you will find both my husband and myself going out with the dogs first thing in the morning to smell it and its one of the first things I do when I get home from work.Jane, I agree. All the VH I have grown (about 25) have had wondeful fragrance.

Richard

>> Veterans Honor has no fragrance, probably the reason it is such a good cutting rose. Roses with fragrance shatter much more quickly, not VH. No fragrance and if you have one that has fragrance, you have the wrong rose, regardless Patricia, I doubt all the metal tagged VH I've ordered direct fom J&P were mistakes.

All 3 of my bushes of VH are fragrant. Its not a bowl you over fragrance, but if I get close to it, it definitely has a raspberry fragrance. I think that description is perfect.
Jane, I love those long lasting blooms. I don't have anything else in my garden that lasts as long on the bush. They are phenomenal.

To my nose... Our VH has a moderate fragrance. Deb says the scent is almost strong. Visitors have said it has almost no fragrance while some agree with me and some with Deb.

Well now I'm confused too!! Several months ago I posted looking for the best reds that are fragrant. I also mentioned that I had decided to get VH. I had numerous people post to tell me that it doesn't have a scent, so I didn't get it. I have smelled blooms at nurseries and I haven't detected any scent at all. I'll have to check again the next time I'm at a nursery. If it does have a good fragrance, I would love to have it. It sounds like a great rose.

We have to all remember that everyone has a different ability to smell different kinds of scents.

My husband can't really smell VH, though it is one of his very favorite roses. It really bothers him when I tell him how wonderful it smells to me. I can smell it from a few feet away, something I can't do with most roses. To my nose, it has always smelled wonderfully of Raspberry Koolaid!

We have had ours (3 of the 4) for about 6 years now. The first 3 came grafted from J & P. The other one we purchased locally, New Generation rose (own-root).

:0) Phyl

I find it interesting that the J&P professional stated that it has no scent. Maybe he's simply reporting his own findings. I wonder if there is any other rose that so many of us appear to have differing opinions on the scent?

Whether you can smell her or not, VH is an astonishing rose. That's one thing we all agree on. :)

I just wanted to say I found it suprisingly hardy. I got a bareroot of it from Regan last season that wasn't in great shape to begin with (the bigbox bodybags looked better). I decided to leave it out in a pot on the patio over winter to die - and it lived! I am suprised it was that hardy, because it never grew very well last year.

I would think with protection out in the garden it would be just fine. Mine is getting planted out this go round.

Cheers,
Michelle

Michelle,

I have found the same thing. My first bush was in a pot for two years before going in the ground. I overwintered it in a dark garage. Come February, it was putting out new growth in that garage. In those first couple of years I neglected spray, fertilizer, even water sometimes, and it was still a bloom factory. When we went to put it in the ground last spring, my husband found he couldn't move the pot. It had put roots through the drainage hole of the container and rooted itself to the ground :) I bought two more bushes. I don't think I could kill it if it tried. Though I'm not trying, and it does get much better care now.

Here he is, on fortuniana rootstock:)

I lightly pruned him and picked off any yellow leaves, he's got about 8 buds ready to open. Will water him tonight and treat for blackspot and mildew tomorrow.

{{gwi:264343}}

Evie, where did you get one on Fortuniana? I'd love to find some on that root stock!!

Hi RJ,

Got it at...

Hardin's Nursery & LandscapingHardin's Nursery & Landscaping
6011 S Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL 33611

(813) 839-6151ý

Evie, thanks very much! I'll give them a call.

Richard

My pleasure:) Where are you located? I can probably give you a few others too.

Hardin's is opened one day a week, Saturdays only. Their plants are 24.95, they also have rose trees but cost more.

I'm in Fort Lauderdale. Did you happen to notice if they had Pope John Paul II on Fortuniana? That root stock is a MUST for in ground planting in S. FLA.

Veterans' Honor is a great choice for a new rosarian to start their garden with.
I have two of them. One is grafted on Dr. Huey and is four years old. The other is a two year old own root that I think actually just outdoes the grafted one in vigor and blooming.
This happens to be one of my favorite roses of all and as a matter of fact was the first ever rose to bloom for me when I started raising roses.
My VH flowers have a very definite sweet raspberry fragrance to them. It is not overpowering, but it is definitely there and a few in a vase will perfume a room to smell like raspberry kool-aid. I love it.
My VH blooms will last 12-14 days in a vase in the house so long as they are treated right. I cut the stems under water and use water doctored with a little 7-UP soda and a couple of drops of bleach. The soda's sugar feeds the bloom and the bleach keeps the ends of the canes from getting that gooey gunk that plugs up the stem and prevents water from reaching the bloom. I also re-cut--under water of course--my blooms after about 6 days. I cut about an inch off the bottom of the stem. Doing these little things really extend the life of the bloom and they stay beautiful until the very end.
I live in zone 6 in northwest Missouri and I don't winter protect my VH roses intentionally at all. I have a sweet maple and an oak tree that drop their leaves in the fall and most of them end up clustered around the base of each rose bush in my gardens. I just let them be until the next spring when I do my yearly pruning. At that time I use my blower and blow off the loose leaves as they have served their purpose. It works for me. I lost only one rose this spring--Strike It Rich from J&P-- and it was one that I just planted last year and it never really grew with much vigor or bloomed much. I think it was a dud from the very beginning, so I would probably try another one if given the chance.
Good luck with your new roses and enjoy those Veterans' Honor roses as they are top notch in my book. Probably the very best dark red rose I grow.
John

Yes, I did see Pope John Paul:)