The blossoms on mine were always darker in cooler weather. It is a rugosa hybrid, and may not like zone 7 heat? Just a guess.

Sunny, could be but Rotes Meer, Therese Bugnet, and Rugosa Rubra do fine here. If that's the case, I may want to trade it. Thanks.

Carla

I've grown it a couple times (the second time as part of a collection) and wondered both times why I had planted it.

Carla, mine is beautiful. I just love it. It is quite large, and blooms much of the time.

SAmmy

I was going to suggest you ask if anyone in the southeast had it growing well after five or six years. I've been watching a bed of them in Asheville and haven't seen anything there to make me want it.

I've wanted Topaz Jewel for a while. I can't seem to get enough yellow roses in my yard.

I'd love to hear of anyone who has one doing well in the SE.

Carole

Thanks. I appreciate the responses.
Carole, hang on, you may get mine!
If this were a rose that had quirky history or dripped from perfume, it would be a different story but so far, not impressed.

Carla

Does Topaz Jewel (question probably to Ann), look as much like Carefree Sunshine as it appears from HMF? If so, and Carefree Sunshine is very healthy, would the garden in Asheville do better with a bed of Carefree Sunshine? I am assuming since Carefree Sunshine does so well for me and for Jean in Tennessee, that it would do well in Asheville?

The three different plantings I've seen of Topaz Jewel weren't great. The one in Asheville is an older planting, before Carefree Sunshine was released. Carefree Sunshine does beautifully in Asheville and for a bright yellow, it would be my choice.

But Topaz Jewel was an important rose, and genetically may still be important if the pollen can be used. Back when Moore introduced it, 1987, there were few yellow cold hardy roses. Cold hardy folks subsisted in a world of pinks, reds and whites with some creams thrown in for good measure (Oversimplified, forgive me, Frank Skinner). And a yellow rugosa was exciting for its potential for landscapes. (And we know how good yellow looks against some shades of green.)

So where do we go for yellows?
My own bent is to go to the old yellows from the 1800s because their hues go so well with other roses of that century. Topaz Jewel would fit in with that color pallette, but it doesn't seem that happy here. (Maybe it likes the cold winters of the Great Plains, as do many other hybrid rugosas.)
To my color preferences, the bright yellows of Carefree Sunshine and the yellow floribundas that include Golden Holstein, Sunflare, Mountbatten, and a couple whose names escape me (although I can't forget their in-your-face shades of yellow) are too bright to use with older roses with more romantic, subtle colors.

Carla...if you decide your Topaz Jewel needs a new home just let me know.

I fell in love with Rugosas on a trip to Vermont a few years ago and so far have had decent luck with Frau Dagmar Hastrup, which did struggle at first. This year has been a good one for her. I've tried growing Ostrich Ferns like they have up there and they've all just melted in my SC heat. I do have a Paper Birch growing on my back deck in a pot....talk about zone stretching!

Carole

Thank you Ann. I should have listened to Patricia, who told me that Carefree Sunshine was a hit.
Ok, Carole, we will talk.

Carla

My observation of it in the Great White North was that it generally tended to disappear after a few seasons. It's not that it wasn't somewhat hardy (though not entirely so), but it had lots of other problems that negated this, like canes suddenly up and dying all of the time until the shrub dwindled away. In the heat of the upper Midwest, at least, the flowers faded in minutes and blew in a day or two, too. I'd say its greatest genetic contribution might be to stimulate others to try similar crosses until one of them eventually works out.

wow! maybe tj is a rose better grown in cooler climates! i have had mine for at least 10 years, and i just can't say enough good things about it. disease free here, in a no spray garden, rapid repeat cycle, holds blooms for a good while, is one of the first to bloom and last to stop every year...maybe it doesn't like heat and humidity? i do notice that late in the summer, the blooms start out as a lighter yellow, not that they fade, they seem to start out lighter as the heat here intensifies. it's a keeper here..donna

Carla, I wanted you to see at least one picture before you decided against this rose. This picture is after we had transplanted it farther back in the yard. My husband cannot get past the rugosa canes - gray canes.

Carefree Sunshine is beautiful, but not a rugosa. They both bloom often, but it is easier to deadhead a Carefree Sunshine than a rugosa.

I took this picture in full sun. The yellow is pretty yellow, not like this. If you are interested I may be able to find an older picture of it.

Sammy

{{gwi:294638}}

Sammy, thank you for the picture. I really haven't given this rose a chance in the ground. It's been a very slow process as I think it's three years old in the pot. I love my other rugosas so I'm torn.

Carla

I really like mine so far. :o)
(Planted last Fall.)

It does smell nice - if that's any help :)

Ann,

Are those yellow floribundas you mentioned disease resistant for you? How well would they do in a no spray situation in BS paradise?

Robert