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'Sophy's Rose' & cutting practices

13 years ago

This little Austin rose is normally a very bright cherry red. However, I've learned that flowers cut in tight bud and opened in the house will mature to a gorgeous lilac-mauve color, fairly strong but amenable in bouquets with traditional colors.

I think a lot of us who started out with hybrid teas took a while to learn how to cut other kinds of roses. You have to experiment. Most semi-double roses are best cut when the sepals are just starting to split or while they are dropping. Many very double roses, like Sophy, will open easily from tight bud as soon as the sepals have dropped and will last a reasonable time in water. But if you wait till they are even half open, they shatter quickly.

I'm enjoying 'Sophy's Rose.' The plant is dense and compact with leaves and flowers to the ground. It has some resistance to blackspot and gives very fast, heavy repeat bloom. However, the flower is fragrant only on rare occasions.

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Comments (5)

ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
13 years ago
I've ordered Sophy's Rose so your information is very useful, Michael. I love to cut roses for the house but so many of them don't last well. I'll gladly settle for two or three days in the vase, but with the old roses and Austins I grow I often don't even have that. I'm a little disappointed that this rose is a bright cherry red on the bush since I'd always assumed it to be lilac red. Well, it remains to be seen what color it will be in my climate and I'll hope for the best. The compact shape and fast rebloom are exactly what I was looking for.

Ingrid
michaelg
Original Author
13 years ago
I just discarded a plonk that was good for 4 full days with Sophy, Radio Times, Kronprinzessin Vik, Prospero, and St. Cecilia, given no care beyond plonking. It was very pretty and fragrant. The latter two are fairly good keepers however they are handled. Radio Times is the worst, and only the ones opening from very tight buds made it beyond two days. The fragrance kills, though.

Heritage is another that needs to be cut quite early.
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I grow both of these roses and have for three years. Both bloom almost constantly, much more than most of my other Austins. Neither have much fragrance. I prefer the blooms of Sophy's Rose to John Clare. I don't consider John Clare's semi-double blooms anything special but I definitely appreciate him in my garden during those times when nothing else is blooming. He got rather tall at the end of this season, shooting up to about 5 feet. Sophy's Rose has blooms that look more like dahlias to me. They are a darker, deeper pink with many petals. They do not look typical of other Austin Roses, to me, they look more modern. Still, I find them beautiful and appreciate their frequency. Neither of these two roses are anywhere near my favorites, however, I value both for their reliable, constant color and bloom. I do spray and find them both to be more disease resistant than other Austins. HOpe this helps, Shelley
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buford
13 years ago
I love my Sophie's rose. I've never cut blooms and brought them inside, I will have to try that if I get another flush this year. It is almost a perfect plant. Except for the no scent part.

This year, the Austins have done the best. Sophie, The Prince, Tradescant and Tamora are really doing well.
ronda_in_carolina
13 years ago
I have never sprayed my Sophy's Rose and she is a delight in my garden. I can't say I ever saw BS on her. She doesnt have any fragrance but the color and ease of care makes her worth her spot. I never tried to cut her for an arrangement, but now I will!!!

Thanks!
michaelg
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi ronda and buford--I'm glad to hear that Sophy is doing well for my buddies downslope. This rose is certainly worth a try for no-spray gardeners in blackspot country. I haven't heard anything about resistance to West Coast diseases, but I hope Ingrid has good luck.

You know how, when you tour the garden, there are always some roses showing off their bad habits, whether spotting, sulking, complaining about iron, producing substandard flowers, balling, flopping, or making ungainly growth? Sophy's Rose is always happily doing the right stuff.

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