I don't know Belinda's Dream -- but I know that I can make Grandmother's Hat into anything I want it to be.

Pruned consistently as a bush to begin with, then left alone, it can develop into a huge ball, studded with blooms.
It's also effective, left to naturalize as a hedge, and pruned minimally.
It can be grown up as a speciment plant that arches out at the top (here, against a wall)
Or it can be more formally espaliered against a wall or fence or trellis (which we don't do, but which we have seen done effectively).

Jeri

Jeri,

"It can be grown up as a specimen plant that arches out at the top (here, against a wall)"... This is what I would like to create. If I just let it be, but deadhead it, G.H. just grows upright?

Lynn

Yes. If you don't prune it down, that's what it does. Those pictured are actually 'Tina Marie,' but we are doing the same thing elsewhere with "Grandmother's Hat."

IF you stuck it out in the open, it would probably arch out equally all around, and you could plant lower-growing things around it.

The more you prune it DOWN, the wider it will grow. SUCH an obliging rose!

Jeri

Hello. I grow both Grandmother's Hat and Belinda's Dream in Northern Califormia in sunset zone 14, and there is no question in my mind that I would easily choose Grandmother's Hat over Belinda's Dream as a focal point. Grandmother's Hat blooms much more frequently than Belinda's Dream. The foliage of GH is much more lush and abundant than Belinda's Dream. When GH isn't in bloom, it still looks like a lush plant. You can trim GH to whatever height you want it to grow. I grow mine to about 6 feet.

This is my experience in my climate; your climate might differ. As you can tell I am a definite fan of GH.
Good luck in deciding.
Karen

I've never grown Belinda's Dream so can't comment about that rose. However, I do grow Grandmother's Hat. She was absolutely stunning at the Stagecoach Inn, which is much closer to the coast than I. She's also gorgeous in Jeri's garden. Here in inland empire heat she is only so-so. She blooms, but not very often, and the flushes don't produce very many flowers. I have her next to the rugosa Polareis which greatly out blooms her as does the moss, also close by, Rene d'Anjou and the once-blooming William's Double Yellow. I have a plant of the shrub/polyantha Cassie about 10 feet away, and this rose blooms year-round. It's very happy! I think Ingrid, also in a high-heat location, had rather disappointing results with Gram Hat. Perhaps she wants more humid air and a little cooler location.

Melissa

For this query, that's significant, Melissa.

Jeri

My only comment is that my BD is very much a nice round mounded ball shape and my GH is very much a nice V shape.

My GH is just a year and a half old, so still much smaller than BD planted last season from a 5g pot-so older plant

I think that because my climate is likely closer to Tessiess, Grandmother's Hat should do better up against a wall where it will receive partial shade. Belinda's Dream will likely create the focal point as that rose will need to take heat. I am growing it to a 5 gallon prior to planting hoping that will help.

Lynn

Unfortunately, GH is no longer with me because it couldn't tolerate the heat. The flowers fried within hours and were rather shapeless, and as I recall we weren't even fully into summer. I was very disappointed since the bush itself grew very quickly and was covered with leaves even when very young, and looked so healthy. I'm so jealous looking at Jeri's gorgeous beauties but it is what it is.

Ingrid

My Grandmothers Hat

{{gwi:314791}}

vs Belinda's Dream
{{gwi:314792}}
Very different shapes.

Belinda is currently taller, but she can from a 5g can and GH was a band

{{gwi:314793}}
Getting ready to explode in pink. Ours does get some shade.

Kippy, your GH is coming along beautifully. :-)

Jeri

Thank you Jeri!

Do you think she would mind if I clipped a bit later this fall to try as cuttings?

That is only a 4 foot trellis by the way not a 6 footer

Not in the least. I wish you would. There needs to be more of her, after all. Don't prune her hard this year, I think -- but she is one you CAN prune, if you want to.

And she does appreciate regular deadheading. :-)

I've always wished I had a place for a long hedge of alternating 'Tina Marie' and "Grandmother's Hat." Alas -- I do not.

Jeri

Kippy-the-Hippy,

Thank you for sharing your photos! I really prefer the leaves on the Grandmother's Hat but at this point fear whether or not she will be happy in the only space I have for her. From what I have seen on Belinda's Dream in person, and G.H. in photos, they both have beautiful but different roses. Are either of them especially fragrant?

Lynn

I have both - Belinda makes a large rounded shrub and always has flowers. GH is a taller thinner bush - doesn't bloom as much. Belinda has hybrid tea shaped blooms that last well in a vase, but alas....no scent. GH blooms smell nice, smaller blooms. I bought my GH on sale some years ago for $2 so perhaps it needs a few more years to get bushy. I let mine grow tall - the spot it is planted will do better with a tall thin bush. I cant say I would have one instead of the other - they are both excellent bushes. I just bought 2 more Belindas from Chamblees when I went last week. Completely disease free, beautiful foliage - I have a couple of places it will be perfect for.
Judith

I do not notice a scent on BD....Of course being located next to the chicken house adds to that issue (not going for a big whiff there....lol)

It is really not fair to compare the two for flowers here yet, BD was in a pot for a long time before GH was rooted.

Jeri, I would love to root one more for the entry gate by Renae and remove the bougusvilla. Then in a few years I hope to have enough of both to start rooting more and sharing.