Paul Nevron (sp?) is a quite large Pink. It's survival, though is plus or minus in my 5B area. Probably my other largest blooms hardy in 4 would be Earthsong and maybe Winter Sunset.

Hi Professor,
Thanks for your suggestion. I forgot to mention PLEASE disregard my zone. I assume, if I'm going for a larger bloom, I will have to bury it.
Thank you so much,
Kitty

The bloom on Legends is huge...a good 6-7" across.

Professor,
I think Paul Neyron is very pretty. How well does it repeat?

Dollsand roses, I had to laugh when I looked Legends on HMF; it described it as Monstrous and Humongous. The only flowers I've seen that large were on a hibiscus.

Peter Mayle has large hot pink blooms.

Valencia has exquisite and big buff/gold blooms--although it is not a rapid re-bloomer by any means.

Kate

Veterans' Honor, Peace, Stephen's Big Purple, are some big HT's that I have and a new one this year that I got from Palatines called Osiria.

Mnkitty -- in general, the more petals a bloom has and the bigger it is, the slower it will repeat. Also, hybrid pertpetuals in general have slower repeat than most any hybrid tea (it is the tea influence that brings in the quicker repeat). So, as expected, Paul Neyron has basically terrible repeat. But it's glorious when it does bloom. There's definitely a trade off to be considered there. You can't have it all, but nice try anyway ;)

Moreover, hybrid perpetuals in general also have worse plant architecture than hybrid teas -- usually bare nekid knees. Just expect that and put the plant behind something else if you go with most any hybrid perpetual.

MN Kitty, may I suggest to you TYPHOO TEA? The beautiful, long stemmed bloom I cut today (on my new to me this spring, band) is 6" , with an intense, heavenly scent. The coloration is a dark, warm pink with a white reverse. Mmmmm, does my bathroom smell good with it sitting there looking so beauteously wonderful. :)

Debbie

Here is a link that might be useful: Typhoo Tea at HMF

Kate, Thank you. I like your suggestions.

Wirosarian, How do you winter protect your tender roses? Do you do the MN tip too or, is there a better way?

Kstrong, That was very informative. So, there isn't one perfect rose huh? (Rats!) Thanks anyway

Debbie, You should be in advertising. It made me smile to think of how happy your new rose makes you.

I really appreciate all of your help,
Kitty

Lol, thanks, Kitty. :) At one point in my life I thought about going into advertising because that skill came easily to me, but I decided against doing it because in careers where I've had to make a profit selling things I thought folks didn't REALLY need--my conscience said, "NO!". ;)

Debbie

{{gwi:294117}} Osiria is a beauty but not really large, for me. Rather stingy and no fragrance, but still beautiful

{{gwi:220745}} Memorial Day

Madame Bovary (Delbard) has large blooms. It survives the winter in zone 5a Chicago without protection.

Debbie, That's really nice. More people need a Jimmeny Cricket that works as hard as yours.
Kitty

Susan, Osiria is very pretty and so is the pink flower with it. What is that? I like Memorial Day too; what a nice bouquet.
Thank you so much for the pictures,
Kitty

Predfern,
Madame Bovary is very nice. It's encouraging to know she may not need as much protection as some others.
Thank you,
Kitty

Kitty, The pale pink with Osiria is Scepter'd Isle...very large plant...don't love the scent!

Kitty, I don't use the MN tip except a version of it for my potted minis which I bury in an annual bed of my potager. For my HT's, I plant them with the bud union 3-4" below grade. Sometime between Nov 10th & the 25th. I tie the canes together in a bundle, slide a collar over them & fill it with wood chips. Most of the cane will die back for me so I use a high N lawn fertilizer for the first spring feeding to regrow canes.

I have several huge blooms right now on my Veteran's Honor. GORGEOUS and long lasting in the cooler temperatures we are having as well as fragrance you can smell as you walk by. I think the one on the top of the plant is 6 inches across and has been there for 10 days now....my Peace and Mr. Lincoln also qualify as large roses, but VH is the best IMO. J&P still has it offered for sale next year as bare root and I am considering getting a second one I like it so much.

Thank you, Susan. I didn't know Scepter d'Isle was that light. All your roses are so pretty. It must be fun to have enough to have several bouquets.
Kitty

Wirosarian, Thanks for the info. I'm so afraid of losing my roses that, it may take me a while to have the courage not to bury them.
Thank you,
Kitty

Particentral, Thank you for your suggestions. I have Mr. Lincoln and his blooms aren't that big. Did your flowers get larger with time?
Thanks,
Kitty

Thank you, Susan. I didn't know Scepter d'Isle was that light. All your roses are so pretty. It must be fun to have enough to have several bouquets.
Kitty

Wirosarian, Thanks for the info. I'm so afraid of losing my roses that, it may take me a while to have the courage not to bury them.
Thank you,
Kitty

Particentral, Thank you for your suggestions. I have Mr. Lincoln and his blooms aren't that big. Did your flowers get larger with time?
Thanks,
Kitty

My Mr Lincoln has only been with me for a year and a month or two. SO I cannot say that they get bigger with time. It was producing 6 inch blooms when I bought it in the nursery pot after season lasst year. I will say it is over 6 foot tall now.

Guys,
There's an argument to be made here for Nature versus Nurture. There's the genetic component. That's what most here have talked about. There's also the nuturing of roses.

Nobody is going to get roses with huge blooms in the heat of a summer with daytime temps over 95 and nighttime temps maybe dropping to 80. The blooms are going to develop too fast to put on size.
If those same bushes were to be grown in the Pacific Northwest (coastal) the next year, the slow onset of spring would leave the owner waiting and waiting for first bloom, but those blooms would be awesomely big, because the buds are coming through a cooler, slower, moist late spring - and the sizes are wonderous. If you've never vacationed in late spring and early summer there, such a trip needs to be in your future. (Plan it around the timing of rose shows in the area.)

Nurture plays a furture roll that varies from year to year. Have you played with fertilizers like Carl Pool's Bloom Buster? and followed their directions completely and watered your roses religiously? It does make a difference.

Then there are decisions you make before you plant, and even before you buy.

Are your roses on rootstock that works really well in your soils? This is a must if you want to optimize bloom.
Is the rose free of fungal and bacterial diseases and is it free of Rose Mosaic Viruses- or as clean as is possible?

And then there are nurture kinds of accidents. Years ago I had The Pilgrim, a light yellow David Austin intro, that bloomed in clusters of about 3 inches across. Somehow, a cluster happened and all but one buds were removed (caterpillers) early. The resulting bloom was eight inches across. A similar thing happened with a Graham Thomas. Just pinching out all but one bud at the end of a stem will increase the size of the survivor.

Ann, I've noticed my roses being darker in cool weather but, I guess I didn't pay attention to their size. Sounds like I should try some Bloom Buster and research what rootstock would be good. Removing buds I find extremely difficult.
Thanks for the info,
Kitty

Kitty,

Disbudding is the easiest difference you can make. You want to finger-tweak off the side buds just as soon as they emerge.
Often all it will take is one digit to knock off the side buds.

The side effect of this is-it will lead you to make a decision of quantity versus size. (I'll leave quality out as presumably smaller blooms and larger blooms both have quality.)

I found that I prefer clusters of blooms. Disbudding Hybrid Teas means that the total number of blooms from your garden will be maybe 30% of how many you'd have un-disbudded.
Should you find that you want to exhibit roses, you'll disbud without a second thought, because you're going for the most that a bloom can be.