My favorite would be Crimson Bouquet because it blooms so much.

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Folklore is a beauty too.

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Least favorite? The mildew magnet New Day!
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Kordes roses must be really good roses, because I've loved everyone I've ever had, which include Helmut Schmidt, Folklore, Kardinal, New Day, Liebeszauber, Royal William and Sunsprite. I would have to say my overall favorite is Folklore, because of its abundance of bloom and the beauty of the blooms themselves and the health of the bush itself. Going through the list of Kordes roses I see there are others I would love to try and I have already ordered a Valencia for next season. Since Seil posted such a beautiful picture of Folklore I will include a picture of Kardinal.

Oh no New Day is so pretty here. New Day and Eternal Flame are my prettiest yellows. Pomponella is a beauty. If the first flush is spoiled by weather, don't worry, another one will be coming along.

My favorite is one I don't have. Raubritter What a beauty. I just don't have the required stately pool to show it off (HA!). Just kidding. But everyone loves to copycat that idea. Descanso Gardens has one cascading over a low wall into their pool and I enjoy that one.

Royal William is very good indeed and makes show perfect roses with good true red color and squeaky clean leaves.

My runner up is Lion's rose because it blooms so much and has not gotten any illness sitting next to a disease magnet rose. The lovely flowers handle heat and rough winds and change from soft yellow to cream to off white. Just wonderful. Please make one in pink!

Here is a link to magnificent Raubritter

Here is a link that might be useful: Raubritter

Rosarium Uetersen & Sunsprite tie for favorite status. Don't recall a Kordes rose I haven't liked...

Kitty, now I see what you mean about the similarity between Pomponella blooms and Raubritter blooms. I love that style--but have never seen the pic of Raubritter draping into a pool.

Folklore certainly is a beauty, isn't it. New one for me. Times like this I regret having adopted out my Crimson Bouquet--but it did have lots of BS problems after every blooming cycle. Flaming beauty otherwise.

Kate

I guess I'm swimming against the tide when it comes to loving Kordes' roses because Kordes roses and I don't get along, and there are very few I like much. But there is one, the porcelain like, almost blue rose, Blue Bayou, that I do like very much. It is my photographer granddaughter Clare's favorite (she took this pic of BB).
I don't have a runner up, but my least favorite K rose is definitely the wretched Party Dress, who rarely deigns to bloom, and when it does, is a nasty balled up, thrips ridden, brown petaled MESS. I was supposed to dig it up last year and am still procrastinating (giving self a quick kick in the pants).
Here's Blue Bayou. Diane

I have only a handful of Kordes roses and Sangerhäuser Jubiläumsrose (aka Floral Fairy Tale in the US) is new to me. It is already a favourite, very healthy and has a good scent.
The colour is different and difficult to place in my garden of old roses so I've paired it with purple roses and blue perennials.

Raubritter for me too - a gorgeous (although fierce) rose. I bought Pomponella and Jasmina for the amazing shape of the blooms - echoes of Raubritter - wonderfully incurving and somehow, very oriental. I find myself helplessly attracted to this particular globular shape - also seen in some of the species paeonia and trollius europaeus along with certain cherry blossom clusters.

Hands down....South Africa! Fantastic for us west coasters. Great color retention, blooms a lot, glossy foliage.

'Iceberg'!
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As Kordes is my favourite breeder, this makes it very hard for me to select. Lichtkonign Lucia always brings pleasant memories so it is my favourite as I love yellow roses.

My honorable mention is his climber Antique 89. Strong vigour and is never without blooms on it.

My very favorite rose in all my gardens- Caramel Antique or Antike.
This summer I lost it to RRD. :(
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Diane - that's a killer photo of Blue Bayou!!!

My favorite hybridizer is Meilland. But Valencia in my top 3 or 4 roses - if and when fragrance comes in - it would be my number one.

Here's Valencia:

Carol

Thanks, Carol. Your Valencia photo is a killer, too. Gorgeous.
If my Caramel Antike looked half as good as Isst's, I might reconsider my opinion of Kordes roses. Diane

Here's one of the three or four good blooms I got from CA.

It has to be South Africa. This rose is so outstanding in my garden. Never without a bloom and the most lovely foliage. I have several Kordes roses and each one does very well. This surprises me as I have alkaline soil. There are many beautiful to choose from. lesley

I have a lot of them. But I would have to say my very favorite would be:

SIMSALABIM
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I love it for the sheer novelty of it. The maroon stripes on yellow are so unusual. The blooms could be bigger, and it does get a bit of mildew in the spring and fall, but I still love it.

I also love this one, which seems to only have a codename. It's such a gorgeous rose, photos really can't totally capture its true beauty. It gets absolutely huge in the cooler temps. The last bloom a few weeks ago must've been over 6" in diameter. The color and form are just exquisite.

KORBASTA
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I'm with Lynette & Kate that my garden is so highly biased toward Kordes roses that it's dreadfully hard to pick just two. Fortunately, a vast majority of my Kordes roses are also floribundas so I can cheat a little in that category. I agree with Lynette that Antique 89 is a very reliable bloomer and climber for me, and it's delightful to have so many Kordes roses that are resolutely hardy in our zone. I think that's one of many reasons those of us in cold zones wax eloquent about our Kordes roses, though they obviously speak for themselves. Beth of course chimes in with the gorgeous and yet virtually unobtainable Simsalabim, so Kordes obviously has a place in the warmer California regions.

After much dithering around, the top choice in my yard has to be the rock solid constant bloomer Bad Worishofen (Pink Emely). Even in drought years this bush is literally covered head to foot in vivid pink blooms on healthy foliage. I'll catch sight of it out of the corner of my eye and wonder, "Now what is THAT rose" only to discover BW yet again putting out more new roses. It's not only never out of bloom, it rarely stops being covered in blooms until the weather is well into the 20's in the day.

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For my other choice, I had to pick a rose that had an independently lovely flower, as well as non-stop blooms on a healthy plant, so the honorary spot goes to Champagne Moment. Like other posters' photos of Caramel Antique, or Floral Fairy Tale, Champagne Moment has fat wonderfully scented heavy petaled blooms that look more like an Austin than traditional floribundas.

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To show the profusion of bloom, Champagne Moment is the cream colored plant draped over the wire fence in the foreground of this photo. Admittedly there are some wonderful roses in this shot (including an Antique 89 sneaking in at the back), but Champagne Moment stands out to me as one of the only roses in this scene to keep looking like this all summer (except taller) after the spring flush is done.

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Phew, that was hard - and I didn't even mention LavaGlut with the stunningly dark red blooms that's one of the few duplicates in my yard.

Cynthia

Caramella (aka, Caramel Fairy Tale). Wants to be a small climber, did well when cut severely back after this flush. As disease resistant as the Blushing Knock Out that grows behind Caramella.

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Newly opened bloom.
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Diane, that Caramella is a knockout (pardon the pun). Looks like it wants to eat the car behind it, not to mention the fence. Great photo, and a great rose!

Cynthia

I used to grow Adolf Horstman. It had the most beautiful blooms in amazing colors. Unfortunately, the plant was not suited for our climate and disease pressure and has since departed.

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Themordenman - That's one lovely yellow rose! Good winter hardiness is really a plus and it looks like a good bloomer too. Harryshoe - I've been admiring Adolf Horstman for years, it is gorgeous, wish it had done better for you.

Harry, that's beautiful. I think ADOLPH isn't suited for very many places, unfortunately. I'm currently nursing my 5th plant. My original one died after I planted it in the ground about 12yrs ago. I replaced it a yr or so later... in the ground. Died. Actually, I seem to recall it never actually broke dormancy. I didn't replace it. Then a few yrs later I got another one from Edmund's when they first got bought out. The roses I ordered with it all arrived very early in the season, and it, along with ALL AMERICAN MAGIC, did not break dormancy. So I contacted them in April and they shipped out 2 each of those two roses to replace them with... in MAY. Bareroots don't do well here in May! But both of the AAM's are alive now, however one of the ADOLPHs grew a bit and died. The remaining one nearly died a yr or so ago, but has tried really hard to come back. I'm keeping it in a pot to see if it will eventually get healthy enought to "try" putting it in the ground. If it weren't such a beautiful rose, I would give up on it. But I can tell you, if this one doesn't make it, I will not replace it again!

Buxom Beauty, which out-dolly's Dolly Parton.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:346136}}

Does anyone know if Caramella is a continuous bloomer, or does it have a good series of repeats in a northern climate? I'm looking for something that could lighten a spot in front of an evergreen for much of the summer, so a once bloomer would be a disappointment. I'm also considering Brothers Grimm after the wonderful reviews, but I'd put that in a different spot because of the color.

Thanks for all the great photos!

Rugelda. Yellow and red buds lead to medium yellow double flowers with reddish rims. And foliage so perfect to die for.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rugelda entry on Garden Musings blog

mordenman--what a lovely yellow!

Kate

Fruhlingsgold, a big beautiful yellow spinosissima! I love wild looking roses, and adding the simplicity of singles in the blend with some of my more double roses. Also, my garden is low water and the spinisissimas are very drought tolerant. They need little in the way of fertilizer either, so tend to get along well with my many California native plants that also prefer less water and leaner soils. It makes for a more content garden to have plants with the same water needs growing in adjacent spaces.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruhlingsgold on HMF

i love the simsalabim rose beth. Would you consider selling it or rooting a cutting for me?

WRT to Caramella: not sure what you consider "continuous". I get 3 - 4 flushes a year. I make sure to give it an all over haircut after each bloom cycle. As the blooms have a lot of petals, it does not rebloom as fast as Blushing knock Out. I suppose that some creative pruning could provide the appearance of continuous bloom, but I haven't made the attempt to try.