Our sympathies, DrPekeMom.

Can you give more details of what the symptoms were as things went wrong? Also info on what you fed it or sprayed on it, etc. Maybe we can figure out where things are going wrong.

Kate

Killed this rose so many times am on the Interpol watch list. No matter or where ...he never lives for me. And I am so in love with him. Big beautiful blossoms

I have issues with it too. It didn't come up last year until I cut it all the way down thinking it was dead and then it sent up a few canes. Very weak grower here. I definitely am envious of the people for whom he flourishes.

If you are in zone 10, you might want to try this beauty on fortuniana rootstock. I grew PGPII when I lived in S.E. FL. On fortuniana rootstock it did very well for me. The blooms weren't very big but it bloomed a bunch.

I second that suggestion to use a different rootstock. Many of the PJP II plants on the market of late have been "own root" specimens grown for J&P that look very much like a two year old grafted plant, but are not. I have a great deal of experience with this cultivar -- PJP II -- and have proven to myself that this rose simply will not grow as an own root plant, -- nevermind that the J&P marketing types' wishful thinking hoped for a different result.

Anyhow, PJP II grows really well on pretty much any grafted rootstock, but STAAAAAYYYYY away from it if all you can get is one of those own root specimens. Fortuniana is the best rootstock for it in my locale -- SoCal.

It isn't a very vigorous grower for me either but I have managed to keep it alive through several winters here. I do wish someone could come up with a decent white rose that was vigorous growing and still managed to open all of it's petals in humidity. Every thing I've tried that was a good grower never opened and the ones that open are wimps!

But not just any white...huge fragrant CREAMY blossoms. And I can get him thru the season and then BOOM.....what rootstock should I look for in Chicago? I will...and have...tried anything.

Ok, I feel somewhat better because all mine came from J & P, and I generally have good luck with their plants except Pope John Paul and Double Delight (I have a half dozen double delights from various places, all flourishing, but not the one from J & P.) The rest of my plants from J & P are vigorous floribunda plants that you can't really discourage like Cinco De Mayo and Walking on Sunshine.

I feed worm casings some months and homemade compost which the rest of my roses seem to love, alfalfa tea some months, and then I use Dr. Earth's rose food other months. I don't spray anything, though I am awfully tempted, but I live in the middle of Los Angeles (West Adams) and I feel like my garden is the only relief that the bees and the butterflies get for miles.

Hmm. Mine's fine own root. Not as vigorous as 'Secret', but satisfactory. Maybe 'Sugar Moon' would work better?

I also recommend Sugar Moon as a superior white highly fragrant hybrid tea to PJP II. But be careful where you put it -- Sugar Moon wants to be an 8 footer.

I tried PJPII own root many years ago. It didn't die, but just never grew. It was 2 ft X 2 ft at best and only gave me an occasional bloom when I finally got rid of it. I have it on Dr Huey now, and it's doing great for me. Rain, humidity nor heat seem to bother its blooms. I've had Sugar Moon for two years now, and Kathy is right, itâÂÂs already at least 8 ft tall. For the most part, only blooms on top of those tall canes; whereas, PJPII blooms all over for me. It's not as tolerant of rain, either. We had massive rain this spring, and most of SMâÂÂs blooms either balled or rotted without opening. The few that did open were ruined by the rain. It greatly improved once the rain slowed down and seemed to open okay in our high humidity. PJPII didnâÂÂt miss a beat pumping out big, beautiful blooms in all the rain. Both are stunning and very fragrant, but have different bloom forms. Sugar Moon's blooms are like huge camellia flowers. I donâÂÂt have any good individual bloom shots of SM (since IâÂÂm not 8 ft tallâ¦lol), but hereâÂÂs the best I haveâ¦itâÂÂs really much prettier in person:

{{gwi:350058}}

{{gwi:345781}}

And here's PJPII being very rain tolerant:

{{gwi:350061}}

DrPekeMom,
I purchased a PJP (Dr.Huey) from Regan's nursery in Fremont Ca in June. It just stopped blooming 2 weeks ago. It bloomed like a fool with gorgeous long lasting and very fragrant blooms for six months. Great vigorous plant here in SFO Bay area - 9b.

Don't know if that helps. Maybe Santa will bring you one on Dr. Huey....

Happy holidays,

andrea

I've killed two. I do not understand how people can think that this is such a great rose. I purchased a Maria Shriver and am so much happier. It has the most heavenly fragrance and is vigorous for me anyway. Can't speak to the frequency of bloom comparison.

I have grown a JPll for over 4 years. It is a growing machine!
My secret is I have the bud union 6" below the soil line. In our area that is the only way to keep roses alive after winter.

Of all my whites I think Honor may be the best. I'm definitely getting rid of Sugar Moon which spends all its' energy making gigantic canes each with one bloom. Honor's blooms are pure white and in clusters and the bush produced at least 100 compared to probably 10 for Sugar Moon.

Six inches below will be my next approach. He doesn't like the garage for winter so hope this works. Thanks, dan. And I have lots of zone 7's that make it. Even 4 tree roses, but not the pope!!!!

I've had mine since it came out.. how many yrs ago? I think I've had maybe two blooms total. It's grafted and doesn't do much of anything. Hasn't grown much and rarely blooms. I don't get the hype either. I guess wherever it does well it's wonderful. I have SUGAR MOON on order. Hopefully it will do better.

DrPekeMom, It took me about 6 or 7 tries with DOUBLE DELIGHT. I used to wonder what all the hype was about that one too! It always died and didn't bloom. Finally I tried one last time about 6-7yrs ago and got a cheapie bagged bareroot. It's planted in the outer perimeter bed at the corner and it does pretty well now. Doesn't bloom all that great, but when it does, it's yummy!

Beth,

We seem to live in close proximity. But my PJP is vigorous with great foliage and fragrance and blooms like crazy. I am very new to roses, less than 2 years. But I was wondering if your PJP, being so much older than mine (which is only 6 months old, Dr. Huey, from Regan Nursery) could be very different from mine in any other way. As I said I am a learner and maybe that doesn't make any sense.

By the way, I've seen many of your great photos on HMF. I always look for them, thinking that yours would be similar to anything I purchased and planted.

andrea (40 miles west of SFO)

So sorry you are having trouble. I'm near Disneyland and have one on Dr. Huey and another own root. The own root one is the prettiest plant by far. But..........it took forever to get large. It stayed small with a few slender canes and I feared it would never be a good plant. Then the large shoots from the base sprang up. It gets plenty of water and sun. I cut it as little as possible until it flops over and gets in the way. Repeat is fast and the fall flush is very nice. Nicer than spring I think.

You are giving it the best food and so I think what you might try is a good mulch layer and plenty of water through the summer. Don't let it dry out in the LA heat. Shade the roots with flagstone or something over the mulch. Be sure to replace the soil if another rose was there.

I had some roses not do well because I think they were weak copies. Look around for a big sturdy one with good fat canes and you might try San Gabriel nursery. They will help you have success.

Beth: If you've had your PJP2 since it came out, you got it from J&P and it is NOT grafted. From the get-go, J&P offered PJP only as one of its "New Generation" (own-root) roses, so it's not surprising that your plant has been such a lackluster performer. Trash the one you have, try it on Dr Huey, and I think you'll have a more positive experience.

As a grafted plant, PJP was first available on Fortuniana rootstock , via an agreement J&P made with a Florida grower that subsequently went out of business. Grafted PJP plants are now available on Dr Huey from various sources -- Regan, S&W. Witherspoon . . .