When I first contacted Kim about roses, he gave me a reading list of books written by several very successful breeders. My favorite author is Jack Harkness, but LeGrice is right up there. Harkness's book Roses is a very complete and insightful study of species roses and their hybrids. You can learn a lot about what traits various species roses have brought into the rose gene pool. LeGrice ... is incredible. If you want to learn about bloom color ... read LeGrice. The other books were equally as important as they gave me a sense of the timeline of the development of modern roses, and studying them gave me even more information about the traits found in the rose family. Cultural information may be "dated" and biased because both of these breeders were from England, but the knowledge they share about the botany of the plants is detailed and very much worth learning. I read these books periodically because every time I read them, I am bringing more personal knowledge and experience with me and see the information with "new eyes". I also made my own lineage trees by hand because HMF did not have the lineage report feature online. Even though I can go through a lineage report on HMF and understand it, I think the exercise of doing my own lineage reports and looking up the species roses and the other roses included in the lineage gave me a deeper understanding of the make up of the rose. A seedling may look like it is a good rose, but you really won't know if it is a worthy cross until you have carried it forward for several years. A juvenile plant often performs differently in many ways than a more mature plant. It takes time to learn how to see roses through a "breeder's eyes". You are on your way, but you have only had the opportunity to touch the surface of what it takes to breed good roses. Also, it takes time to reach the point where you can learn from the best teacher of all things roses .... the rose. I love your enthusiasm. You'll need it to help you to meet your goals. Smiles, Lyn PS... keep in mind a lot more has been learned and written about the science of breeding good roses since these books were written.

It's incorrectly labeled. Two large buds dropped. They had not begun to open but were big enough to pull apart to see what was inside. Both were quads. I'm actually happier that it has multiple skirts but it wasn't developed enough to know what color it is. I just hope it's not another pink. There's a few more large buds but I doubt there will be time for them to open, even if they don't drop. The plant is inground and will have to be cut back and lifted, probably this weekend : (

This beauty is actually from a cutting this summer. She is mostly green, all the way to the ground. I plan on potting her up and in the basement she's going. She's too nice to chance our winters here. Thanks for all the compliments! kasha77 ps- check back next year for cuttings!

I agree, the first photo looks like BD, b/c she changes shape so much in the course of the bloom life--at the end, she is ruffly and rounded like this. I also agree that it's amazing she opened up at all and shows little damage with all those thrips!! I hope those guys blow through soon and you don't have to fight them anymore (it's my impression that they are a spring pest). Take this for what it's worth, because I am no expert. But if that rose were on my property, I would probably try a few organic treatments for thrips and fungal problems, as well as getting some of the bad stuff pruned out. (Though I dont' know if pruning during an infestation of fungal disease you will spread it--something to ask before you start cutting). I would also work on getting it IDed positively...that second photo that shows the whole plant has a bloom that looks tiny in comparison to my BD. Wouldn't that be great, if you found out this was not her at all and you could just start fresh with fewer problems (if you replaced with a genuine BD, I mean)? Best wishes to you. I like the idea from the above poster who suggested contacting your extension and TAMU for diagnosis and treatment suggestions. Hopefully they can help you by looking at your photos.