Of all the rose petal foods I've eaten, I've loved best the Centifolia rose petal jam from India, a freind gave me. Look for R. centifolia on the back label. A recipe is below. Centifolia roses were bred hundreds of years ago and is believed to be the first garden rose class bred in Europe. Damask roses have the best flavor of remontant roses, (just as good as Centifolia if not better )and their scent and taste has been inherited by some cultivars of Hybrid Perpetual roses, many of the pink H.P.s, including "Mme. Boll" and "Sydonie" and a smaller percentage of the red H.P.s and H.T.s, including "Barcelona" an H.T. that is sometimes sold under the name of " Francis Dubreuil", a Tea. I like jam made with Rugosa rose hips that are well ripened,and have snacked on them from the bush, but they cannot compare to rose petal jam, in my opinion. Rose petal rose milk Ingrediants rose jam from India, made from Centifolia roses, ( or R. damascena) start with 2 tsp. per cup of milk and add until it is as sweet and rosy as you like. 1/4th teaspoon of powdered cardomon. Optional, but delicous, heat a pinch of saffron threads on a non-stick pan until just brittle, remove immediatly, crush between parchment paper and add to milk. use 1 cup whole milk, per serving, or for a dessert beverage add 1 T. cream per serving blend and serve with rose petals frozen in ice cubes. I like to sliver red rose petals, they show up better as a garnish in ice cubes than light pink rose petals. Lux.

That hype is specifically because Applause contains genes not indigenous to rosa. They initially marketed it in Japan where the aesthetic appreciates manipulation of Nature. Think bonsai trees; melons and fruit grown in lucite boxes to alter their shape to cubes, etc. That aesthetic also values the gift and the honor it is meant to bestow based upon the cost of the gift. You and I may be honored and pleased by the gift of a vase of flowers from the giver's garden. That aesthetic is more likely to feel more honored knowing each stem of the rose cost the giver $35 (Applause's initial sale price in Asia). Not that the bloom is actually "blue", but it does represent many years of genetic manipulation to alter the color of the initial rose from red to the mauve color it expresses. In that light, it is presented as "the blue rose", which is how it is accepted by that aesthetic. I agree the photos of Blue Bayou does appear rather "blue" in the pastel range. Some images of Rhapsody in Blue appear quite "blue" in the darker range. For the whole organism, its health, ease of growth and ability to flower in all types of weather here, Blue for You still wins, hands down in my book. I need to get hold of Blue Bayou. I have some definite ideas for breeding with it... Kim

There's the rub...the gene (s) which are supposed to permit the formation of delphinidin, the blue pigment, is/are patented. IF you raise a rose containing them without permission and without paying for the "right", you are in violation of patent law and subject to litigation. Think Monsanto with their GMO products and the numerous litigation cases they've brought against people who have raised crops containing their inserted genes, deliberately or not. Even containing that gene, there is no guarantee of the expression of "blue". I honestly wouldn't put it past them to have bred in sterility as they have in the "suicide crops" already generated to prevent farmers from saving seed from one year's crop for the next. Brazil is currently considering whether to permit those seeds from being sold within their borders. The "suicide crops" supposedly create workable products the first generation, but seed from that generation are sterile, preventing further crops from being generated from them. That requires anyone wishing to raise the product to buy new seed from Monsanto every year. Kim

Cup_shaped roses is Niels in Denmark. He grows 400+ roses, zone 5b, acidic clay: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1719734/lifespan-of-a-grafted-rose cupshaped_roses(6) In my experience bareroot (grafted) modern roses .., have a few years where they look really great ...then they seem to decline - almost grow backwards - and I end up replacing them with new plants. It may however be a matter of rootstocks? Up until the 1980es - R. Canina species was most often used as rootstocks over here - (Rose Canina Pfanders in Germany - Rosa Canina Laxa in milder/warmer areas - like France and England - but most use R. Multiflora today.cupshaped_roses(6) **** In the above thread, Roseseek (Kim Rupert) reported Grafted-on-Dr.Huey can survive 30 years in dry California. Also Seil in sandy soil, zone 6a, reported grafted-on-Dr.Huey being 50 years old in her mother's garden. Nearby alkaline clay rose-park, zone 5a: they replace their Austins (grafted on Dr.Huey) every 2 to 4 years. Their longest grafted-rose is Double Delight, more than 5 years old. Dr.Huey rootstock, being drought-tolerant, can't handle soaking wet clay that turns into freezing ice in zone 5a winter. But grafted-on-Dr. Huey lives long in dry-climate like California, or in loamy/sandy soil like Seil's in Michigan. From Heirloom roses: "The place where the bud has been added, called the crown or bud-union, is a weak area on the plant. A hard, freezing winter can easily damage the crown, leaving only the rootstock to grow. " trospero(8) Paul Barden This is why I despise 'Dr. Huey' as a rootstock. You can be guaranteed that at some point in the life of the rose, 'Dr. Huey' will send up suckers that you will never, ever be able to stop. This is just what it does. The joke around here is that it is everybody's favorite rose because in May, there is no other rose you will see more blooming plants of than 'Dr. Huey' trospero(8) **** Agree with Paul Barden on Dr. Huey. In my Chicagoland, all the neighbors' roses which are grafted on Dr.Huey: either they die, or roostock take-over and become 10 feet tall rambling-eye-sores. For that reason, I post-pone getting some Austins until they are offered as own-root. bigtruckerdave(7 NC)April 7, 2013: Today I found enormous suckers growing about 3 feet from where I removed 2 Alba Maximas in the spring of 2012. And they were grafted on Dr Huey. jerijen(Zone 10) I haven't had Dr. Huey sucker in quite that manner -- but I have seen Dr. Huey suckers pop up about 6 ins. out from the bud union. What I HAVE had sucker that far away from the plant is Multiflora rootstock. Those ALL suckered rampantly here -- http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1621052/dr-huey-rootstock?n=7