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Pat Bama you've identified my mystery rose!!!

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Hello Pat Bama,

I saw the pretty pictures you posted in the Rose Gallery "C" series back in December and when I came across the beautiful yellow rose you posted, I thought you'd stolen one of my pictures. Haha!

Last year I purchased on whim, a "body bag" at Hobby Lobby. The card inside said Reine des Violettes and when it bloomed it was a lovely cabbagey pale yellow fading to buff. The petals shatter and this made be suspect it was an Austin. I grew Graham Thomas over twenty-five years ago and the weak tea fragrance of my rose did not resemble Graham's but the blooms and habit reminded me of GT. Being new to this site, I posted pictures in the "Name That Rose" forum and received no leads. Searching online I came across a rose named Juliette Greco and the descriptions and pictures came close to the plant I possess. Upon seeing your photo of Austin's Charlotte, the mystery of my rose has been solved! Imagine that.

Any tips you might be kind enough to share with me on Charlotte's culture would be greatly appreciated. I'm in the Central Florida area and we have nearly the same climate, excepting the frost, snow and ice, which I'll more than gladly let you keep there.

I'm re-posting your excellent photo next to my mediocre camera phone picture. If you'd be so kind as to share your thoughts on whether you think the two roses are a match, I'd be really grateful.

Sincerely,

Jack

Pat's Charlotte

Jack's mystery rose

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Comments (4)

the_bustopher z6 MO
9 years ago
It might be, but there are at least a couple other possibilities to consider. They are Lichfield Angel and The Shepherdess. Regardless of who it is, the leaves and the thorns have to match, and I can't tell from the picture on those two traits.
pat_bamaz7
9 years ago
Hi Jack,

Expecting to see a rose from the current "W roses" thread, I looked at your picture first before reading your post and instantly thought "that's Charlotte not a W"...lol. Your rose looks like Charlotte to me, but Bustopher is right...many of the Austin yellows look very similar to one another. After swearing off Austins about a decade ago due to blackspot and heat tolerance issues, I broke down last year and added a few based on info I've read on these forums about which ones might do well in my climate. So I've only had Charlotte for one growing season, but she did much better than I anticipated. She bloomed a lot for a first year rose. The blooms did fade and blow fairly quickly, but that might improve with maturity and might be better if she had some afternoon shade...mine is in all day sun. She did throw a few of those "octopus" canes that Austin's are known for in warm weather climates, but I simply cut them back and that didn't seem to hinder her blooming...whereas when I did that with the Graham Thomas I tried to grow many years ago, he sulked and quit blooming until the canes grew back to unruly proportions. Here are a few more pictures of my Charlotte for comparison.

BTW, I had no idea Hobby Lobby sold roses, but if I had seen a body bag of Reine des Violettes, I would have jumped on that, too...and been quite shocked when my RdV bloomed yellow...body bags are notorious for being mislabeled, though.

This was the best picture I could find with thorns visible:

Good picture for bud comparison:
Verdi Guy thanked pat_bamaz7
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Verdi Guy
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi Pat,

Thank You for taking the time to upload the fine photos! I really appreciate this. You have a great eye for photography.

I'm certain that my rose is Charlotte after seeing the additional pictures you were gracious enough to post. The first picture with the three blooms at different stages removes any doubt about what my rose is. I was 99% sure when I saw your initial post, and now I'm 100% certain.

The canes on my rose are slender, and when it first put out new growth, indeed, it was thorn-less or nearly so. This encouraged me to believe that maybe it was Reine des Violettes, but the first pale yellow bud shattered this notion. My rose has put out those wild Austin canes as you note. Currently, I have them tied up around a six-foot garden stake hoping to form a pillar rose as it is growing in a container. The fall blooms were sensational and it has bloomed throughout the winter here and is currently budding up for what I'm hoping will be a spectacular spring show. When it does bloom I'll be sure to post pictures.

After looking at many pictures of the Austin yellows none seemed quite right until I saw Charlotte. Initially, I thought it was probably Windermere but the photos I found online were slightly off. Your photos have it nailed. I have never been an Austin fan after falling for the hype and great photos in my old Wayside Gardens catalogs years ago. Probably 1988 or 1989, I forget which it was. ( Ah! Those were the days...when I'd anxiously await the new garden catalogs in the mail and salivate over the pictures in them!) Originally, I purchased Heritage and Graham Stuart Thomas because of this hype, but in my old Central Mississippi garden they were spectacularly unimpressive with their fragile blooms, thirsty roots, and disease prone susceptibilities. Those two were the only ones I've planted as the true Old Garden roses are much, much, more to my liking. I'm hoping all things Austin have improved in a quarter of a century.

No. Hobby Lobby does not sell roses except in my misinformed memory. LOL The body bag I purchased was at Big Lots, which I always confuse with Hobby Lobby because it was initially reported that Hobby Lobby was opening in the vacancy at the Marketplace and Big Lots actually did! LOL

This has been so much fun for me! Again Thank You!

Best wishes for a happy and sensational garden season.

Jack.
pat_bamaz7
9 years ago
Jack,

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your spring flush!

I, too, fell for Graham Thomas & Heritage (along with another that I think was Abraham Darby)years ago with equally poor results. Of the few I added last year, Charlotte, Munstead Wood, Carding Mill and Tamora seem to have the most potential for my climate...time will tell if I've been duped again, though :)

I guess I won't rush off to Hobby Lobby looking for OGRs in body bags...lol

Take care,

Pat

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