Dick Clark has pretty much out performed all my other roses. I Got him in November and he's taken off like you wouldn't believe. I think it currently has about 20 buds on it and it has not gone without a flower since I planted him. I'm very impressed.

Moonstone comes in a close second. Getting huge and full of blooms. Ingrid Bergman has taken off and has been a great performer. And Abraham Darby too, just got him and he's blooming a ton. And in partial shade too!

Veterans honor sat in a pot barely surviving for 2 years. I put him in the ground in February and he's doubled in size and has had 2 huge flushes ever since. I couldn't be happier!

On the other hand I have a few that have been very disappointing. Queen Of Sweeden seems to be a stingy bloomer. Gemini too has been struggling along with barely a flower. Gold medal looked so amazing when I got her, but has been declining ever since. I don't think she likes her location for some reason, even though she's supposed to do well down here. Oh well, can't win em all.

SoFL, How exciting, sounds like you have some very vigorous roses, that is great! Unfortunately, my Veterans Honor died after struggling for two years, I believe I had an inferior plant to begin with. It bloomed enough for me to realize what a beautiful rose it is, so I am going to replace it, hopefully with a much healthier specimen. There is one rose that never ceases to amaze me with its vigor, that is my Forgotten Dreams, not blooming yet, but loaded with buds!

My young Duchesse de Brabant delighted me by growing almost twice as high as other roses I planted at the same time. It must now be in the right spot since two other ones declined in a more sunny spot. sara_ann, your rose is so beautiful as a bush that it almost doesn't need any flowers!

I'm just starting to get mine out of winter storage so it's hard to say yet but one rose that has surprised me is Love Song! It died on me the winter before last and I bought a new one last spring knowing that it might just be too winter tender for me. However, this spring it's already got a great deal of new growth on it! I'm glad because I really love the rose.

I broke out of a two year dormancy period this year in a big way, so I have several roses that have surprised me.

Grand Dame has been a rock star for me. I knew it was going to be something else when the nurseryman, Jean, kept pushing for me to buy it when I last went to Nelson's Roses in Central Florida.

Our Lady of Guadalupe has lived up to its hype. I once grew it from a bare root from JP, but it was a horrible plant. I saw this one at a nursery and its size blew me away. Keeping it growing has been a bit of a challenge, but it continues to impress with the loads of flowers.

Grace De Monaco has been one of the biggest surprises this year. When I first bought this rose I thought it was supposed to be a Princess de Monaco. When it finally began to bloom I was completely frustrated with the fact that it wasn't what I had thought it was. Fortunately it has helped me get over my angst by providing some of the best looking blooms I've seen in a while.

Mayor John Land is a Nelson's Rose original. I am completely impressed with its solid form. The only other rose I can compare it to would be Touch of Class, but this one holds its form and has more petals. The only other red that impresses me more is Veteran's Honor.

Forgot to post a pic of Mayor John Land.

All of my roses are blooming like mad - I think this is the best Spring flush we have ever had - is it possible they LIKE warm warm weather and no rain?

Anyway, one pleasant surprise was that a plant of Blaze decided to go over to visit Reve d'Or. I had no idea it had done that until the Blaze started to bloom. I love the colors together - here are pics.

Jackie

I love reading the success stories. Ingrid, thanks for the kind words. Duchesse de Brabant is such a beauty, and I look forward to seeing pictures. Seil, I know how much you love Love Song and it made me sad that you lost yours, but I was glad you replaced it and am so happy it has survived. I love mine too, but you take such gorgeous pictures of it and I enjoy them so much! Kublakan, your Our Lady of Guadalupe looks great, mine is still a baby, but I am looking forward to seeing what it does this year. Your Grace De Monaco is gorgeous. Jacqueline, you have such beautiful roses and I always look forward to seeing them. Your Blaze and Reve d' Or do look lovely together.

Happy to see that Innosencia Vigorosa and Little Chap where both tip hardy. I really need to find others this hardy, heathy, and prolific for northern zone 5.

Wow! Grand Dame is exquisite. I may just have to have her. Mayor John Land looks amazing. I passed it up recently at a nursery (In Living Color) because I had never heard of it, even though it had some of the biggest, most well formed blooms on it. Now I wish I would have grabbed it. (Although I have NO ROOM for it LOL)

Thank all of you for the kudos.

SoFL you need to start visiting Pop's Nursery (it's close to Living Color). They sell Nelson's Roses for $16, a far cry from the $25+ you spend at Living Color.

Kublakan your roses are great. So... Our Lady of Guadalupe is large flowered. Hmmmm. I just might have to... LOL.

I'm in Central Florida and visited Nelson's back in February. Jean clipped a bouquet of Grande Dame which was unbelievably large, fragrant and very, very, very long lasting. Oh, and by the way, I love visiting Nelson's. It is like Rose Heaven to me. Great photos. Thanks.

Jack

Jack, I'm green with envy, lol. I can spend hours just walking their greenhouse with Jean answering all my "What's this?" questions. Full disclosure, OLOG does not have the biggest flower (I'd estimate 3" across).

Oh wow Kublakan, Thanks. I totally will. What great advice. I'll stop by sometime this week (eeeekk :)
Our Lady does not have big flowers Jack, they are small but they are plentiful. They also hold their form for a good amount of time and last well as a cut flower. As I recall they she also had few bug problems. But I guess that may depend on where you live/put her/how many pests you have in your garden, etc.
Our Lady is one of those roses that gets so full of flowers that you have to stop and ask what kind of rose it is.

I'd like to share about an Intrigue! This was 2 Springs ago, but hang on - it gets better.

Anyway, I got one and planted it in a large decorative pot. That beautiful perfum-ey wonder bloomed about 5 times. I'm in the desert southwest, long growing season. She was so beautiful. Grew her on the morning-sun-side of the house.

Well the following Spring the aphids came, as they do, and I don't use sprays anywhere here and usually Nature takes over and either birds, or enough ladybugs, etc. take care of the aphids. Well, I didn't watch closely enough, and be darned if they didn't kill that rose.

So here we are 2 years later and after 2 years of lamenting (I truly missed that rose), today I found 2 of them at Walmart. Both had blooms on and oh how I have missed that fragrance. These will go into the ground this time and for the first time this year, we had to spray a couple of things due to aphids. Hated to do it but I will not lose another plant to them.

Tried the Dawn treatment, hosing them off daily, nope. They were still winning. I won this battle!