Thanks for all the help, folks! That's a good point that the striped roses tend to be variable in color and not to over judge the one bloom, particularly on a brand new band. I'm happy with any descendants of Ferdinand Pichard, Christopher, since I can't seem to keep the parent himself alive in my yard. So far, there seems to be consensus that Papageno is a good working name for this one. I actually like the prospect of these mystery roses, mgleason, since it could be literally anything in their catalog and it tends to stretch me to try roses I wouldn't normally buy. A few years ago, the mystery rose was "Rookie", a compact short flori/mini white rose, and it really has turned out to be a nice steady bloomer and great bloom form. I probably wouldn't have bought Robin Hood or Sophisticate (from two and three years ago) on their own, but they ramble nicely in the part shade, and they really make a statement in the neighbor's yard where they asked me to expand my shade area into their side of the yard. You're right that I might be able to ask Rogue Valley, though I find that their phone personnel are lovely people and helpful with orders, but they don't seem to know the details of the roses if they're not labeled. I don't know if Rogue Valley sends mystery plants because the labels have been lost or misplaced in propagation (hence they don't know any more than we do), or because they're overstocked. On my side, it would be more convenient to call these "our choice" rather than "mystery" roses and leave the tags in if it's the latter situation, but I don't mind the unknown for the first year. My only dilemma comes in where to plant something that hasn't bloomed and I have no clue what it is. The unknown mini from this year was easy to place, but I have a vaguely HT looking bush that I had to guess where to put, since I rarely if ever move roses once planted. Besides, I have all you lovely helpful folks to help me identify the roses each year! I challenge any rose company, except maybe Burlington and the dearly departed Vintage, to have the breadth of expertise in identifying a wide range of roses that we have here on GW! Cynthia

Thanks, folks! It's nice to know I can occasionally get one right. Cadiarose - I'd be curious what you're getting as your freebies from RV. I still have three more mysteries that haven't bloomed, as well as three more on the way, and I'm always interested in a little advance warning of what they might be. Thanks Cynthia

Good point Chris, though I have Indigo and the color is different in person than the blooms on this rose. I really am not good at rose ID so I'm relying on the input of folks who know Gallicas better than I do to keep it in that class of guesses. I haven't found that my Indigo suckers (yet), since it only just survives my winters, but time will tell, eh? So far this mystery rose has stayed pretty contained but it's only coming into its third season this spring so it hasn't found its wings yet. I'll post more photos if I can catch it blooming, and welcome input. And Anne - I didn't mention it, but Alice Vena is also a RV rose and a gallica, so it's entirely possible. My impression from the HMF photos is that it's a bit more purple than this rose, but I'm sure that depends on the weather conditions. I don't recall if that one was in stock during the period this rose was a mystery rose, but we'll see as it develops further this coming spring. Cynthia

Well, as a little update, I think I figured out what my NOT 'Mme Platz' actually is. The blooms opened white, and looked a lot like those on the baby 'Mme Hardy' I got for the cemetery. But the rest of the plant was totally different. I checked alphabetically, and I'm almost certain that what I got is 'Mme Plantier'. And that's a good thing, because I was considering it for the cemetery, anyway, but didn't order it. So one less for me, one more for them. I'm not contacting RVR about a replacement, since the error is something I'd have wanted, anyway. On a related note, the second error from RVR arrived with the tag 'Duchesse de Rohan', but the plant looked a bit odd, being rather stiffly upright and showing China-influenced-but-still-OGR foliage. Then it sent forth flower buds, which began a deep dark purple-tinged red, opening "old rose red". Looking through the alphabetical list again, I think it's 'Duchesse d'Ossuna', which was another I was eyeing but didn't actually order. So, again, since the error turned out in my favor, I'm keeping it, and will re-order the other eventually without mentioning the mix-up. :-) ~Christopher