Liz I think you are going to be very happy with this rose. Although I only got it last year it has really put on a show. I can't imagine what it might do when mature!!!! Ingrid--thank you. Buford--I agree, fragrance would be so nice....but right now I can't get low enough to sniff her anyway. lol

I think you are right abot the diagnosis of ME. I demand more from a cultivar that is marketed as "Healthy" and then in my garden turn out to be susceptible to 4 fungal diseases ...all at once. In my book that is pretty bad performance... Sure if it had a fragrance to die for (Like Gertrude Jekyll) or was exceptional beautiful (like James Galway) as floriferous as John Clare (many hundreds flowers on each bush each bloom cycle) Then I would nurse the rose like a ICU patient!!! I look for roses with good disease resistance or tolerable disease resistance if sprayed (the way I grow it in my garden/climate). So my conclusion is that Sophys rose does not meet those criteria. What particularly worries me is the rust... cultivars that show stage 1 rust has to be remowed ( I grow nearly 600 rosebushes in my cutting garden) since I have seen rust spread like wildfire.... So yes I demand a lot from the cultivars I grow ... they better have good/tolerable disease resistance or they will get showelpruned like Sophys Rose got this morning. Euthanasia can be justified in a world with so many good roses :-)

mexicanhat, mine are about the same size. Sophie is a bit more upright, Tamora flops a bit. I have them both at the front of the bed and so far they are perfect there. We must have the same taste, because I do have The Prince next to Tamora. It was short and floppy for the first 3 years, but is becoming a bit more upright this year. Others on this site say it does get a bit bigger. I've been in drought conditions for 2 years, so that may have stunted The Prince from getting larger. I do love the color contrast between Tamora and The Prince.

Oh yeah...the mood you've captured in this one is both deep and soulful...Beautifull...Thanks!!! :-)