Rochester, you must have a special touch with JFK, haven't had much success with mine yet, the blooms are gorgeous when the conditions are right, which so far hasn't been very often, the bloom production is fairly good though and it does seem fairly disease resistant, I am hopeful that it will improve with time, third season for mine. Pope John Paul II is in its second season and it is improving as far as vigor and bloom production, I think it's going to be a good rose. For me PJPII is definitely the better rose.

PJPII

JFK

The blooms on PJP are not as tightly formed as JFK. JFK has exhibition form which it holds for a long time. PJP is a looser bloom and doesn't have as much substance (meaning the firmness of the petals). Both are lovely, JFK a bit more yellow white than bright white, both have excellent fragrance.

Blooms of PJPII will actually open despite a little rain.

Yeah, but then they turn into brown tissue paper.

JFK balled terribly for me. It wouldn't open if there was any kind of humidity. I always called it my bud rose because the buds were gorgeous long and white but that's as far as they ever got. PJPII reliably opened for me every time. I though it was a lot more fragrant too. They were both spotty and a little winter tender here.

Thanks for all your comments. It appears that JFK really could be one of the best HTs. My experience with HTs is that almost none of them are truly healthy without major amounts of pampering. But within those limitations, I have to agree with Buford that JFK flowers have a lot of substance to their petals. I find that very impressive, along with the classic form and that they can last a week or longer on the bush. I just have to get back to spraying with fungicide and regular doses of fertilizer again.

John F Kennedy looked great but it just never flowered for me. When it did, it had a lot of trouble opening. The repeat was horrible and also very powdery mildew prone. When it was at its best the blooms were huge, lasted forever and had an almost sparkling white color. Lots of substance to their petals and the stems were very long and thick. Pope John Paul II however is a bloom machine and I get beautiful blooms continually. Never had a problem with the blooms not opening up yet. My only complaint is that often the blooms are so heavy that the thin stems can't hold them up straight.

Both do well here in the hot, humid South East. JFK has better exhibition type form, but isn't as white as PJPII. To me, PJPII's fragrance is much better. They both bloom a lot and last a long time cut or on the bush. Neither is great about rain tolerance, but not many whites are. Here, their disease resistance is about the same. If I had to chose one over the other, I would go with PJPII for the fragrance.

PJPII

JFK

Pat Bamaz, those bushes are simply stunning! What do you do to grow such amazingly healthy plants? All my HTs are mostly just struggling, some more than others. What is your secret?

Thanks Rochesterroseman! Roses just seem to love our heat & humidity down here. Unfortunately, blackspot loves it, too...I just don't take pictures of them when they are all spotty looking...lol

I have found the PJP to be very vigorous with no spraying. Properly fed and given full sun mine literally doubled in size within 2 months. It blooms quickly with very strong fragrance, has excellent disease resistance (BS and mildew have not shown) and good solid green foliage. The blooms last 3-4 days. I am in Tampa FL and these are grown on fortunia stock. for incredible vigor, true white blooms and strong fragrance I can heartily recommend the PJP.