This is why she is overflowing my cutting garden...

Thanks Rebecca! That's a pretty rose!

Thanks, Summer! She is a workhorse... First to bloom and last to bloom and always blooming in between. Her fragrance is milder than Cressida, but still wonderful! She is great on the bush, too. Just an all around great rose!

Oh, my, those are luscious, wonderful bouquets--beautiful enough to send me to Help Me Find in the wee hours of the morning for more information about Perdita. What a shame Austin is abandoning her. Diane

I forgot to ask--is Perdita a small rose? What is the size of the blooms? Thanks so much. Diane

Thank you, Diane! Perdita is small here because she winter kills to the ground every year... Maybe 3'x3'. However, Tivoli Rose (Susan) had a photo of her that went up and over a garden bench. I think she lives in New York. The blooms are large... 3 1/2 - 5" as I recall. I am planting 6 in a 3x6' bed and I know they will do fine here. Perdita just pumps out blossoms continuously! She isn't quite hardy here own root, so I am getting her grafted and I bury the graft 6" down...deep, DEEP holes! :)

Rebecca

Thanks, Hoovb! It's good to get a zone 9 perspective. Was it a blooming machine for you, too? Or was it one of those Austins that does better in colder zones?

Rebecca

It's small for me. But it's been in a bad spot. I dug it up and I have it in a pot to see if I can restore it and replant it in a better pot. The blooms are lovely.

That's one "perdi" rose! I might have to look into getting a few :).

I'm glad to read that hoovb thinks this rose isn't very fragrant. I bought it because it was described as having an 'award winning' scent. I can smell more or less nothing. In other ways it is a good rose, however. It produces many flowers and grows into a nice bushy shrub. The leaves are 'leathery' by rose standards, and therefore not as susceptible to pests as some others. Here in SE England I spray for blackspot and mildew, but the rose doesn't need a great deal of artificial help. The petals 'spot' in wet weather but that is their only fault. The colour fades quickly in strong sunshine, which may be more of a problem for growers in sunnier climates.

I just bought a grafted Perdita from California but live in southeastern Wisconsin. A little worried about her overwintering given how late in the year it is. I'd also like to try to get some own root plants rather than stick with the grafted version. Has anyone had success rooting a cutting from a grafted rose?

It should be no different than taking a cutting from an own root Rose.

I’m curious , where did you order it from?

I think you have to use recently bloomed , soft wood not very old / hard. So I’m not sure if it’s too late now for that . I used to root cuttings very well using a method posted in hartwood roses blog ,

http://hartwoodroses.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-root-roses-from-cuttings.html

Hi @Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca--thanks for the guidance there! I'll be sure to follow it. I ordered it from Danielle at Rose Story Farm. It was fairly pricey but I haven't found Perdita elsewhere so went with it. She overnighted it to me and it has a lovely bloom on it that survived the trip! I'm going to try to root the bloom using that site's suggestion--thanks so much!!

You are welcome!!! I hope you enjoy your beautiful rose!