Wow! I love the black on the red petals! Lovely!! Blackspot isn't usually a problem here...so I could take a chance on that. :)

Thanks, Beth!

Carol

Carol, I know you've said zone doesn't matter since you overwinter in your garage in zone 3. In case any other cold zoners read this though, I've not been able to overwinter either Black Lady or Comice de Tarn-et-Garonne in my zone 5 winters. Black Lady I tried at least 4 or 5 times, and it would sometimes last one winter but never 2, even in my most protected spot. Most of the Bourbons like Comice are also very winter tender in my yard, but Maggie is a trooper and comes back each year. Not tremendous frequency of bloom, but she's in my top 5 roses for fragrance and worth it for that alone. For me she gets a good 5' tall but thin and lanky. Black Lady has never been taller than 3' and I wouldn't expect it to exceed much beyond that even overwintering in the garage. If this rose "only" gets to 5-6' with Beth's tender loving care and congenial climate (great pictures, Beth), it'll do considerably less in our zones I think, given the shorter growing seasons.

Blessed Child didn't survive in a regular zone 5 spot so I'm trying it again in a more protected spot. It's supposed to be 5' or so here, but we'll see. I'm trying Friends Again myself this spring, and I haven't grown the others.

Have fun

Cynthia

Interesting Cynthia. They all are very winter tender (except Maggie).

Darn about Maggie being thin and lanky. That's not really something I want, since it'll be in a pot with no other roses near enough to support it. So I'll scratch that rose.

Black Lady - what do you think of the fragrance? Three feet isn't a problem. But I do want really great fragrance. :)

Comice de Tarn-et-Garonne - what did you think of it (fragrance/bloomability) for the summer you had it?

What did you think of Blessed Child's fragrance?

Thanks, Cynthia!

Carol

rosecanadian, could you grow Maggie up a tuteur of sorts? It's such a pretty rose and fragrant I've read.

No, I don't think I want to go that route. :)

Well, I've made my decision! :)

1. Granada

2. Blessed Child

3. Friend's Forever

4. Gruss an Coburg

5. Hoag House Cream

Any pictures or thoughts on these roses are much appreciated. :)

Carol

Dang, I had my chance to promote my very favorite rose of all time and I missed it. Geranium Red has the most delicious fragrance, to me, of any rose I have, and I choose roses mainly on their fragrance. It is also full and lovely. But, Gruss an Coburg is quite fragrant as well, and the flowers are a mysterious color that changes according to conditions. Blessed Child has a lovely spring flush, but for me is rather stingy the rest of the year. Again, fragrance is good. My Grenada is still rather small. These pictures are from a couple of years ago, last years are still on the camera and I let the batteries run down.

Geranium Red

Oh those are seriously gorgeous roses!!! I especially love Geranium Red!!! Darn!!!

Okay, maybe I could change my order. But I've read here that Geranium Red is floppy. How is yours? And what about the scent - I've read that it smells like geraniums. That doesn't sound like a very nice smell to me. :)

Maybe I should change Blessed Child with Geranium Red??

Carol

If by floppy you mean the flowers are sometimes too big for the stems, that is sometimes the case. The bush itself is rather small, just right for containers. It has a few blooms at a time all summer rather than a single large flush. I've read that about geraniums too and I think it is wishful thinking because of the name. I thought they must be talking about rose geraniums, but I've grown them side by side with this rose and it doesn't actually smell any more like those than any other rose does. I would say it has the true rose smell with lemony undertones. The name Geranium Red comes more likely because that is just the shade of color it is--slightly to the orange side of true red. That is true mostly in the heat, in cooler weather the color is a bit less orange. I can't argue to much against Blessed Child, though, since after I gave my first one away I felt the need for another a couple of years later. It is also very satisfying in appearance and fragrance.

Carol - I'd totally take ksgreenman's recommendations for fragrance on these roses over mine since I can smell very few rose fragrances (Maggie being the wonderful exception). Great photos KS, and you're certainly convincing about Geranium Red! What's the hardiness like on that one? I have a spot where another orange-toned red would fit fine.

Cynthia

I garden mostly in containers, as I rent, so have never tried to overwinter it outside, its in a pot and goes into the garage. By all accounts its a zone 6er, so would need protection in your area.

ksgreenman - I'm sold on Geranium Red!! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm over this rose! I think I'll replace Blessed Child with it. :)

Carol

Hope you like it. I'm good for further recommendations for fragrant roses that are good in pots if you are interested. :) OKay, I"ll give one for free. Sophie's Perpetual. Even in mild climates some people put her in pots because she sometimes likes to drape herself over the sides of the pot. And the fragrance is a fairly strong representation of what I would call traditional old rose.

Ooooh!!! Yes, show me more!! I love the different pinks and the shape of the blooms!!

Carol

Okay, here's another. Duftendes Weisskirchen. A very unique fragrance, sharper and a bit pungent. Lots of smallish blooms, quite healthy.

Baby Faurax is a nice little rose, with semi-double purple flowers. Its fragrance is a bit subtle, but it is similar to the rambler Veilchenblau, which grew around the house I grew up in. Your know how fragrance is connected to memory...so anyway, there is a seedling of Baby Faurax on the market that is more double, more truly purple, and hardier than it is. I gave Baby Faurax away and kept it's offspring. By the next spriing, however, I missed the fragrance so much I got another, and gave the other plant away. It usually flowers in clusters, by the way.

Those are all lovely roses...and I enjoyed you sharing their fragrances with me. :)

I love the colors of Eugene de Beauharnais/Le Gran Capitain!! Wow!! The shape is incredible, especially in the second photo!!

Duftendes Weisskirchen looks camilla (sp??) like. I love the picture you took - the sun/shade on the same rose.

Thanks!

Carol

Hi Carol. I have been growing what was labeled as Friends Forever from RVR for several years. The flowers are much darker than the photos on helpmefind and here it gets blackspot by the end of the season. It is very cold hardy.

Hey Kelly, thanks for the lovely pictures!! Sure like the stuffed look!! What do you think of the fragrance? You and I will probably get the darker colors cause we're cooler here. I like that!!

Carol

I honestly don't remember. It is one that gets more disease than the others and last year had some buds that never developed. Just turned brown and fell off. You can see them in the first two pictures...I will try to pay attention to fragrance this year as that is one of the reasons I wanted to grow roses in the first place!

Carol I got mine long ago from Pickering. Pretty sure thats where it came from. Mine was a darker pink like Kelly's. Looked just like the photo on RVR's site. It was scented according to my jb's but I had to get closer to the bush to smell it. It had beautiful dark purplish new growth with 2 - 3 in blooms and was extremely heathy here.

So why don't I have it anymore? The blooms balled constantly here in my humidity. What the weather didn't ruin the jb's got. When I took mine out she had grown her own roots. A good deep set of healthy roots. Of course she grew back from those roots and I let her as I felt poorly about removing the rose. However as soon as she built up some strength the blooms balled. It's gone for good now. So sad