This will be my second season with Bliss Parfuma and I also love it! Extremely healthy with gorgeous blooms that last forever and a lovely bushy, well foliated shrub shape. I have found fragrance to be moderately strong in heat and very strong in cooler temperatures, which might explain how it won the Glasgow Tollcross Fragrance Award. It has a very pleasant and unusual fragrance like a jasmine-based perfume with hints of sweet fruit and…maybe shea butter? I have never grown any other modern Kordes aside from Beverly, which really does have the most amazing peach/plum/citrus fragrance. It has a very attractive growth habit for a hybrid tea and has a low thorn count. I no longer grow it because it frequently developed powdery mildew in my conditions, a weakness it must have inherited from its parent The McCartney Rose. Amongst older Kordes roses, none can be more fragrant, beautiful, charming, romantic or floriferous than Crimson Glory or Barcelona!

Second year pair of Polar Expresses here look just like Chris' stunning portraits. From Chamblee's as gallon own roots in early June 2015, haven't needed to prune them & they've naturally grown into 4x4' dynamic shrubs that arch gently past 3' in a graceful form. As Chris' photos show, studded with blooms. Rapid repeat with snap deadheading, new buds swelling as others open for near continuous display, dropping petals cleanly (always more appreciated in a light rose) & eager to bloom, early to late in the season. Impeccable foliage hot & humid no spray, satisfying perfume & vigorous. A refreshing & enticing rose! Pairs of First Crush & Summer Romance 2-gallon own roots new this Spring as well-developed & structured plants suffering typical Lowe's neglect. All recovered quickly despite that. Both arch outward past 3' here, though other gardeners report Summer Romance as more stiffly upright. They share characteristics of rich strong fragrance (8 of 10), greater profusion of blooms more closely timed with each flush & healthy clean foliage. Both unfurl slowly, hold a good two weeks & typically drop their petals cleanly when blown unless saturated with rain at that point. Snap deadheading with these, like Polar Express, find new flower buds emerge right beneath the flowers so removed. The bush shape, flower forms & colors of these two also charming together. Both are heftier plants with thicker canes than those of Polar Express at this point, with Summer Romance being the sturdier structured of the two. They've both doubled in size this season to about 4x4'. First Savannah from Chamblee's, early June of 2015, grew well but made no attempt to bloom that year. Going for structure & root development, found this unremarkable for a first year own root hybrid tea here. When she began to bloom this Spring, immediately ordered another from Roses Unlimited - she's that fetching to me. Blooms unfurl slowly in hybrid tea form, then reflex as they expand & carry a powerful complex perfume. Four week bloom cycles with snap deadheading, well above average for her class, luscious apricot pink with light salmon tints, totally healthy no spray. Very reminiscent of older hybrid tea forms prior to the 1960's in both bush & bloom, closer to a reproduction/Austin feel than many thick & stiff-limbed modern examples of the class. Very charming rose in all respects. Younger Savannah's matured more quickly in the extended heat we've experienced this year & they've synchronized their bloom cycles. Another winner here. Wholeheartedly recommend these outstanding four to any in a similar climate! Sue

Sue, love your comments. I too start my own-roots in pots and ask them to let me know when they're ready for the ground. Dark Desire slowed its growth significantly before the end of its first season here and will be going in the ground. Seemingly doesn't care for life in a pot. Savannah really took off; I could NOT keep up with pinching all the buds as much as I tried! Pink Enchantment seems to be a sparse vase-shaped HT; love the quality of the blooms but it is clearly going to test my patience. Let me report back after its third season! I went crazy on my spring orders for my garden and the one at the arboretum and have ordered Beverly, Eliza, Plum Perfect and South Africa. In the past I've been uncertain about Kordes in our intense 8A humid heat so the only others I have now are Lavaglut and Caramel Fairy Tale. Both very good here, BTW.

Wow if any rose that I have were blooming like that above. Everyone would hear about it. I would be recommending it to everyone. Boncrow, I have 2 plants they both get good sun. But they started as little bands and winter has taken them down to the ground both this year and last. It does take my little roses longer to get established. So in the mean time it is stingy.