Yeah! Finally!!! I came back after almost two weeks away (I hate United Airlines, delays for days with no reimbursement), and was rewarded with four beautiful flowers on one of my Summer Romances. They are so much prettier and more fragranced than those from Lowe's. Mine were from Chamblees. It took over four months, but was worth it and I can see it will continue. I actually just put it in the ground two weeks ago with only one bud. The other one that was damaged in shipping is still a comparative runt, but definitely improved. They both send out longish canes and aren't bushy at all. I wonder if I can pinch this growth to encourage bushiness or not. Do you experts do this with roses? Fire Opal has been a blooming dear since the get-go and is a great plant. All the lit says no fragrance, but it has a definite apple scent when freshly opened. The two Dark Desires I bought two week ago from Lowe's have continued budding and blooming. I agree they all must just take some time before thinking of reproduction. (On the other hand, my little Margo Koster which has been two tiny sticks for months, suddenly started leafing out and immediately set buds. I pluck them off everyday, but missed doing so while away. I'll soon have about six tiny flowers.)

Hi Everyone, My Madame Annisette's are on their 2nd year, with little to no blooms (had a handful for first Spring Flush). They've grown to be over 4' tall, with several canes shooting out this year at each base. However, I'm very frustrated by the lack of blooms! I have a Mme. Joseph Schwartz nearby with nearly continuous bloom cycles since April (and it's first year in ground, its roughly 3 yrs old though, was transplanted). Anyone getting more blooms??? I'm sorely tempted to remove all four MA's, but patience isn't always my strong suit with plantings...:)

Well, because of Cori Ann's photos, and Chris's comments re ADR, I hung in there with MA since 2017! It's now going into 2022 (in 3 days), and my MA will be coming out when I prune. I had MA in a prime spot in the garden, toward the back of the border due to reports of its height. I got 2-3 blooms first year, then some buds that crisped up in a hot day/dry wind day -- then nothing for over a year, then a couple of blooms, then nothing. So I moved it to a shadier part of the yard where it wasn't in a prime spot -- and got maybe 2 buds, but deer got those. So -- not MA's fault that deer got the 2 buds from 2021, and not MA's fault that the buds in 2017 were dried up by the sundowner winds. And, maybe not even MA's fault that it got a poor start. The famous nursery about an hour's drive away that sold me both MA and Dark Desire sold them in 5 gallon pots, but the roots looked more like 1 gallon plants from Heirloom. The Dark Desire died, and I replaced it, and had about the same luck with that one. I gave DD away last month to a neighbor, and will now offer him the MA. I've given MA and DD 5 years to perform, and they haven't. So, as Moses says, life is too short (and garden space too limited) to wait that long. So, bye bye MA. Sigh. p.s. I mis-remembered my dates in above post -- I got MA in late winter of 2017.

Thanks, Chris for your kind words. I am a Chris as well. Anyway, Lemon Fizz was one of the roses several years ago our Extension site was trialing for Earth Kind designation for Texas A & M. I remember many of the Master Gardeners liking that rose. The Extension’s Demo rose garden has Poseidon & it is a big rose situated on one of the corner inner berms. Everyone loves its color & fragrance. I didn’t want a big rose in my own garden, so I went with Plum Perfect, another fragrant lavender Kordes rose. I do agree with Chris about the canes of MA being not as pliable to go around an obelisk. I have an open 3 sided obelisk and I put a clematis called ‘Betty Corning’ in the center of it. It has pale blue/white bell shaped flowers, is disease resistant & in my garden it dies to the ground & re-emerges every spring to grace the 3 poles on the interior. At the Extension’s garden it is paired with a climber called Jasmina, another Kordes rose. There it reaches the top of that arbor every year. We lightly prune it in that particular garden area & it doesn’t die to the ground like at my home. In case anyone is wondering, both gardens mentioned are mulched with wood chips/cedar mulch is for my rose garden.