That is definitely not Princess Alexandra of Kent. It is SOOOO sweet whatever it is.

I find PAoK always has intense colouring even when it varies (apricot-raspberry-fuschia-melon, huge spectrum).

Also PAoK is hugely fragrant, I think it's probably impossible for a bloom of hers not to be.

An aside, a thorn from my PAoK once got lodged in my wrist, deep. It damaged a nerve and I was an invalid for about a month without the use of my right arm!!! Early gardening trauma that was! The thorns on these sweet seeming DAs ("Princess Alexandra of Kent" seems so innocent!) can be nasty - they're so huge.

I contacted Roses Unlimited and they think it is Alexandra Princesse de Luxembourg. I expect so since the pictures on HMF look like it... it didn't get good reviews, however. I guess it's a pretty flower but almost no fragrance. Would you ask for a replacement?

That's so funny! Wrong princess Alexandra! I think I'd ask for a replacement if it's not too much of a hassle....

Absolutely, Noseometer!! My thought is that you had something specific in mind when you decided to purchase PAoK. I grow PAoK and have researched APdL. These two roses seem to be very different. I also get a sense that you are as, or possibly even more "particular" than I. Get what you want..

Ho! You've got me pegged, Lynn! So true. I think that's part of the fun of growing roses -all the research that goes into finding just the right ones. Well, APdL is pretty, but not the look or color I was going for and very little fragrance. Mostly, you are right...not what I ordered. They are refunding me. I'm debating removing it, or seeing if I learn to like it.

Update: I was disappointed that I had Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg that was sent to me instead of Princess Alexandra of Kent. RU had e-mailed me back saying that it was one of the more popular roses in their rose garden, but I was doubtful, dismissing the comment as hype just to diffuse the situation (yes, I can be rather cynical). But now I can see that they were probably telling the truth. APdL has turned out to be a pretty vigorous rose with eye catching flowers, even though it doesn't have that cupped flower that I like, and it has only a mild but pleasant scent. It is not the most prolific producer of flowers, but they were pretty steady throughout the summer, despite my less than attentive care. My photos don't do it justice, since the flowers are quite large, larger than most of my Austins, and they last longer as well. They are very full of petals, and open flat. I can't tell how they cut since the plant is still too small and I don't usually cut my roses anyway. They stand out well in the garden, even when damaged by thrips. It has produced an octopus cane or two, but I'm strange in that I like octopus canes.

Peter Kukielski in his book Roses Without Chemicals gives it a total rating of 79, which I'd say is about right, but he gives it an 8/10 for fragrance, and I'd give it a 4. Like my photos, his photo in the book also doesn't do it justice. Maybe it's just not a photogenic rose.

Noseometer, thank you so much for the update. APdL wasn't even on my radar, but it is a gorgeous thing! I appreciate your detailed description and rating. Perhaps the missing degrees of fragrance are due to the dry air in your region? Humidity can make the difference between a little and a lot. Your report suggests that APdL might be a good rose for all of those warm climate gardeners who adore fluffs of silvery pink. The color, form and petal count of your blooms are outstanding! I wonder about the disease resistance in Portland.... Carol

Noseometer, I commented and posted a pic of this rose after seeing a magnificent specimen growing WELL over 6' tall in Peter Schneider's Z5 no-spray garden. It was super healthy and looked lovely grown next to an equally lusty Florentina. Thanks for the reminder. This looks like one that does well in both cold and hot climates.

Click to enlarge!

I know what you mean Noseometer about some roses not being photogenic. People raving about a rose, has led me to some great selections, even if the photos don't do the plant justice.

Carol, your guess is probably right in that the low humidity is probably the reason for my perception of low fragrance. Even Abe doesn't have that much fragrance except on the humid days or when cut and brought indoors, and APdL isn't much less fragrant to my nose than Abe. She also has a much more pleasant fragrance than Tranquility, which has a similar color and form, but is less vigorous, has smaller flowers (not really good or bad), less flowers in the heat and an interesting wet watercolor paper smell.

Vaporvac, thanks for showing that photo. I hope mine will get that big soon.

Overall, I think that APdL should get much more attention than she is getting. Seems to me to be a really worthwhile rose to grow.

Your photos will surely start the ball rolling in getting this rose out there. It would go on my list except that it is so similar to Cinderella Fairy Tale, at least in bloom form, if not in bush form. CFT is vase shape with blooms on the ends of long canes. I like the shrub form of yours (from vaporvac's photo) much better. I'm glad I was patient with some of mine that took forever to do anything.

I also have APdL by mistake. But it is really one vigorous rose. Strong grower, covered in blooms and has one of the biggest hips. The only negative, in our summer heat, blooms do not last long.

And, I wouldn't worry too much about it not getting an 'excellent' rating on HMF. I don't know what their criteria is, but I have roses rated only 'good' by them that I love. A couple of the Canadian roses come to mind, which we know are indispensable to cold zone gardens.

Noseometer , would you kindly update us on this rose ? I’m thinking of trying it . I’d love to know how big it has golden for you . I’m thinking this or mystic Beauty, but for some reason mystic beauty photos aren’t really capturing me .

I would also like to know. It was probably 6.5' in PS's Z5 garden shown above. It was a very large rose and my picture doesn't really indicate the size. Florentina was about 6' in that pic. Lily, it looked really pretty with Florentina and does have a similar colouring the the MB photos I've seen.

Well, Lilyfinch, APdL hasn't turned out to be a fabulous rose like Bishop's Castle, but I suspect that it is not a problem with the plant, but a problem with my climate or where it is planted. Keep in mind that roses tend to grow very slowly for me (for example Abraham Darby is still quite short for me but for many people, it can be a climber). My Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg is planted right next to Abe, and still has only 3 basals, and those are not well branched and only about 2 feet tall. She doesn't look much like the photo that Vaporvac posted above. She is also one of the roses that were planted at the edge of the drip zone of Vlad the Impaler (English Hawthorn), under which the roses that were planted failed to grow entirely ("the Zone of Death"). The flowers are quite large, about 4 inches across here, but I bet they would be quite a bit larger in a wetter climate like yours. To put it in perspective, the flowers are larger than Abraham Darby, and twice the size of Alnwick Castle. They are probably a little less than twice the size of Souvenir de la Malmaison that grows in the local rose garden. Her colors are a touch brighter than SdlM as well. The flower form is more structured and fuller than Sharifa Asma, and has more durable petals, many more than SdlM. Her flowers do have a worthwhile fragrance, but not as strong as Sharifa and none of the beer-like quality of SdlM. Flowers open rather flat, not cupped. She's not a "covered in flowers" type of plant, but she is not particularly stingy either. The flowering is more steady. For me, she's not overflowing with growth, but I suspect that in a lower elevation with more water and humidity (and without the overhanging Vlad) she would be a great plant. I'm going to try to pamper her a bit more this year and see if ishe takes off, now that I've removed Vlad. I think that for you, she would be worth a try if you like the flower form and color and want a rose with a more traditional fragrance than SdlM. Again, don't take my experience too seriously, because my conditions are particularly challenging, but I like her enough to keep trying to see if I can get her to grow better in my garden.

From September 2018 after the huge hailstorm ripped up the leaves:

click to embiggen

Peter Kukielski describes it in his book as tall and arching or spreading 5-7 feet and vigorous and fragrant. I'm not saying this to try to convince you to get her, but just that my experience with her is probably not a good example. Also worth mentioning is that in his book, the photographs make her look like an HT, but in my garden, she is not very HT-like.

Now that I've coaxed her to grow and I've sprayed for thrips, I finally got some decent flowers on my Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg. I still don't know if I'm going to keep her. The flowers are okay, but don't make my heart sing. Fragrance is slight.

I also got APdL by mistake, and don't much like it. It's a big plant and blooms are too blah to give that much space to it.

Thanks erasmus, I was feeling a little guilty about wanting to remove her. She took off this year, but as you say, the flowers aren’t particularly special to me.

Noseometer: I would LOVE to see and hear and update... Did you keep her???
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If you don’t want her... please send her to me!... 😉 but seriously... send her to me... because I would love to have her...😊
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Excitedly waiting for an update.

@Ann-SoCalZ10b SunStZ22 - I did not keep this rose, and removed it in 2019. Although I think she could have been a lovely rose, she never was for me. She had scraggly growth, and the flowers were loved by the thrips. There wasn't much fragrance. The flowers couldn't take the heat and wind here. The first flush had some very large flowers, with lots of petals though, and I could imagine that in the right climate it could be stunning. You could see if RU still carries this rose.

Noseometer: Thank you for the update. I’m sorry it didn’t do well for you. I’m gonna check RU.