Gorgeous Windwaker!

These are all so beautiful! Mine is covered in healthy, new, red growth. I sure hope mine blooms this year!

OK, OK, even though I still personally detest the fragrance, I must give credit where credit is due! Summer Romance is still covered in blooms that still look fresh and the whole thing is mainly pink so couldn't ask for any more blooms. There are blooms from the ground to the top at ten feet and everywhere in between.

We've been having sustained winds of 20-30 miles plus the gusts and absolutely no shattering.

This is about the third season in the ground and what a difference! My helpers thought that she was just a big shrub until now, and frankly, that's what I was happy to use her for.

Just wanted to throw this out there in case anybody loves the color/blooms/health/fragrance. There is hope! Now to find out if she repeats this performance here or if it's just a spring thing.

I LOVE the fragrance of Summer Romance! It’s lovely, but all personal preference. :-)

It is getting better and better here. Here my 4 are this morning...

And one of Madame Anisette since I have them growing together.

:-)

This is what I'm hoping for. I also wanted to mention how much your arbor addition adds to the entire picture.

Thank you! I know iceberg is considered pedestrian to many rose growers, but I think it’s perfect in CA for prominent places like end caps, arbors, etc. They will be covered in white roses throughout the spring and summer very soon!

For us non-resident CAs, Iceberg is a dream rose! That's fabulous that they're going on the end posts as I somehow thought you weren't growing anything on the arbor because of the gutters. I'm glad you're able to put some there even if they can't cover the entire structure.

Ohhh you meant that arbor. Sorry! I thought you meant the archways at the end of the path. You are correct. I’m not growing anything on the white arbor/overhang over the back porch. :-)

Hah! I should have correctly said Pergola!!! ; ))) However, the ARBOR will still be gorgeous draped in while!

Beautiful pictures everybody!

Cori, I'm so happy that you love the fragrance in addition to her outstanding performance for you!

I wonder if our soil and climate conditions actually make it smell different or if it's just our own personal noses? I'm hoping the latter because I would love to know that my favorites could go with me anywhere and still smell the same! I think that my soil is more alkaline than yours but my well water is neutral.

It’s probably just preference LL. It has an herbal essence to the fragrance in addition to floral, so it’s different that most sweet or citrus-y smelling roses. I personally LOVE the fragrance. :-)

Cori Ann, love your pictures. Are you going to make some of your beautiful bouquets? Sure enjoyed them last year.

Beautiful!! Mine is going gangbusters! Blooms everywhere! Edit to add that mine wafted a bit! I was so excited!!

So beautiful!!

As if your Dark Desire wasn't swoon inducing enough! Geez!

Vap, I am getting more excited about both of them. I stink at impulse buys, but these look like keepers!

Gagalzone, they’re beautiful! Summer Romance is a lovely rose. I do hoe mine blooms this year!

Gorgeous Gagal! You can cut those candelabra canes and each one makes its own long stem bouquet! Or you can just throw them in a big ol bucket like me. :-)

Here you go Sara-Ann. Bucket of Summer Romance. :-)

And even after cutting all those, the bushes have so many more blooms it’s like they haven’t even been trimmed! You can see where the bushes are by the pink blooms, but also my foliage and reject piles. :-) Summer Romance is a fluffy, generous, fragrant, truly amazing rose. I just love it.

Cori-Ann, so beautiful and perfectly arranged. Thanks!

Ha! Thanks! But I just plunked them in a prepping bucket, they’re not even arranged... they just naturally look like that! We’re an easy rose loving bunch though so a bucket of roses probably looks fantastic to all of us. :-) I’m sure yours will bloom if you give it time and it will be absolutely worth it.

Cori Ann, how does SR compare to your Dames de Chenonceau? Bloom form looks similar to me, but DdC seems to have more peach blend to it. How do they compare in terms of number and size of blooms, rebloom, fragrance and vigor? Thanks!

Hi Totoro. My DdC is younger so it’s not fair to truly compare yet, but SR blooms way more, has stronger fragrance, more vigor, faster rebloom. DdC is a wonderful rose though. It’s looser, has less petals, but it’s still wonderful. There’s a post from last spring that gives a visual comparison... http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4638699/comparing-a-few-pale-pink-extremely-fragrant-roses

Thanks, Cori Ann. How could I have forgotten that awesome post of yours from last year? Hm. Maybe I will put Summer Romance in the spot I had reserved for DdC. I think DcC might like more alkaline soil.

Just scored a Summer Romance @ Lowes today yayyyy.

A couple of years ago I was working in a big box garden center and we got in one day several pallets of lushly blooming roses, like full cabbag-y pink blooms just covering the plants. I read the tag - Summer Romance. Probably the most beautiful rose I had ever seen. Lots of other people thought so, too - those roses just flew out of the store. I was sorry I didn't get one, but that's how things went that year.

Time passes, and several years later I read on the forums that "Summer Romance" is a very reluctant bloomer for many. I remember the pallets (plural!), of SR plants we got in and the sheer mass of blooms. How do those nurseries do that??!!

Anyway, however those professional growers manage to pull off those massive blooming displays, I bet it brings stress to the plant and it takes a couple of years for the plant to recover. Anyway, it seems a reasonable idea to me.

Well, of course that wouldn't explain mail order roses dragging their feet about blooming...so I still don't know.

verdantcroft, I am only a moderately experienced rosarian, but I would venture a different explanation.

I think the reason the mail order plants were taking a while to bloom is just that they tend to be young and need time to grow further. Just my guess. They say, first year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap. I bought my Summer Romance at Lowes grafted last year, and it didn't bloom at all for me the first year (2017). However, it looked to be already 2 years old, so I think mine is now in its 3rd year even though it's its 2nd year with me.

I *almost* returned it or tossed it because it didn't have even 1 bloom the first year. I am SO glad I didn't! It's beautiful, fragrant, and loaded in buds. I grow it in a 15 gallon grow bag and fertilize weekly weakly with a rotation of organic and inorganic fertilizers.

Windwaker, I agree completely! Chris from New Flora said those from Lowe's were at least 2 years old, whereas the ones from Chamblees, etc. could be as little as 6 months. Cori Ann's plants also came as large specimens. I got a few blooms the first year from my Chamblee SR and quite a few last year until the Midge, but I'm looking forward to a good spring flush.

My hope for my SRs lives in this post. Please keep the pictures coming. I LOVE the scent.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures to add this summer or fall.

Mine came with a bloom does that count? Lol

Lilyfinch, if I remember correctly you also have Dames de Chenonceau. Which do you like better?

Mine came from Heirloom, and later I talked to Chamblee's, who said that they has pulled it completely for performance. So not only had I paid way more, but she didn't bloom at all, though serving a purpose as a fast growing climber.

So mine would be third year too, now that I think about it. I normally never have that kind of patience though!

Mine came with a bud Sultry, so I vote yes. :) We'll see when I get another bloom. :)

I pruned it to about 8-12 inches and here it is all flushed back out. Not a bud amongst all that though. Not yet anyway.

I'm back to report that overnight SR is covered in incipient buds! I got tired of counting and this is on both of them. I experimented pruning, cutting some normally, (although not as short as yours SCRFs), and held some of the long canes horizontally. The latter are now putting out mini laterals with baby buds and the others have buds with every new growth! Yippee!!! These were small plants from Chamblees 2016. My Munstead Wood is also setting small buds, but only the one I didn't transplant. :(( Also, OT, I'm getting buds on my two freebie Peonies from 2016. I wasn't sure I was ever going to see any flowers on those. So hang in there folks... there's hope! Now we'll just have to see how she reblooms.

Suncoast your SR's new growth is so pretty! I love that.

vaporvac, Yayyy you are officially on bud watch now lol, ya know where you go out a zillion times a day to check on them "D. I look forward to your bloom photos.

Here's my faded Summer Romance bloom. Kinda getting dried out around the edges.

Verdantcroft, I too remember those pallets of SR at Lowe's 2016. They are what has given me hope because I KNEW they could be covered in bloom! I regret not getting any that year, but my two have finally caught up it seems. : ) I think Chris said they were grafted. Yes, Sultry, I am now on bud watch with SR, MW and my first to set bud, Cl.Clotilde Soupert. Your flower is beautiful. I remember they last pretty well on the bush and have super velvety petals.

I should add I'm also going to try dis-budding the main bud as someone said this helped push more buds down the cane which make sense from a botanical standpoint. I need to remember to do this.

Beautiful! They don’t look real! I am going to cut mine back this weekend for another bloom bonanza!

So has anyone removed the central bud to try and push more growth lower down on the stem? I've done this with the few to see if it has any effect, although it was really hard to remove that fat bud. I cannot believe the number of them. Mine mine grows quite wide and like others, it could be grown as a climber of sorts.

I was wondering the same thing!

Also, does pinching the central bud makes the surrounding buds flower either bigger or at the same time? I seem to have read that somewhere.

So gorgeous. I was able to find two of these along with two Earth Angels and one Easy Spirit one Charlene Princess de Monaco at an area nursery. I was astounded to find these since most nurseries carry the been around forever hybrid teas and some older introduction Austins. A bit pricey at $44 a piece but they all are huge and loaded with buds. It has been such a long winter here ( I probably won't see any blooms on my planted roses until July, my tulips are just opening) and everybody's rose pics are driving me crazy!! Sometimes you just gotta cheat!

sharon

My Summer Romance is finally setting on buds!

Interesting, Sara-Ann. Mine is finally starting to bloom!!! It is covered with opening/opened buds. I'll post pics if it stops raining. I'm SO glad I waited this one out. I do get some chlorosis, but I think that's just my super basic soil.

suncoastflowers- You won't be disappointed. I was able to find two Summer Romance at a local nursery loaded with buds. The flowers are gorgeous and the scent is amazing!

Summer Romance spotted at Home Depot in the Seattle area for $12.98 in 1.5 gallon pots, nice sized, probably own root.

I planted Summer Romance last fall as a young plant from Roses Unlimited. This spring the plant has grown nicely and is starting to bloom in my Pacific Northwest garden.

The scent is incredible. The blooms are beautiful. The bush is really healthy and beautiful.

Love this rose.

I love the blooms. They are beautiful and so fragrant. I have had another plant for a while but when these didn't set buds for a while I started to worry that I might have some duds on my hands!

I saw Summer Romance at Home Depot, it reminds me of Mme Isaac Pereire and Princess A of Kent, I have the two, waiting for them to grow up, so decided to leave out. The fragrance Is different from the two, I think.

Reviving this thread - how does SR do in dappled shade for part of the day? We are in GA where the sun can just roast a rose if in full sun all day.

This rose loves sun. Hope someone near you pipes up.

Oooo Summer Romance does NOT like Sacramento sun at all! Once we get above 80 degrees, the edges shrivel in about 2 hours, even in afternoon shade!
After years of this, I have just accepted I only get usable flowers in March and April.
Carla in Sac