I'm not growing any, but I've always been intrigued by Tausendschön, just because of the name.

I just received Russelliana from ARE this spring. I used to grow it and have really missed it! Hybrid purple Multifloras are some of my favorite roses. I have a large Violette and a small Veilchenblau. I'll see if I can find photos to post. Thank you for the lovely shots of Russelliana! Nice thread. :-) Carol

Hybrid multifloras do poorly for me, I suspect because of the high pH on my limestone-bedrock soil. (Good for wine grapes, though.) I planted a collection of purple multiflora ramblers a dozen years or so ago, and ended up removing all but one of them a few years later because I could not bear to see them suffer so.

The best of the lot for me was Violette, which I still grow, though in a different part of the garden that does not seem to be so extreme. I see a different bedrock there when I dig down. It still gets cholorsis, but not as badly, and it will grow and bloom. I recommend Violette to people who are willing to grow once bloomers, as its bloom period is longer than most, about 6 weeks most years.

Rosefolly

Thanks everybody. I too live on top of limestone, although I haven't had too many problems with chlorosis in my roses, I'm certainly not acidic enough to grow the true acid loving plants without amending the soil. I'm guessing that may be because the soil (at least near the house) has been cultivated for so long. Mad_gallica, I love your Baltimore Belle! I have heard rumors that the Moser House Shed Rose/Arcata Pink Globe (on my to try list) might be a relative, or a lost rose by the same breeder. How does BB perform for you?

Umm, it is what it is. It's a large rambler with few, if any, problems. I have it growing on a split rail fence, and it easily takes up its 10 ft fence portion. Its biggest issue is that I planted it next to species setigera which is trying to take over the world. The species tip-roots extremely easily, and I neglected the fence for a few years.

I know nothing about hybrid multifloras except that my Ghislaine de Feligonde is growing vigorously on my back fence. Love it!

Sometimes it take on pink hues

I'm going to have to move a couple of her neighbors that are getting smothered by this lovely spreading (semi) monster. : )

Kate

I have Violette, Veilchenblau, Ghislaine, and Gilda. Gilda is the one newest to me. It is supposedly Geschwind's Orden. The first blooms I had last year did look the same as that one. I'm really looking forward to seeing what it does this year. I like the health and vigor of the plant and it is thornless or nearly so. In a time of drought it kept on growing...it just has a lot of survivor instinct. Some of its early blooms had vegetative centers..hope it won't keep doing that. Here is a pic from hmf's Orden: http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.274864  and here's a not very good pic from me:

I need to read up on this class of rose. ARE just told me yesterday that being a HMultifora may account for GdF's lack of re-bloom for some folks.

I should be getting Veilchenblau and Ghislaine de Feligonde this year (I hope!), so still need to see how they grow in my zone and soil.

Ever since I saw a photo of mad_gallica's 'Baltimore Belle,' I've been marveling at this gorgeous h.setigera, but unfortunately don't have enough space to grow it.

I am intrigued by Tausendschön, which I believe is h.multiflora. It caught my eye when I saw its fantastic photos shared by one of GW members, 'altorama zone 5/6', but I haven't seen her posting recently. I hope she is OK...

I planted quite a few of these back in the days before I began drastically amending planting holes, and as in Rosefolly's case they don't do well for me. I suspect too-heavy, too-clay soil and excessive sun. Mine get sunburn and, I suspect as a consequence, are susceptible to cane girdler damage. They have short-lived canes. Little to no fragrance. I think even so that these would be genial roses in the right conditions. I have a mystery Hybrid Multiflora that may be 'Tausendschoen'. It grows together with an eleagnus, once yellow-variegated but then reverted to even gray-green. The rose has fresh bright green foliage, healthy, and clear pink blooms, and it reblooms a bit. The combination of greens and the pink is a beautiful one and the rose is a great toughie. These root easily from cuttings, which is one reason I have so many of them. I'm hoping that the rest of the garden will grow up around them and give them conditions they like better than their current ones; meanwhile, they hang on.

Lovely pictures everyone! I wonder if anyone in the northern climes is growing Seven Sisters (the real one)? I love the pictures of her unique, fluffy leaves.

Has anyone tried Abigail Adams yet?

I don't grow it, but it's very popular in Maine and can be found in many old gardens. It used to grow on my GGparent's property and my Dad's one regret (besides selling that house) is not moving that rose or taking a cutting. His mom was one of seven sister and so it was planted in their honor. The site is a Walgreen's now. : (((

I always fee a bit sad when I hear about historic buildings (and their gardens) being torn down. What a lovely story, though, about your paternal grandmother, and her sisters!

Can anyone who is growing Orden tell me if it has any fragrance worth taking about? Opinions seem to vary widely on this...

I agree, Karen. It was a VERY old House of Seven Gables type across the street from the one room school house that was also torn down!!! I always thought they had more sense up there, but this was considered "progress". However, the house's plantings were mainly lilacs, viburnums and other old-fashioned sorts of things that suit these places so well. The REAL crime was the garden next door that fascinated me as child. She was gardener par excellence, whom we used to torment by picking all her flowers! I still remember the gazing ball surround by mums, cosmos, snapdragons (loved those), hollyhocks, lilies, iris, peonies, etc. That also went along with the corner store where we used to buy candy.

Sorry for going OT. Just wanted to point out that 7Ss would probably make it in your neck of the woods. : )

No, the real one is usually listed as hardy to zone 7. It is the many roses that also go under that name, like Tauschenschon, that are hardy enough.

I think I saw Abigail Adams years ago at Mike Lowe's house, before it had a real name.

Geschwinds Orden has no scent to my nose. It is also quite prone to BS but I'll keep it anyway. It's not sick every year. I've had it since 1999 because it's one of few roses that manage to cover an arch in my less than benign Swedish climate.

I have the true Seven Sisters in Zone 4 and it has not gotten more than a few feet tall against a sunny, south facing wall. Maybe it will take off eventually. I already lost it once, though.

Mad gallica, so is T. the one that's being sold as Seven Sisters up north? This was a once blooming multicolored Rose, which I think is sold at High Country roses. I would love to gift one to my dad. Again, sorry for taking this OT.

There are a couple of roses commonly referred to as Seven Sisters in the north. Tauschenschon is one. Russelliana is another. There could easily be more. Any cluster flowered rambler that fades to different colors has probably been called Seven Sisters.

Oh, Geschwind's Orden. I yanked it due to too much blackspot, or at least I tried. It seems to have reappeared. I don't remember any scent, and it has issues with malformed blossoms.

Excelsa gets called Seven Sisters a lot around here. (It doesn't really fade to different colors. A neighbor explained it was called that because it had 7 leaflets or 7 blooms per stem or something. Right.) Basically, Seven Sisters is whatever somebody's grandmother called by that name, lol. Don't try to tell them otherwise.

I planted Ernst G Dorell and Geschwind's Nordlandrose last year but they haven't had a chance to bloom much so we'll see how they do. I did get one bloom from GN last year (though I don't get first year blooms for most roses in the first year anyway) so FWIW here it is after it dropped most of its petals:

Ghislaine de Feligonde barely blooms once for me with maybe a grand total of 8 blooms a year even without much winter kill in the season. Here's the best (and only) shot of blooms from a year or two back:

My favorite multiflora is of course Veilchenblau, and it's trouble free, hardy and huge in cold zones. I've posted elsewhere about this (and talked some of you into trying this one) so I'll just stick to one photo.

Cynthia

I love this thread so far. Cynthia, your Veilchenblau looks so happy in the shade! It seems like the really popular roses end up having their names borrowed through the years by other, similar imposters. The Sweetheart rose (any polyantha), Seven Sisters (big cluster blooming ramblers), York and Lancaster (pink and white)... If it fits a certain type, the rose begins to be associated under these group names.

Marianese- your arches are so gorgeous!!! I've noticed that many of the roses which are notably successful in Sweden are also very successful here in Minnesota. I love trying them- my Paternal Great Grandmother was an immigrant from Sweden, and I like trying roses she may have experienced when she was a girl.