Absolutely stunning! Thanks for posting these pictures.

Lisa - I have to admit that I broke down and cried when I saw your pics. I lost my then 5-year old Mel’s Heritage a few years ago. It was growing 30 feet in one direction and 15’ in the other against a fence and absolutely loaded with buds. It seems silly, and even more so to admit this, but I still deeply grieve for this rose.

Your description of him is the rose I knew. I must enjoy him vicariously through your gorgeous pics. Thank you for sharing.

Jo

Oh, Jo, I am so sorry about you losing your rose. I would have bought Mel's Heritage in a snap.

Lisa, it is beautiful even tho the sun is bright, you can see it real well. I zoom in for better look on my phone.

There is so much to see in your garden. Your garden is very beautiful with so many roses and companion plants.

Thanks for putting this thread up ,:):)

Jin

This morning:

Lisa, your MH is stunning! I don't even have to question why he's your favorite. If I can find an inch of rambler space, I will move heaven and earth to acquire this rose. I'm so glad he is rewarding your love and care with armloads of blossoms! Thank you for sharing what I'd dearly love to grow.

Oh, Jo! I am so sorry. I do know how the loss of a beloved rose involves very real grief. Truth be told, our roses are more than just colorful stuff in the yard. They carry connections to others, ourselves and our memories, and their beauty touches some part of us I don't think can even be measured yet. Once, when I was talking with a counselor, she asked me to "go to my happy place." When she asked where I was, I said, "With my roses." :-) I hope you can grow MH again someday! In the meantime, Lisa, thank you for gifting us with the experience of your MH. Could you send us the fragrance, too? Carol

Lol...Carol , that is funny how you put it. Talking to anyone who ask you to go to happy place is roses, I remember, mine used to be perfume factory which my dad used to threaten me that he will take me there (factory) if I keep putting so much perfume on me. I think I was 11 or 12.

I put perfume after showers which I have btw 2 or 3 a day. Before, I go to bed and whenever I change my clothes. So, I am total maniac with scent. Now, I want roses with scent...lol. see the connection... lol

So , it was funny when you said roses. Smiles :). I like that and I think that is my new thing too.

Jin

You're killin' me Smalls! When I get my new fence -some day in the hopefully not too distant future - this is going on it!

Spectacular Lisa, especially the way you have it on that bank..

Thanks everyone, but the compliments really ought to go to Paul Barden. I really didn’t do anything to make ‘Mel’s Heritage’ perform so beautifully, this is a rose that takes care of himself! I’m actually a little afraid to fertilize him, and so far he’s been fine with just my compost and water.

Jo, I’m SO sorry you lost your ‘Mel’s Heritage’! I know I’d feel the same way. I’d rather lose just about anything else in the garden over my ‘Mel’s Heritage’. Do you plan to buy another one? Do you still have the space? I know HMF says MH can be maintained at 8’, so even if you don’t have as much available space as you used to, maybe you could still make it work? You clearly loved this rose. I’d like to see you to grow him again:)

Tiffandrew, where abouts in N San Diego County are you located? That’s EXACTLY where I am! We must be near each other. Clearly, Mel’s Heritage would be Veeery happy at your house! Lisa

Lisa, your rose is looking so lush and beautiful! Mine is new this year, and recently made a happy little bloom as a promise of things to come. Here’s hoping I get anything remotely close to yours!!

J Sturg, what a nice little specimen! I’ll bet he takes off during this coming summer. Mine sure started out much smaller than yours currently is. I kept him potted for a while to get him off to a good start. He didn’t seem to like the pot life much, and only REALLY began to grow once planted in the ground

Tiffandrew, I’m on the Eastern side of San Marcos, so we ARE very near each other!!! I had a feeling we were:) That’s exciting! My MH came from Burlington Roses. She sells wonderful roses, and her shipping charges are very reasonable. I really hope you get this rose! You will NOT regret it! Lisa

I thought 7:30 this morning would be early enough to avoid the sun, but I was wrong! I got one better picture.

Yesterday, we had a party at my aunts to celebrate 2 birthdays, and the retirement of two family friends, two wonderful teachers, who taught many of us in 1st and 2nd grade,(including myself and my three children).

I brought my Aunt a vase of ‘Mel’s Heritage’, with a few other blooms quickly thrown in.

Here’s a picture of our beloved teachers, with their past students who where present. (I’m in the purple dress, and my son, Josh is next to me.)

I came home too late to take those evening pictures of ‘Mel’s Heritage’. Hopefully tonight, I’ll be successful. Lisa

That’s so neat! It IS super helpful to have someone really local growing roses, that you can glean information from. Ingrid is near us too, and she’s helped me choose my roses over the years. She’s saved me a lot of heartbreak, money, and effort. I’ve often joked with her that it wouldn’t be long before I was growing all the same roses she was! It’s SO helpful to know that if it thrives in her slightly hotter garden, it will do just fine in mine. I was told (by a friend of his) that Bob Martin, the soon to be president of the American Rose Society, looked for a place with great rose growing conditions, when he was going to move. In all the country, guess where he chose to live? You guessed it, Escondido! You’re in GREAT rose growing country! Lisa

Lisa, these pictures are simply wonderful, and so of course is Mel's Heritage. This would seem to be one of the best large roses ever for our climate. It deserves to be much better known even by gardeners who have no desire for a rose garden per se. It's just so ornamental and dramatic!

tiffanddrew, how nice to meet some more local rose people! I lived in Escondido in the past until I became a country girl and moved up to Starvation Mountain and for the last twelve years Valley Center. Lisa has a much nicer climate and her roses do much better than mine. She also has clay soil while mine is decomposed granite which doesn't hold water very well. My roses are declining because of the intense sun radiation onto the granite boulders on our property and the years of drought, while Lisa has many more roses that are doing very well in her more benign climate. I mean, she even has grass!

Thanks Ingrid! I took a few more pictures last evening hoping the light would be better.

Gorgeous, just gorgeous!!

Lisa - thank you for your kind words. You are so sweet. I am not sure exactly why I didn’t get another Mel’s Heritage. Probably because I never could determine what caused such a huge rose to die so quickly.

Carol - you said it so eloquently and you are correct about the connections we have with our roses. For me, it was about Mel’s Heritage being a Paul Barden rose and named after Mel Hulse who I had the pleasure of meeting very briefly but didn’t know who he was at that time. I would have treasured it for those two reasons alone but I also have the most pleasantest of memories associated with the day I got this rose.

Jo

Jo, Aren’t you tempted to get another? It was surely just a fluke thing? Lisa

If I can get DH to start cuttings, I will give you one, Jo.

Love never dies which is why it’s so painful...<sigh>. I have been tempted, Lisa. I haven’t removed the stump from when I cut down Mel’s Heritage - I had an insane hope that it might grow back. Rosefolly gave me Crepuscule (parent of Mel’s Heritage) to fill the spot but it really is not happy in my garden (too cold summers?). I have a Champneys Pink Cluster that I had planned to put in Mel’s spot blooms almost continuously (Mel was a once bloomer for me) but it’s a mildewy mess. That side of the yard still remains empty.....

Jeri - Mel’s Heritage roots so easily. The winter before mine died I had pulled up close to 10 rooted plants - pretty much any cane that had touched the ground had rooted. Oh gosh, now I am going to cry again - if only I had potted up just one! Thank you so much for the offer, Jeri. You and Clay are so kind.

I have been thinking of Madame Alfred Carriere or even plain ole Climbing Iceberg.

Jo

Yours is looking good, Sheila! I love your bright coral bud! Some of mine that are more shaded by other canes and other plants are a deeper coral like yours, too. I’m also seeing some larger blooms this flush than I’ve seen before. Mine is still rather young, although it’s hard to believe from the size of it! I remember wondering the first year, if it would EVER bloom! It turns out, MH just wanted out of that container ASAP! As soon as my son planted him, he grew and bloomed very quickly. I’m now eyeing these hundreds of blooms and hoping they won’t need to be deadheaded. Jeri, will a good shake or blast with the hose be good enough to dislodge any remaining spent petals? I can’t imagine cutting each cluster off. There are FAR too many for that. I’m already grateful the drip system is watering Mel’s Heritage, because it’s difficult to get to the base, the way he tumbles down the slope. I’m SO glad I’m not dragging the hose up there to water him anymore.

Jeri, it makes me very happy to see you possibly offer Jo a start of ‘Mel’s Heritage’! I do so want her to have him again! Lisa

We crossposted, Jo! I do hope you’ll grow him again:) That’s so true about MH rooting easily. I had a piece root where the drip kept it moist. Of course, it wasn’t in a gopher cage, because it was an unexpected surprise. A gopher made short work of it:( I can’t stand those things! Lisa

Those darn gophers - I sympathize with you, Lisa, and others who have to deal with these critters. Luckily we don’t have them here.

In case anyone is interested, here’s my post on Mel’s Heritage the year before I lost him:

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/1626797/mels-heritage?n=26

Jo

That sad death was so mysterious Jo. My only experience like that is gophers eating the roots. When I forked the plant up the roots were gone.

I just looked at your MH photos, Jo. Thank you for sharing them! Like others on this thread, I do encourage you to grow MH again.

It has been really helpful reading about this wonderful rambler. Thank you, Lisa! (I love the photos of family and teachers you posted, btw.) Now that I realize how easily Mel roots, I am going to find a way to acquire one ASAP. This is a rose that should always be in commerce, like Marianne. After meeting Paul and touring his garden, I am more determined than ever to plant myself firmly in the circle of PB preservationists. I believe his roses are so exceptional because they carry a piece of his passion and inner beauty in each bloom. A while back, I posted on my favorite breeders. Until I build my time machine, I won't be able to meet those from centuries past, but I've noticed that my favorite twentieth century and twenty first breeders are all truly inspirational and richly souled people. I wish I had met Mel Hulse. This Barden rose is twice precious, breeder and namesake! Carol