Julia child is one of my most favorite roses, even in my terribly humid climate. It is in constant bloom, even after the deer chomp it lol. I’m considering getting a second. I also really love blue girl, but it is needy in my climate. The color is a perfect lavender to me though, so I keep her around :)

Looks like my Pic isn’t show up *sigh*

Thanks for the info. I was trying to post a pic but not sunccessful either. :(

Kristine, love the colors and shapes of these roses! Does easy does it grow well in the pot? And how tall does TZ get? Thanks

BlueGirl is gorgeous and has a wonderful fragrance

I have 2 Easy does it. One in a pot and one in ground so it will be Interesting to see if there is a big difference.

Twilight Zone just took off. I planted it this summer and it was a blooming machine. Right now only about 3 ft but it will get much bigger I bet.

Kristine, your Julia Child roses are gorgeous! Twilight Zone is beautiful too. My TZ has improved, I’m anxious to see what it does this spring.

Beautiful photos !! Curious about those of you that have twilight zone .. is it own root or grafted ? Mine is own root from chamblees .. a few years old and still small and twiggy . No real shrub to speak of . Was going to pitch it probably. Gorgeous when it blooms but just gets lost in my salvia .

Celestial night is on my wish list !! Hope you report on it :)

I am not totally sure but I think it is own root.

Julia has been such a great rose, always blooming

Twilight Zone

Julia Child - everything I want from a floribunda, generous bloom, quick repeat, dense healthy compact plant with great branching

Love Song - Agree, the lavender is an especially nice shade, the blooms are huge and there are tons of them. The plant is bushy , attractive and vigorous. Others have reported dieback issues, but mine had been stellar so far.

Blue Girl - color and scent are great, the plant habit is wonky and irregular, bloom quality really suffers once it warms up.

Twilight Zone - a decent bloomer, but the blooms shatter fast. Ocassionally the color is a lush deep plum, but mostly in my hot weather its more magenta, which I find less desirable.

Celestial Night - I don’t grow it, but I’m guessing this one will be even more magenta than Twilight Zone.

Wow thanks for the amazing pics and input everyone!!

I took a couple of pictures of Celestial Nights at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden in the middle of October 2018. The 2 bushes were in the test bed

Rose, thanks for sharing the picture of Celestial night. What a pretty color.

Blue girl (left) Spirit of Freedom (right). Blue girl is one of my all time favs and very fragrant! Posiedon is also similar in color. SoF is more lavender as it ages and also fragrant.

Julie and TZ are pretty compact. Blue Girl is pretty classic Hybrid Tea and taller, but easily pruned to size. All are very nice roses with solid repeat.

Blue Girl

Julia Child

Twilight Zone

Hmmmm it’s good to know CN does well under the San Jose sun. It should be ok during the Indian summer here in San Francisco (Where I live) too. However the color looks very similar to TZ. I am wondering if I should pick a Floribunda with different color...

Oliver, that was why I didnt jump on CN, I have so many that are in that same color range .

Ebb Tide

Purple Prince

Nice choices, Oliver!

Julia Childs is a favorite among forum members.

Blue Girl is my favorite Lavender rose. I really like the way B.G.'s lavender blooms appear against the dark green leaves. The blooms are nicely fragrant and it creates an attractive bush.

Love Song often puts out a lot of blooms, they are not especially fragrant ( I could not detect much fragrance at all) and I was constantly clipping stems to keep the bush properly shaped. I have a small bed that has six Love Song mixed with lavender and shrub. If I had to do it all over I would have selected B.G. instead

My experience with Twilight Zone is similar to Ben's. Purple blooms in cooler weather and magenta once temperatures increased.

I actually prefer the smoky coloring of Ebb Tide's blooms. Ebb Tide, to my nose, is highly fragrant in a way that T.Z. is not. Not the best pic. of Ebb Tide

Love the pics! I considered ebb tide for its darker shades but eventually gave up, since I heard (and observed from the San Jose rose garden) it’s color cant last under the summer sun.

Am So excited!

Hi Oliver, I never had any purple rose in my garden, so I tried to decide between Ebb Tide, Twilight Zone and Celestial Night. Like you, I came to the same conclusion about Ebb Tide a while back, so I went to the San Jose Rose Garden to see for myself and compare between Twilight Zone and Celestial Night. Initially I was leaning towards getting Twilight Zone because of the many gorgeous pictures I saw on the forum. However, I was very disappointed by what I saw below at the San Jose Rose Garden:

In contrast the nearby Violet Pride bushes are still looking good.

My micro climate here in the East Bay is not as dry as San Jose, and perhaps about 4 - 5 degree F colder on average year round. I have significant humidity and quite a bit of days with fog during the spring, fall and winter. So if a rose doesn't do well in San Jose, I have doubts it will do well for me in my garden.

The parentage of Celestial Night included Grande Dame, which I grow and can attest that it is very disease resistant. That's why I went with the decision of getting Celestial Night, and not Twilight Zone or Ebb Tide.

Good luck with whatever you choose to grow.

The only one on your list that I have grown is Love Song--one of my absolute favorite roses. It might have a few "survival" problems in zone 6 or colder (I'm not sure on that point yet), but obviously that wouldn't be a problem in your zone.

I transplanted her last summer, so I don't know how much bloom I will get this year. Normally, she's a good bloomer.

Love Song--such a lovely shade of lavender

Love Song--just opening.

Kate

Thank you so much for the info Rose. This indeed makes me wonder... since we live in the same region, would you recommend other roses with compact shape, fast rebloom time, and relatively bigger blooms?

Kate your love song is to die for! I hope mine will look as good as yours.

Hi Oliver, I see on your list lavender, purple, orange and yellow roses, so I am not sure you are asking me for suggestions of similar color roses or compact roses of other color? Not sure of your other preferences such as fragrance or growth habit, or what you already have in your garden. Below are 3 roses that grow well in my garden and in case you don't have these yet:

I have David Austin's Munstead Wood (own root), which is a burgundy color rose in cooler weather and deep magenta during the summer. It almost look dark purple during the spring and fall. It is compact, about 3 x 2.5 feet, very floriferous and disease free in my garden. I did not spray it at all. The bloom size is probably about 4 inches. The fragrance is remarkable. Own root grows slower than grafted, but if you get it through David Austin, Regan or Alden Lane, they will come in own-root. It is best for the front of the border. Below is a picture of one of my last bloom of the season, on the 18 December 2018.

I am not sure if you want to consider a white rose, but if you do, one that flowers a lot and stay very compact is Bolero. It is also disease free for me without the need of spraying. It tends to grow slow, and is no bigger than 2 x 2 feet after 1 year on the ground. The fragrance is remarkable. It seems to prefer flowering constantly rather than growing. Here are couple of pictures:

If you want to consider pink, I really like David Austin's Princess Alexandra of Kent. I won't say that it is compact, and its grow habit is very "relax". However, the blooms are fragrant and gigantic, on average between 5 - 6 inches. About 4 x 4 feet in my garden (own root also). It flowers freely and is also disease free for me without spraying.

Here is a composite of several pictures:

thank you Rose! I like Austin roses. Very useful info. ;)

I bought a tree Love Song expecting that "purple rose" fragrance. I have never had ONE bloom that smells in any way. The flowers are beautiful though! After I bought it, I came across a potted blooming Blue Girl in summer and WOW, that's the smell I was looking for. I never buy potted roses but I just had to have that one, and it is even better than I hoped--a nonstop bloomer even in partial shade and they all smell great. It quickly became my second favorite purple (after the "Gold Standard," my Sterling Silver)

Carla in Sac