Congrats to your daughter! Hoorah for all her hard work, and some good news.

And I Love your bouquet—so pretty! I just got a baby MAC, so I’m really excited now seeing your blooms! Is the purple one scabiosa? Such a gorgeous combo! :-)

Great news!! Your roses are beautiful!

Thanks! The purple flower is scabiosa, Perma. That plant from Annie’s had just one bloom on it yesterday. There’s not a lot blooming quite yet in the annual and perennial department. They should start soon, though.

MAC is such a beautiful plant with such elegant blooms. I just love her, and I’m sure your going to really enjoy yours, Perma. Jin, be ready with lots of space when you do get MAC. I have to keep cutting mine so it doesn’t encroach on the park nextdoor. She grows really fast! I’m sure she’ll grow quickly in FL, as well. She only gets morning sun here, and seems to be very happy. She’s also the leaf cutter bee’s favorite rose. That’s just fine since there’s plenty of her to go around! Lisa

How lovely, Lisa. We don't get blooms up here yet.

Congratulations on your daughter's exam!

I have a young MAC planted to climb up into a tree in a bed that's edged in a "hedge" of Boleros. The Boleros are small but already were putting out nonstop blooms all summer long. I haven't gotten a bloom from MAC yet. If they are that similar to Bolero I will be thrilled!

How would you compare the scent of the two roses? Bolero is wonderful! I haven't smelled MAC yet.

A beautiful bouquet, Lisa. The purple, dark pink and blue companion flowers complement the pale rose blooms. I've always liked MAC, and the petal packed Bolero is gorgeous as well!

I'm obviously not an expert since I can't tell the difference. Very lovely roses, both.

Congratulations to "your" Ingrid on her success. She will be a wonderful asset to the nursing profession.

Beautiful pictures! I hope mine does as great as yours!

Thank everyone. Rosylady, I have gone between the two roses with my sniffer 20 times now! :). I still can’t come up with a good answer. It doesn’t help that I’m coming down with the family virus. My nose is definitely affected. I think they are rather similar, with Bolero being stronger, to my nose. MAC is more “fresh” and “light” in her scent. Not so much as in “less scented” (although my MAC is a little less scented than Bolero.). The scents are similar to me with Bolero smelling more of “rose”, while MAC has the “rose” scent tuned down a hair and ups a clean, sweet, freshness. I love them both.

Oldrosarian, my MAC is only just 2 years old. You make me suspect that my MAC blooms will acquire petal thickness with maturity. My Bolero is mature, and currently has thicker petals than my MAC. As these blooms aged, I checked the petal thickness pretty closely. My Bolero’s petals are definitely thicker. I held an inner and outer petal of each to the light and compared their thickness with my fingers. My Bolero had thicker petals both visually and tactility. Think my MAC’s petals will thicken with maturity? Your beautiful MAC appears to have thick petals, indeed.

In the picture, Bolero is the large one, front and to the leftish:). At some points, I had to look at their stems to be sure who was who. Lisa

Thank you, Lisa—so much helpful info! How does MAC do in the heat?

Mine does fabulous in the heat, actually. I’m not sure if I’d be saying the same thing if she was in full sun, though. My Madame Alfred Carriere gets zero afternoon sun. She’s on the NE side of the house, and gets shaded by both the house and the fence in the afternoon. The humidity is normally VERY low here with bright, hot sun. I have no idea how mine would behave in full sun all day long. I have the feeling her blooms wouldn’t like it during the summer, but can’t say for sure. Just about all my roses would benefit from a little afternoon shade, but I don’t have enough spots like that for everyone. I knew MAC was supposed to be pretty shade tolerant, and I only had one possible spot for her. Thankfully, it gets afternoon shade and she seems to like it!

Perma, you’v reminded me of when I first purchased Madame Alfred Carriere. If you want a chuckle, look for one of my old posts called, “I’ve entered into an inappropriate relationship” Maybe type in “MAC” after the above title when you do a search the Antique forum.

Perma, Rosylady, and Alana, I hope you end up loving Madame Alfred Carriere as much as I do! She’s so elegant and classy looking. Bolero makes a wonderful cut rose, but lacks MAC’s long, slender stems. The blooms nod a bit, but in a gorgeous way. Her stim stems are plenty strong enough to hold the blooms up. I think you all will really enjoy her. I sure do, and MAC is so easy to use in arrangements! Lisa

Lisa, I loved that post! Great info, but also very clever. I’m in a bunch of “inappropriate relationships” myself—and I’ll be in big trouble if all of these house eaters take off here. (I’m sort of counting on some of them not liking FL). Good thing we don’t have an HOA or fussy neighbors. I’m perfectly content to just carve out a little door hole so I can go in and out and live in a giant rose thicket. :-)

For anyone in the Southeast, MAC is awesome here. She is eating a metal gazebo over a fountain here. She is mostly in full sun with a little late afternoon shade from a Live Oak tree. I have Teasing Georgia and Olivia climbing on the same gazebo. They are lovely together but will probably tear it down in the end lol.