I see Margo Koster all over older neighborhoods in inland Northern California...looks very good and low maintenance, an obviously, a survivor.

Margo had very small blooms, smaller than I expected.The color was brighter than I typically like. It was not very hardy for me and died. I decided not to replace.

The blooms are about 1 inch across. It is technically a Polyantha but I consider it (in my own mind) a miniature rose and placed it accordingly (edge of the bed on a raised wall). It is supposed to stay a small plant. I found the small bloom endearing when I saw them in person on a mature plant at High Country Roses. Typically I am more attracted to the really large roses but these were cute in a doll house sort of way.

I also have The Fairy polyantha and it has survived drought and neglect for over 20 yrs. They are reputed to be tough so I'm hopeful for Dick Koster also. :-)

Thank you all! You are all always so full of knowledge, this really is wonderful place to learn :-)

mmmm12High Country Roses is where I saw it, and I just can't get my brain to stop thinking I have to have it! I'll likely order it soon, but before I do I must look at everything else they have to offer! I've never ordered from them before, so I need to shop :-)

Kimberly,

I was thinking about going back over there this week to have another look at, and possibly get, Dick Clark. If I do I will take some pictures of their in-stock Margo Koster.

If there are any others you would like some photos of let me know.

I loved Margo when I had her. I think she was in original planting in my poly beds. Burling has her also, but my cutting was always week and barely made it through a mild winter. I repotted her hoping to let her grow up more, but I think the potting soil was too dense for cold spring rains last year and she expired. I'd love to have an entire bed of her relatives as she's known for sporting.

mmmm12, that would be amazing if you could post pictures of the actual plants! If you aren't afraid of me bogging you down with picture requests, I'd love to see pics of several roses I'm interested in :-) You are very kind to offer such a thing!

vaporvac I've just discovered that she does indeed have many relatives that I too would love to have!

I love polyanthas and Margo was a good one but just a touch too winter tender for me. It eked through its first winter but didn't make it through the second. It should be gorgeous in your zone! And do check out the whole Koster family. They're lovely!

That's why I find it so surprising that it does so well for Matt in zone 5 Denver.

mmmm12, if you do go back, and its easy enough for you to take some pictures of these, that would be incredible. please don't feel the need to take pictures of all or any of them if you don't have the time or feel up to it. here is the dream list though :-)

Margo Koster

Ghislaine de Féligonde

Queen Nefertiti

Pearlie Mae

Denver's Dream

Oh Happy Day

Yankee Doodle

There are many beautiful pictures of Queen Nefertiti in the following thread including one I took at HCR myself in 2017. The thread has many pictures.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/queen-nefertiti-dsvw-vd~4878768?n=24

Kimberly,

Happy to do it! I love learning about new roses and some of these I haven't heard of before so I will enjoy seeking them out and taking their photos. I will post the pictures of the blooms and the individual plants for sale.

Kimberly,

I didn't forget about you. I called on Fri. afternoon and didn't get ahold of anyone so didn't head over. It is a wholesale operation, although anyone can go over, where they ask you to call in advance to be sure they are in. I'm going to try again this week but we have dodgy snow forecast today and tomorrow so it won't be until later in the week when it gets nice again.

mmmm12, thank you so very much, please don't feel any pressure to go or take any pictures. if you get there, great, i'll be thrilled, but if you don't, i'm totally good too!

Kimberly,

This was such fun! Here are the pics.

Margo Koster

I though this showed the range of colors. When I had seen it before it was more coral. This batch had some pink ones in it.

A single plant. When they prepare them for shipping they clean out the weeds.

Some of the more pink blooms.

The whole batch.

I don't know why these were more pink than I remember seeing before. Sometimes the colors in the greenhouse are affected by not getting direct sun. Maybe they will be more coral out in the real world.

Denver's Dream

This was my personal favorite of this batch. I had never seen Denver's Dream before. I thought this one aged beautifully with the fresh blooms. It is listed as a miniature but the blooms are somewhere between mini and med. They are bigger than my The Fairy mini blooms. The whole field of them together was enchanting.

A single plant.

A fresh bloom and an aged bloom. Drat, this didn't come out as well as I thought. Curse of the cell phone picture.

A wider shot. The aged ones look beautiful with the fresh ones.

I think the pink one may be Dick Koster. They are so cute.

oh bless you mmmm12!! they both remind me of tulips to some degree! I'm so happy you were able to get these, I simply must get them!! Happy Mother's Day to me :-)))

Vaporvac, Dick Koster was in a different section. This whole group had more pink than I saw on Margo last year. Might be different fertilizer, light conditions or ? When I saw Dick Koster they were all pink whereas Margo had a mixture of colors.

Queen Nefertiti

Just these two blooms. Pretty but hard to tell how they age when there are just two to see.

Beautiful. I remember Queen Nefertiti from my first visit. When I had Margo she was always coral or faded coral. I was wondering if they might have sported as they are apparently infamous for doing so. I'd be thrilled with a bi-colour Margo!

Ghislaine de Féligonde

One of the few blooms.

A single plant. Healthy looking but there wasn't much open to take a picture of.

oh how do I ever decide???? so many roses, so little space left!

mmm, I think GdF would do well for you as she was tip hardy at -7deg. Mine is setting her first buds ever..... I'm so excited.

Yankee Doodle had no open blooms.

Single plant with bud.

Oh Happy Day

The plants were good size!

And I can't find Pearlie Mae! I thought I took the photos but either I didn't or the one of the tag didn't get saved in my phone. It may have been this one. In my photos it is between Queen Nefertiti and Yankee Doodle.

mmmm12, I can't thank you enough! There is nothing like seeing examples of the actual plants to help make the choice easier (or harder!) You took so much of your time to take these photos, and I want you to know I am truly grateful. I would certainly do the same for you if ever I travel to a garden center you have an interest in ( I cruise through garden centers here in Southern CA VERY often!)

Kimberly, it was my pleasure! It is very educational to walk around a greenhouse with so many roses that are talked about on the forum. With luck you can see a mature plant in the cutting section.

Some more of the cutting section. This is what they propagate from when they aren't getting plugs from the big names.

Sometimes you get captured by a whole field of gorgeous blooms.

Like Tiddly Winks shown below (these are the bands for sale - not the mature plants).

I almost got

Gartendirektor Otto Linne

because I loved the variety of pinks in the cluster as they aged. Matt said he planted this one at his daughter's school and just let it go. They were gorgeous with no care. That is a selling point for me. It may be a future add.

Instead I walked out with a Parade Day, despite my best intentions to get a zone 3 or 4 rose. :-)

Hmmm, just looked back at my pictures and Calico Gal is a Buck rose with zone 4. I may add this one also. I only took this one picture but the blooms were huge (at least 5 in. maybe more)! I think Matt has it wrong on this web site when he says they are med. size blooms. I will let him know next time I'm there. Calico Gal had a very floppy flower form that was king of cool (to me). There was only one younger bud and it had sort of pointy petal, just like the third picture on his web site. Matt said that was pretty typical of the flower form. He said the curled petals are typical also and an acquired taste. I liked them right off the bat. I'm going to have to go back and visit Calico Gal again. :-)

Kimberly,

Sorry to hijack your thread with my musings.

mmmm12, hijack away! I love to hear everyone's train of thought on the different flowers :-)

When my Dick Koster blooms I will let you know and post some pics. But it will be a while yet. When I got home we got hammered by hail. Luckily my car was in the garage. If I'd have been 5 min. later I would have been caught in the storm. I'll have to see what foliage is left on the roses tomorrow. Nothing I have is in bud yet so won't lose any flowers.

Kimberly,

I'm happy to report we've added a Denver's Dream to our garden! Thank you for researching it. If you hadn't wanted pictures I would have never noticed it. But it captivated me on my trip in May and I have been looking at it ever since whenever I am at High Country Roses. It is always in bloom! So I just got one yesterday.

A hand in the picture for scale.

Matt picked a flower to show me the reddish underside and I left it sitting in the base of the pot all day in 100 degree heat. In the evening I took it inside (all flattened and dehydrated), cut off the remaining stem and put it in a bowl of plain water. It perked up by morning and is still gorgeous.

Did you ever end up getting any from that research batch? Don't feel bad if you didn't. I research some all the time and then decide against them. Occasionally some will stick with me time after time. Denver's Dream was one of those. I also added Calico Gal (finally) after thinking about it for a year.

What a great post to revisit! mmmm12, how did Margo do over the winter? I still think about her., although I got Elsie Poulsen this year so she may have to stand in for Margo. I would also like to report that Ghislaine dF had a spectacular spring flush and continues to grow. No repeat flush yet, but I've been lax on watering and have yet to cut down the weedy tree that shades her. It will be interesting to see how she responds to that next year. Gorgeous, romantic looking rose with lovely fragrance. I can post pics if anyone likes.

mmmm12COzone5, oh i'm so happy you have denver's dream! i haven't ordered it yet, but it is definitely on my list for the fall. along with margo. i'm not sure of the others. i really would like to have queen nefertit and oh happy day also, but i've added dozens of others to my dream list, so the only two i know for sure are margo and denvers. i'm envious you are able to visit the nursery. i've learned i'll be making a trip up to northern california next month, and have arranged to pick up some roses from burling. i can't wait to see what her place looks like!

Vaporvac , if you would post pictures that would be just great! i didn't keep ghislaine on my list, but still look at her all the time and think maybe i should add her back!!

Kimberly, you will have such a good time visiting a nursery. It is a little overwhelming to see all the variety though. I thought of you when I was checking out because there was another Denver's Dream on the staging for shipping table. I said to myself, I wonder if that is going to a Gardenweb member...

mmmm12, I wish it had been coming to me! I am rather fortunate to live where there are tons of nurseries, and many of them wholesale open to the public. I have just never been specifically to a rose grower. I'm very excited!

My Dick Koster is finally having a second flush and the color is truer to the rose's reputation this time.

Close up of the blooms. This is a mini.

The first set of blooms lasted forever. I think we may have not been giving it enough water which is why this is only the second flush this year. Whole bush photo below.

Kimberly,

I don't know if you remember but I bought Denver's Dream after you asked me to get some photos of it. I thought I'd report back in on it just in case you were interested.

It survived the winter and has very pretty blooms but so far only two of them. It doesn't seem to be a fast-out-of-the-gate rose. It was planted in Aug. 2019 in Denver Colorado.

Older bloom:

Younger bloom (but still been around a while):

Somehow I didn't get any pictures of really young blooms. One reason I got this rose is I really liked how the blooms aged and still looked pretty.