Thanks I finally have buds but no blooms yet except for cheater blooms and I love seeing photos of roses in bloom like this!

That is lovely!

Thanks!

Such humble beginnings but what a sweet and lovely rose. There is something very touching about that.

It looks adorable! Sweet rose. Helen

Well, I think I must prefer roses that have 'nothing particularly remarkable' about them! This is pretty much a perfect-looking rose for me. What's not to love? I guess I just like ordinary..

Thanks for sharing, Paul. Pity that, despite all the developments in technology, we still don't have 'Smell-y-Houzz'!

A story of resiliency! How can you not admire such a strong will to live? I love it! :-)

Stunning! It looks similar to "Heavenly Pink"

Its a fighter and a survivor! Such a lovely sweet strong rose! The market needs more such roses. Congrats!

Thank you for that Paul, and thank you for this! Lisa

Lisa, is that ‘Mel’s Heritage‘??!

Lisa: WOW!

It sure is! Mel’s Heritage has been the best rose, ever! Last year, it bloomed from early May until December. It’s never been sprayed or even fertilized. I’m almost afraid to give Mel’s Heritage fertilizer. It’s enormous! My soil is rich clay, and Mel’s Heritage couldn’t be happier. I just love it. It’s drizzling here, but I’ll take a few more pictures later. For now, here’s another one of your beauties.

Siren’s Keep, taken yesterday. Lisa

I agree with Comtesse, that is one beautiful shrub - and for it to be so fragrant too....

Mel's Heritage alone should earn Paul a permanent place in rose history, but he's bred so many other beautiful roses. I've admired Lisa's rose many times, but yours is also gorgeous, Jeri. The close-up of MH is magnificent. I hope you'll post more pictures of your spring garden. I've never gotten a clear picture of your garden in its entirety, just enticing glimpses here and there.

OH, Ingrid -- Do you "do" facebook at all? I have posted so much there this bountiful spring. If you don't, I can post some here, but I hate to be "pushy" with it.

And, yes. I think if Paul had ONLY created 'Mel's Heritage,' he'd still be a world champion. But, of course, that's not all . . .

Do you "know" this one?

Gorgeous, Jeri! I don’t know that one, but it’s gorgeous. I treasure my Mel’s Heritage, and it’s my VERY favorite rose of ALL the roses I grow. It gives SO much for so little (except space), but I’ve heard it can also be kept at a more “mannerly” size. I’m not very good a estimating size, but mine must be at least 30F by now. I was unable to do any pruning on Mel’s Heritage this past winter, so he kept growing. Every bit of growth is covered with buds and blooms.

I can’t take a bit of credit for how well my Mel’s Heritage is performing. It gets water, and that’s it. It also loves the climate here. I’m so grateful that I have this one. It truly makes my heart sing. Lisa

Mel’s Heritage today

So absolutely gorgeous, Lisa. I wonder if there is even one other rose of that size which blooms so constantly.

Jeri, how can you even say the word pushy in regard to you? What would that say about me with my constant garden photos? (Don't answer that!) I'm on Facebook only rarely, and that's mostly on antique Chinese porcelain sites, but I'm off to visit you there now. Please do post here also. I've been waiting to see spring gardens and can't believe you've been holding out on us.

This has been such an extraordinary spring ... I will pick out a few things and post ... tomorrow, maybe. I've spent the afternoon dealing with Therapy Dog mailing lists, and find myself in need of a stiff drink.

I found you on Facebook, Jeri, and I can only say that your hills, your garden and your roses are very beautiful. You've obviously also had a good rain season and it shows. Please do post some pictures here. Your garden is so well-worth seeing. I hope the drink helped.

Stephanie -- The beautiful purple rose is Paul's Mini -- 'Carolyn Supinger'. Now the plant is a bit bigger, we'll try propagating it.

As long as we're thanking Paul...

Here's Marianne this morning:

I really should talk to Burling about it.

Spectacular! Lisa

I don't know Paul, I think there must be something wrong with your eyes because that rose is beautiful, I love the color and the different shades, really gorgeous.

Very nice! Please keep posting pictures. Always interesting to see the roses from your breeding program.

My Siren's Keep is still young, but has really shot up this year and been blooming for several weeks now with the most gorgeous flowers. Hard for my phone camera to capture the true color, but here are a couple that weren't too distorted...

pat_bamaz7, I hate to say this, but that is NOT 'Siren's Keep'.

And one I so wish I had kept....Incantation lived in a pot by our pool for several years and was the first rose I saw when I walked out my back door. Such a cheerful rose with a wonderful clove scent that bloomed profusely. Not a color for the faint of heart...glowing pink with a white picotee and reverse...but always brought a smile to my face...until I quit spraying. Once I went no spray, it struggled with fungal issues and frequently defoliated. I wish I had just moved it to a less prominent spot...would have been easy to do since it was potted...probably the rose I most regret removing. I'm not sure it's still available anywhere, but if it is, I would highly recommend it for growing in a less humid climate.

Oh No! I wonder what it is? I got it as a baby fall of 2016 from RPN as Siren's Keep. It was very slow to grow until this spring when it shot up to about six feet tall and has been blooming its head off for several weeks. Previously I only got a couple of blooms in spring and no rebloom at all. I can't detect a fragrance, either. HMF says prolific rebloom and strong fragrance...I should have known something was up...

Yikes, Pat! I got mine from RPN, as well. Like yours, mine was very slow to do anything and finally shot up and bloomed this spring. I hope mine is really Sirens Keep, considering we both got ours about the same time from the same source. Lisa

Please, who is RPN?

@Pat: please PM me for more info - I believe I know what that rose is.

Rose Petals Nursery. Lisa

Thanks, Lisa.

I wonder how RPN got this plant?

I believe it is this rose: 08-02-05

by the way, this is how the pink climber in the opening post looks today: WHY does HOUZZ do such a ****** job of implementing tools that we have been using for close to 20 years without issue?? (I cannot add the photo)

The picture on HMF of 08-02-05 is a dead ringer for mine! HMF says it's a hybrid gallica. I've never grown a gallica...didn't think they were well suited for my climate, but this one seems content. Mine now has long thorny canes which are pretty much bare until about half way up, but then the foliage up top doesn't seem too bad to bs. No fragrance to my nose, but sometimes it takes me several years to start detecting scent from my roses.

RPN also carries Mel's Heritage. I'm not sure if RPN has a relationship with RVR. RPN carries a lot of the same roses Malcom Manners grows at the university...would he have grown 08-02-05 at some point?

Ralph Moore's 'Golden Century' - a tintype.

The other thing I do - make photographs. My favorite process is Wet Plate Collodion (aka Tintype), which is an antique process dating to the mid/late 1850s. This photo is an example of the process: a hand-poured plate (on aluminum) using a Voigtlander Petzval lens dating to 1852. The plate is 5 X 7 inches. (This is a scan of the plate)

This is how the pink climber from the opening post appears today:

And this is a hybrid I made loooong ago, called 'Grenadier Cottage'. It came out of a cross between Ralph Moore's 'Joycie' and 'Marechal Niel'. Ten years ago I could NOT persuade anyone to trial or even grow this rose, and so it has never appeared in commerce. This would be an exceptionally good Climbing Tea in a warm climate:

This next one is also a Climbing Tea of similarly anachronistic breeding: 'Joycie' X 'Fortune's Double Yellow':

And finally, one of my favorite Ralph Moore roses - 'Golden Century'. This climbing miniature should have been a smash hit that landed it securely in some sort of Hall of Fame, but that was not to be. I would guess that in the 1970s, nobody knew what to do with something labeled a "climbing miniature", and it does have one drawback: it takes years to build up to be a large, reliable rebloomer. Its a shame this isn't widely available:

and FYI, this plant has barely gotten started - there will be thousands of blooms before the first flush is done.

Paul, I don't understand why anyone would NOT grow that yellow Tea! Grenadier Cottage? Good Lord.

I am so frustrated by the number of roses that we are denied because there are no nurseries to take them on and grow them. Breaks my heart.

That tintype photo is really neat! Do you also use pictures of people? I would imagine plenty of folks would love to have a family photo made like that. I know I would, and it’s certainly the kind of photo that should be prominently displayed. How long does it take you to “make” one, from start to finish?

All these roses are gorgeous, but ‘Grenadier Cottage’ is my favorite. What a gorgeous form, and the combination of the pale outer petals and more saturated yellow inner petals is especially attractive. What a shame no one was willing to give it a chance. I’m glad you kept it one yourself.

I hope my rose is truly ‘Siren’s Keep’. It’s total lack of fragrance throws me off. I’m assuming you would have mentioned it, had mine appeared to be misidentified. It does bloom in small clusters, but the largest blooms are quite a bit smaller than 4”, only 2”.

This is the entire plant.

Blooms and buds.

Although my nose isn’t working 100% right now, I can definitely detect good fragrance from the rose blooming nearest ‘Siren’s Keep’, and I don’t consider that rose to be among my very most fragrant of roses.

I hope you don’t mind my posting a picture of that nearby rose. It really IS the one nearest to ‘Siren’s Keep’ that’s in bloom.

It happens to be one of yours. I’m thankful for this one too, Paul. Lisa

Golden Buddha

Paul, I too am amazed and disappointed that no-one wanted to propagate your yellow climbing Tea. It is beautiful.

When we were going through mom's boxes of family photos after she passed away last fall, there were a couple of very old ones on tin. The quality isn't very good (not sure if that's due to their age or if they were just poorly done at the time) and we have no clue who the people are in the photos, but we kept them nonetheless because they are photos on tin...and how cool is that! Neither my sister or I were familiar with tintype. I'm so glad to hear that you are helping to keep that art form alive today.

Lisa, I'm not sure on your Siren's Keep...looks very similar to mine, but your blooms seem to have more color nuances. Hopefully, Paul will be able to confirm which rose you have. Your Golden Buddha looks great! I need to dig mine up and move it to a better place or pot it up...it has been in the ground for several years and just is not flourishing in its current spot.

I love that tintype, Paul. Very dream-like. And your yellow climber looks fabulous! I hope it somehow makes its way to commerce.

Paul, those are all so beautiful. It's too bad they're not available since many of your in commerce roses are for colder climates, while these could be grown in warmer zones.

Your 'Golden Century' is jaw dropping. It looks like it wants to explode out through the roof.

Thank you for sharing these rarities!

"That tintype photo is really neat! Do you also use pictures of people? I would imagine plenty of folks would love to have a family photo made like that. I know I would, and it’s certainly the kind of photo that should be prominently displayed. How long does it take you to “make” one, from start to finish?"

Thanks, Lisa!

I occasionally do wet plate photos of people, but very rarely. Why? In part because the medium is used almost exclusively by modern practitioners for portraiture, and many of them make "cookie cutter" portraits (the same thing over and over) and I did not want to work in that realm - making distinctive work when doing tintype portraits is difficult. And although many practitioners do well selling tintype portrait sessions, I have no interest in selling my services for such purpose.

The time it takes to make one wet plat/tintype varies on lighting conditions and a few other variable, but as "traditional" photography goes, its a fast medium. I can prepare and pour an aluminum plate (Glass takes longer because it has to be meticulously cleaned), sensitize it in the Silver nitrate bath, load the plate holder, make the exposure, and develop/fix the plate in as little as ten minutes. Washing, drying and varnishing the plate adds more time to the process, of course, but the making of the plate itself is fairly fast.

"I hope my rose is truly ‘Siren’s Keep’. It’s total lack of fragrance throws me off. I’m assuming you would have mentioned it, had mine appeared to be misidentified. It does bloom in small clusters, but the largest blooms are quite a bit smaller than 4”, only 2”."

Well, I hate to have to tell you this, but I guarantee you that rose is not 'Siren's Keep'. I'm 100% certain because I do know what it is: 08-02-05

How this came into the hands of RPN is a mystery to me. About 8 years ago I sent about 45 plants of 08-02-05 to Rogue Valley for introduction (It was about to receive a name) and somehow they lost track of this variety in their inventory. I asked about its whereabouts several times, and at one point they had located the plants, and then months later they were "lost" again, and this time it was permanent. What appears to have happened is that this variety ended up in RVR's "lost label" roses, and was distributed to customers as a "no ID" freebie rose. Several GW folks have posted photos of this variety in the past couple years, explaining that it came from RVR as a no name freebie. But again, I have no idea how it came to be in the inventory of RPN, and I have no idea if all of the plants they are selling under this name are incorrectly labeled. (But I bet they are) If any of you have bought "Siren's Keep" from RPN, you may want to contact them and show them the story I have posted here. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there you have it. And no, 08-02-05 is not a repeat bloomer, so set your expectations accordingly.

Oh my! Well, at least it’s a Paul Barden rose. I tried to collect as many as I could when they were available. No wonder it would hardly bloom for me! I thought it might have midge, since I’d only get some blooms early in year, and none when the weather heated up. What an odd, and frustrating situation for you, Paul. It’s still a lovely rose, but I’m so disappointed to hear that what I’ve been growing all these years, isn’t Siren’s Keep. I feel a bit cheated by RPN, to be honest. I too, should have known something was up. It never really acted like Siren’s Keep for me either. Too bad it’s not fragrant. It sure looks like it should be. Well, it’s still quite beautiful. At least I know my other Paul Barden roses are the real deal.

I know how you feel now, Pat. It’s going to take some getting used to not calling this rose, ‘Siren’s Keep. It feels kind of like an old friend, and now she’s not who I thought she was.

Paul, thanks for the explanation of what’s involved in making tintype photos. I can certainly see why you wouldn’t be interested in producing “cookie cutter” portraits. You don’t strike me as a “cookie cutter” type of guy. Your tintype of Mr. Moore’s rose is certainly lovely and unusual. I enjoyed seeing it. So, do you mostly photograph roses for tintype photos? Although it might not be very lucrative to “the masses”, I can certainly see the beauty and the enjoyment you must get out of making them. That’s what’s important, anyway. Lisa