I know that my Clematis "Rhapsody" has a green bar on the reverse is why I asked..Some of the anthers also have a slight greenish-yellow to cream on the anthers..also read what it says about having bluish tinge at the base of the white filaments...but I couldn't tell in your pic about your anthers unless they are more open..so you'll have to determine that....see my link...Jeanne Here is a link that might be useful: Rhapsody

Thank you, David! It's a big flower (check), great smell (check), not a huge plant so far (check), nice petal shape (check), good contrast on the colors (check)--yes, keeper! Dave, the outer stripe color seems a bit more intense than the original, though the petals are lacking that charming point and inner ruffling so far. Hard to tell until more blooms open up. The tree is just a hair under 4 feet tall, not fat or thin, and the growth has been steady each year. All my VCR seedlings exhibited strong growth that first year, but the leaf nodes on this are pretty evenly spaced. The foliage is nothing special and kinda sparse, unlike the one other VCR seedling I kept. But I think it may grow a bit less gigantic. The new branches off this inflo are not even starting yet, so it will probably always grow slowly.

Hi Sophia, I can give little input on repetition. I don't pay attention to that here in non-winter land. Poor Abraham Darby got suckers from his Dr. Huey root stock after 4 yrs. and I thought they were the octopus canes I'd read about. By the time I figured it out they had taken over. I battle them every year (difficult access). Poor Abe is now only 3 feet high but in my climate grows easily to 6 feet +. Dr Huey is stealing nutrients and water. Large petal packed wafting uber fragrant blooms. Some blackspot in a non-spray garden. Evelyn is in the path of the wind. She has a lovely spring flush (no winds) and sporadic bloom thereafter (regular winds). No blackspot this year on either as yet. Disease wise I'd say they're equal here (very little). Evelyn's blooms are probably the same diameter as Abe's but not as deep. I keep her under 5 feet with pruning. A 7 ft. arching cane appeared after 6 or 8 years. Colors - Abe is usually a pink fully infused with peach-yellow-mango. Full bodied oomphy color. Lasts no more than 3 days in a bouquet. In Sept. mine changes to a warm medium pink, not as peachy as spring but never bluey-pink. A boring everyday color. In Nov. it is back to a prettier peachy pink. Evelyn, ah Evelyn. The pink dawn touched by sunlight? Not pink, not peach, but a sophisticated blend on gossamer satin petals. I think it is the delicate iridescence that captivates. If I could only have one rose bloom a year it would be her. So you see I am terribly prejudiced and pay little attention to the bush.

Your RdR looks like it has fully recovered from shock and chlorosis, Lin! That one bloom and the crisp green foliage say it all. I laughed when you mentioned last year's rust plague. I suspect I sounded a bit unhinged in my posts back then. My garden was absolutely going bananas with unusual and disgusting infections. The unprecedented rust attack on my poor RdR and others was ghastly! I've never seen so much orange in my garden...and I'm not referring to apricot roses and California poppies! RDR was dripping in strings of furry fungus. Consequently, I've been rather paranoid this year. I've spent most of the spring checking under every leaf,. So far, knock wood, my RdR is totally clean and everything is back to normal. Even if your RdR gets quite a bit of blackspot initially, Lin, it will surely improve with age. Around 4 years, mine began to hit its stride in terms of health and beauty. Portland is a high blackspot pressure region, but RdR has been really clean for me while other roses (I mean you, Abe Darby) are a total mess. Central NJ and western OR might host different strains of blackspot, so I'm really interested to hear updates on your RdR's health and performance. I haven't taken many photos this year, but I located a couple of RdR shots among the few. They are not much to compare to the gorgeous ones of your bloom, but they do testify to my RdR's cleanliness. Your photos are positively enchanting! I love how you captured tiny droplets of water beading on the foliage and perfectly unfurled raspberry petals, Pure art! Carol