Your Kiss Me Kate is so cute-I can‘t believe all your foliage and blooms! I sure hope my Kiss Me Kate ends up like yours!

I know, I can’t get over it either !! Mine had 3,years !! 3 years and was pitiful . I have another here though. We will see what spring brings

Kenneth what’s your fertilizer regiment?

Kenneth I also am interested to know your regiment for Kate. She is puny here! And she’s in one of my best sun spots. If she has to deal with what the rest deal with I’m sure she would’ve croaked by now!

Im the wierdest when it comes to food . I never feed them the same ... i switch foods . I may start the season with granular then next give them a compost manure tea , and switch it up with alfalfa my goal is never to feed them the same food within a season . Some one taught me that and my roses have been so glorious .

Well alright then. Since finicky Kate seems to have a picky palette, I could shake things up for her. Except the manure tea, can’t do that with all the animals. Thanks! I’ll let you know if she grows more than an inch or hod forbid, produces a flower:)

Kenneth, your Kiss Me Kate is lovely, I've enjoyed seeing your beautiful blooms recently.

Thanks for posting these lovely pictures. It's very beautiful and I've had this on my want list for some time, but I don't really have anywhere for a climber unless I get rid of something. The flower seems somewhat reminiscent of Austin's 'Queen of Sweden' (except a darker pink) so now I'm wondering if I really need it. What is the diameter of the blooms? Is your plant grafted or own root?

-Chris

How would you compare Kiss Me Kate to Nahema (which is one of the parents)?

How is Kiss me Kate disease resistant if you don't mind me asking. I live in zone 5b so it may not get as tall in my zone.

Your pics of Nahema is stunning. I would love to grow this rose but I've heard its disease resistance is not as good.

My kiss me kate is grafted ... she’s very disease resistant and reblooms beautifully too . Summer blooms - Mid July .

Good to know. Thanks for the info. Beautiful pic! I will keep my eye on this one.

jjp, just be aware that I believe kenneth sprays, so if you don't, YMMV.

Yes but she stood clean after I stop I stop spraying after sept and she kept her leaves clean while mm anisette and other shameful girls were covered in bs

Thanks for that clarification. I just know that many CA. folks talk about how clean a rose is, but their diseases are different and some might think it applies to BS, as well. What other roses stayed clean for you after you stopped spraying in the Fall?

Olivia , mother of pearl , the generous gardener , Claire austin , Darcey , tranquility , the poets wife , belindas dream , queen of sweeden just to name a few ... blaze improved is a horrible blackspot when you stop spraying im changing her to lady in red next fall .

Thank you! I have similar BS pressure to Lilyfinch when she lived in TN, so it's good to compare with you. I think you'll be happy with LinR, but you might also look at Florentina. I have both and they are extremely vigorous and healthy. Fl takes longer to build up her resources, but does equally well once established. They are very different in bloom form and colour, LiR being a more stand-alone rose IMO, and Fl being more of a mixer. DarceyB, however, is a BSer almost from the get-go in Spring, but I may move my two and see if they do better in the front year. I agree, BD in a keeper...... now just to get Olivia! : ))

I own 3 florentinas lol

I should have known, I'm preaching to the choir! :-D I'm getting Cadenza and will let you know how that one does. Did Honeymoon also do well in Sept?

My honeymoon is not. A honeymoon she’s a vicious mm anisette .

I think I have tangerine skies or orange flare it was a arborose pot but I can’t make out the bloom as it was a weak bloom as she was just rescued . Thoughts ?

Thanks for clarifying Kenneth. Vaporvac has a good point that I didn't think of. I don't spray in my garden. We stopped using any chemicals for more than 20 years ago. The Canadian government has also banned a lot of chemicals used for gardening as well. I work in the health industry and I see a lot of people affected by cancers which I believe is caused by the chemicals in our environment. I am willing to sacrifice the perfect rose rather than the health of future generations.

oh no Kenneth! I bought Honeymoon and was so excited based on your picture of what you thought was honeymoon! And now we see it is Madame Anisette! ah the best laid plans ... ;)

Hi, kick starting this thread. For those with KMK - how tall is she for you? I planted my mine this spring in 7b, no blooms but has canes now about 3-3.5 ft. tall. I am growing her to climb the front porch - about 6ft. Fingers crossed.

I have a kiss me Kate and kept growing and growing, produced maybe like 3 flowers. I did neglect her though, but she kept growing. I’m j. Zone 9b. I finally started fertilizing her but then we had that freeze recently and all her new growth died. But more are sprouting so I’m hopeful I’ll get some good blooms here. We don’t really have a real winter in Houston. Our “winter” is when my roses are the healthiest.

Yours is so lovely!

I’m in zone 8a and have had KMK for three years now. For me, she is a very vigorous grower, throwing up loads of thick, stiff, basil canes that shoot straight up. I have to whack her back mercilessly or she would take over. She gives a full, gorgeous flush of blooms in spring, great big fat, fragrant blooms…and then pretty much nothing the rest of the year except rampant growth. I keep hoping that eventually I will get better repeat from her.

Wonderful - how tall is she for you? Is she more "up" than "out"? Any difficulty training her?

Mine has been in my yard for over 3 years, nada for blooms.

Boo. How much sun does she get?

She’s in full sun. All 3 roses I planted at the same time in very similar location, QuickSilver, KmK, and Golden Celebration, only KMK has nothing.

Mine gets full sun for most of the day, shade from about 4 o’clock on. It grows tall really fast, easily ten feet straight up under the eaves, not wider than 5 ft along the wall and I train and prune it to keep it from sticking out too far. Definitely more up than out for me. She is not flexible, so a gentle fanning out of her canes is the best I am able to do. I wish I could bend her more to encourage laterals, but I’m realizing she isn’t made for that.

It may be a problem of too little cold in So. CA for some of these. Eifelzauber and Cinderella Fairy Tale are both incredible looking but would never flower without a sufficiently cold winter here by Disneyland. No flowers at all in summer or even fall.

I suspect that maybe a problem. if that’s the case i might remove it. I’m giving it one more year.

My kmk is 2 years old. So far it's produced a couple blooms. The foliage hasn't been very nice looking, but the few blooms have been glorious.

Beautiful! I have high hopes for my KMK second summer. Because I am an optimist by nature.

I am so glad to see this! i added Kiss Me Kate last summer. I was going to leave her in her pot longer, but she grew so much that I stuck her i the ground. I’ve seen very little positive about this rose and have bern feeling discouraged despite her health and vigor. Your pictures give me hope!

Her first buds are forming even as we type - her tallest cane is probably about 5 ft right now. This is her second summer.