I certainly see a lot of praise for Chrysler Imperial on this forum, but I didn't have a lot of success with it for the 3-4 years I grew it. It was never a strong or vigorous plant and wasn't very floriferous, although the blooms were very attractive when they did appear. I can't remember for sure now, but I vaguely remember that the blooms did not last very long either. One of the strangest things about my CI--as can be seen in the pic below--was that the plant never really "greened up" good. It was almost an olive green. Don't know if anyone else has that problem also. That's the best whole plant pic I can give you--the camera is looking more or less straight down at the plant. Does that help? I just remembered--my CI never grew very tall--maybe about 1.5 to 2 ft tall. I sometimes think it may have been suffering from winter damage--perhaps not cold hardy enough for my Zone 6 (Kansas). I eventually replaced it with Oklahoma, another rose with a well-established reputation--but I'm not having that much luck with it either. I'm beginning to wonder about the traditions of praise heaped on these two roses--and I'm looking around for a more modern red that lives up to more current standards. But maybe I just haven't seen some well-grown Chrysler Imperials or Oklahomas--I don't know. : ( I'll be interested to hear what others have to say about CI also. Kate

Veteran's Honor is likely the one that's the most "true" red. After years of browsing, planting and photographing reds, I find that they almost universally fall into two camps: ones that lean, if ever so slightly, to pink or purple, and ones that feel like they lean orange. I have learned that I really do not care for a hint of orange in my reds, so I have come to appreciate the pink/purple hues that can get mixed in to a red (I used to dislike "bluing"). Out of your list, I would choose Firefighter for overall merit. In person I find it to be extremely close to true red, maybe 95% of the way there? Unlike Veteran's Honor, it does not lean orange, it leans cool when it drifts from pure red. Veteran's Honor I also find to be scentless, and Firefighter has excellent scent. I used to not care about scent in roses, either, but now a rose with undetectable fragrance feels dead to me. If you liked Chrysler, I think you'd like Firefighter. Chrysler has pink days, and runs blue in the sun. Firefighter is like a Chrysler Imperial that runs closer to true red, and I think has improved bloom form.

I agree Diane. It is a pretty amazing rose bush to survive on so much neglect and absolutely no supplemental water for so long (my hubby's parents used to care for it, but fell ill for many years and it wasn't a priority), to handle a crazy transplant in the heat of summer here, and still be putting out huge blooms just a few months later! I think it will end up being just fine. The idea of RMV doesn't really bother me too much. Its funny abut my nails. I do them myself while I'm reading or listening to a video lecture. It's a gel that cures by UV light and lasts about 2 weeks. I usually just stick with the same few colors... burgundy, red or lavender. And I wear latex or vinyl gloves in the garden, usually under other thicker gloves like gauntlet gloves. I like to have pretty nails and pretty flowers. :-)

Cori, that's so gorgeous and patriotic--red, white and blue. Now if they will just bloom in those colors for July 4. I grow several nepeta, which I don't really care for, because it gets ratty and floppy later on. Yours is extra pretty with larger flowers, so it makes a lovely filler. I'm not sure my nepeta would be so effective, plus the cats would tear it up. It's second after catnip as a "high" for them. What variety of nepeta do you grow? I think mine is probably Walker's Low, but not sure, since my ever generous gardening friend gave me starts years ago. For a geezer rose, that Chrysler Imperial is beautiful and productive (like me, hahahahaha---falls on floor in hysterics). Diane