Hey John! Where did you hear that the mauve one was going to be rose of the yr next yr? I only got a couple of blooms on mine, but they were nice. Actually all 4 of them only gave me a few blooms each. The yellow one, SOUTHERN BELLE was the best for me. I wasn't all that impressed with APRIL IN PARIS, but really, it's hard to judge any of them or any rose in one season. That's why the test panel, to me, seems almost ludicrous. It's just kinda nice to get the roses cheaper is all. LOL But I have to admit, that new batch looks wonderful. Mine are already potted up and starting to sprout! You know of course, that I would be most interested in the striped one! And that orange... wow! I can't wait to see them bloom, and to compare notes with you! Come on spring!

It's normal for so many roses, I wouldn't worry about it. Small own-root hybrid teas are usually going to be slow. Just keep staking until they can stand up. I have Pink Enchantment (Souv. de Baden-Baden) in 2nd year from 1-gallon. All canes were lost over winter, so it's still kind of pitiful. I removed the flower buds from the first flush and will stake as needed.

I'm beginning to agree with you guys thinking C might be the graft... basically, I'm seeing the theory of the Dr. Huey being everything that does not come from C. So let's test this out. I dug the rose out and went and transplanted it to one of my houses where work is being down for a couple of weeks. It will be watered daily by the guys so it will do well despite the hot weather. I pruned it all the way down to C. I left B in tact but will go back and cut it off. We'll see how this roles. A question I forgot to address earlier: no, I didn't quite notice different leaves, all I can say is that the lower leaves looked much smaller than the upper ones, I think that it is possible the HT is gone but it was definitely there last year, no doubts on that. true-blue, I already have the rose bug. I grew up on a mansion with over 200 beautiful roses in a much warmer part of the world. No winter protection needed lol. Got me hooked. Alas, I am here now. Ken, I planted all 15 roses in much higher temps last year. They all actually put on a good show last year and are doing well now. You can plant anytime right? Just need to water when hot. Following Jackie's suggestion earlier in this discussion, I contacted an expert rosarian that's local. He suggested indeed to plant HTs deep and still cover them up with lots of dirt and mulch for winter. Sounds good, well, I planted 15 already without doing that. I'm not in the mood to disturb those plants and I did pretty good with 14 out of 15 of the HTs making it. So I just don't know...

This is a question that when asked will give you a hundred different answers. Every gardener loves a certain rose because it gives them pleasure. The best way to choose a good rose is to check out the ARS rose ratings. Anything over 9.0 is going to be one of the best hybrid tea roses.