I already ordered the roses I wanted from them in October when I decided to try rose gardening again. Of course you want to order early to make sure they have the varieties you want, but then later they entice/seduce you with bargains that you don't want to pass up - like you, fig, I don't need any more roses but the question is, will we cave in?

Heirloom is having a big sale right now.

20 -50% off (depending on which rose) and free ship on $100.

Free Shipping saves me a little over 75 dollars so I went through their entire inventory and have spots for these seven:

Awakening

Ray Ponton

Puerto Rico

Marie Daly

Hermosa

Sweet Frances

Heavenly Ascent

Thoughts on any of them? I told myself lt only made sense to buy them if I already had spots that needed them.

Never grown any of them, and this is anecdotal but I visited the Denver Botanical Gardens this June and saw Awakening, and was shocked by how bad it looked. I'd always considered getting it but that was the nail in the coffin for me. Meanwhile many of their other roses looked fantastic so I'm not sure what's up with Awakening but, that's my story . Of course, you and I have very different climates so maybe you'd have a different experience.

I have Awakening, Hermosa, and Marie Daly. They're all good performers for me. Awakening is just as good, and just as thorny, as its sport parent New Dawn. For me, it's ever so slightly less vigorous, which is a good thing, as ND can be a house eater. Awakening will still need a sturdy support, although with a LOT of pruning (if you attempt it, here's hoping you have a dependable source for blood transfusions) it can be kept in a large shrub form. I love the more full flowers, and it's a more dependable re-bloomer than ND.

Hermosa is one of my all-time favorites, mostly healthy in my mostly no-spray garden. And in spite of what you might read, it ain't no Bourbon, it's a hybrid China. If it grows like a China, blooms like a China, and acts like a China...it's a China. Mine is larger than the specs on HMF: they give 3'x2', mine is more like 4x4, so larger and more bushy. But I seem to recall that there are several clones of Hermosa floating about, seemingly identical, but genetically distinct. That could account for the robustness of my plant. Mine came from one of the Florida nurseries.

Marie Daly is a cutie, and you're gonna love her. It's not the flashiest rose out there, but it's healthy, dependable, and flushes repeatedly and well. It makes a healthy, attractive shrub even when not blooming. Annnnnd if you like fragrant roses, this one has a strong musk perfume.

I picked Awakening because it is so thorny and my thought process was this-

I have a LARGE large leaf maple that I want it to grow up and I was thinking the thorns would help it to launch itself into the tree once I help it to twist around a bit in the beginning. My plan is very little pruning😬

Hermosa made the cut because of fragrance and I thought it would be on the smaller side. Marie Daly because I have Marie Pavie and I absolutely love her.

I had Sweet Frances in my last garden and have her again as I find her to be rather adorable. I can't speak to her mature behavior as she died tragically young due to ground squirrel grazing but here is a picture of her. She was much more tall than wide but that's often true of very young plants.

I have a very very old bush which might be Awakening, or not. Rooted a cutting and planted it in my new rose garden with a deer fence. So far it is growing, but has mostly stopped because it is so cold now. Looking forward to seeing what it does next Spring. Mother plant is rooted in deep shade, but puts up several canes which bloom when they get about 6-7 ft tall. It makes the most gorgeous buff blooms (which start out pink). I am hoping the new bush will too, so I have planted it where it is in partial shade most of the day. We shall see if it stays all pink, as it did in when I had it planted in full sun, or has blooms like the below which turn the lovely buff color.

Jackie

This is a pic of the mother plant (goes with above post) in a hedge, under a tree and several bushes. We estimate it is at least 50 yrs old, and probably more: