The 2007 growing season proved to be a tough one for roses and rose growers alike.  While early spring was very warm and got our plants off to a good start, the Easter weekend freeze stopped everything dead in its tracks.  Spring was followed by a very hot and extremely dry summer which was a challenge for all rose growers.  Finally fall arrived and we enjoyed the best bloom cycle of the season.  If you got your roses through the 2007 growing season, then you were pretty successful.

As we begin the 2008 growing season, we like to take time to review how some of our roses performed last year.  In particular, let’s take at look at some of the newer varieties that we grew last year.  Over the years we have learned that sometimes it takes a variety two to three seasons to reach its peak performance.  Therefore, we try to evaluate our newer rose varieties over a three year time span before we make a final judgment.  Unless otherwise noted, all the varieties are hybrid teas.

Be-Bop – is a shrub rose having single blooms of 5-7 petals.  Hybridized by Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses, the blooms are cerise red with a yellow eye.  Our first year plant produced beautiful clusters of blooms in the spring and more single blooms per stems during the remainder of the season.  The plant has a nice growth habit.

Big Red – is a beautiful medium red from hybridizer Eddie Edwards.  Our first year plant was a little slow to get started, but the fall blooms were very nice.  Blooms have nice exhibition form and good size.  If you like red roses, you’ll like this variety.  We plan to add more to our garden.

Black Cherry – is a very dark red floribunda offered by J&P Roses.  Our second year plant failed to live up to expectations.  After the spring freeze, the plant was slow to recover.  What blooms we did get had good color and size, which will keep this plant around for one more year.  This bush has a nice compact growth habit.

Blake Hedrick – nice new medium red variety from Eddie Edwards that is named in memory of an outstanding rosarian.  Our plants continue to produce nice size blooms, but they generally lack good form.  The blooms just don’t seem to have enough petals and the color is more pink than red for us.  

Classy Carol – has large exhibition formed blooms that are light pink blushed with salmon.  The plant grows and blooms well, but they just don’t have enough petals to consistently hold form as a cut flower.  May not be in our garden too much longer.

Color Me Pink – is a medium pink variety hybridized by Keith Zary of J&P Roses.  Our blooms tend to look like Louise Estes only with more pink.  Our second year bush did not grow and bloom as well as it did the first year.  We’ll watch this variety for another year before passing final judgment.

Deidre Hall – is a yellow blend hybridized by Eddie Edwards.  We have seen some very nice blooms, however they have been few and far between.  Our second year plants have not grown well so far.  The blooms are somewhat similar to Cajun Sunrise in color with excellent form, but they tend to spot easily.  Still hoping it will improve with age, as we have heard great things about this rose from other growers.   

Denali – produces huge pure white blooms with just a hint of pink on the edges. Hybridized by Eddie Edwards, this variety does not seem to mind the summer heat.  Our second year plant grew well and produced plenty of exhibition form blooms.  Our only concern is that most stems have a neck that is too weak to support the large blooms.  We have heard it will improve in the third year.   

Desperado – is a nice red blend hybridized by Eddie Edwards.  The blooms resemble Double Delight in color, but are bigger in size and generally have better form.  Our second year plant grew better than last year and the fall blooms were outstanding.  We are adding more in 2008.

Double Knock Out – is a medium red shrub with all the disease resistance of its namesake Knock Out.  The blooms are smaller than those of Knock Out but they have more petals.  Our first year plant in a container was very nice.

Dream Come True – is a yellow blend grandiflora hybridized by Dr. John Pottschmidt of Ohio .  This variety is an AARS winner for 2008.  Our first year plant did not grow well in the heat.  The blooms were a nice color somewhat like the mini-flora Conundrum, but too small.  We’ll keep watching for future improvement.

Ground Zero – is a pink blend hybridized by Whit Wells.  Our second year plant continued to grew well but the blooms are just a little too small.  We also continued to have some blackspot issues with this variety.  Will probably give it one more year.

Falling In Love – is a pink blend hybridized by Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses.  The blooms are light pink, blushed with medium pink and generally have nice size and good exhibition form.  All of our first year plants were on Dr Huey rootstock and I am putting more on Multiflora and Fortuniana rootstock.  This variety has the potential to be a good one.  Only time will tell for sure.  

Here’s Charlie – is a pink blend from hybridizer Eddie Edwards that was new to our garden in 2007.  It took a little time for this variety to get going, but the fall bloom was very promising.  Hopefully the plant will get a little more vigorous and prolific with time. 

Here’s Gert – named by hybridizer Eddie Edwards for his mother, this variety will remind you of Gemini.  The plants take a little time to get established, but they will produce nice exhibition form blooms with good color and size.  We added more of this variety to our garden in 2006.

Here’s Sam – is a medium pink from hybridizer Eddie Edwards that he named for his father.  The luminous pink blooms have form somewhat similar to Hot Princess.  However, this variety has not grown well so far in our garden.  We’ll give it one more year. 

Home Run – is a true medium red shrub hybridized by Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses.  The single-petaled medium red blooms have an attractive yellow eye in the center.  The compact growth habit makes this variety ideal for a container.  It continues to be just as disease free as Knock Out.  What more can you ask of a shrub!

Hopie Girl – is a nice light yellow that we have been growing for three seasons.  The bush grows and blooms well.  The blooms have good size and nice form.  When cut a little tight, the blooms make a nice cut flower.  

In The Mood – is a medium red hybridized by Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses.  Our second year plants generally lacked vigor.  The blooms were too small and opened too fast for exhibition.  Still might be a decent garden variety.

Let Freedom Ring – continues to be one of our favorite new varieties.  The blooms are a beautiful medium red with good size and exhibition form.  We have this variety on Dr Huey, Multiflora, and Fortuniana rootstock and all are growing well and producing lots of nice blooms on long stems.  Everyone should be growing this red rose.

Marilyn Wellan – hybridized by Eddie Edwards and named for past ARS president Marilyn Wellan, this medium red variety is quickly becoming a huge disappointment for us.  Our second year plants continued to grow well with long stems and plenty of blooms, but the blooms just don’t have enough petals and generally lack good form.  We'll give it another year.

Marlon’s Day – is a pink blend sport of Moonstone found by Fred Wright of North Carolina .  Our first year plants on their own roots were a little slow to get started, but by fall were doing well.  The blooms are outstanding with good size and form.  It was our best new hybrid tea for 2007.  We’re adding more on Multiflora and Fortuniana rootstock in 2008.   

MuLan – continues to produce nice exhibition form blooms that have similar color and form to Touch of Class.  We added two more of this variety to our garden last year and continue to be impressed.  This Eddie Edwards variety is good for the garden and the show table.

Naga Belle – is a deep pink variety.  Our own root plant was a little slow getting established, but the blooms were a clean deep pink with generally good form.  We’ll have to keep evaluating this variety.

Night Out – is a pink blend floribunda hybridized by Dennis Bridges.  Our second year plant is growing on its own roots and has generally lacked vigor so far.  The blooms are very nice with hybrid tea form.  Will be a good variety if we can get better stems.  We are planning to try it on other rootstocks.    

Park Place – is a mauve rose hybridized by Eddie Edwards.  We have had this variety for three years and while it grows and blooms well, the blooms are too small and tend to be flat.  We'll probably discard this variety.

Parole (Buxom Beauty) – is a deep pink variety from Kordes.  Our first year plant on its own roots was slow to get started and did not grow well.  However, the hot pink fall blooms were huge with good form.  Have added one on Fortuniana rootstock to see if plant vigor improves.

Pinnacle – is a red blend floribunda hybridized by Frank Benardella.  Most of the eye-catching blooms are one to a stem and a little on the small size.  The plant is a short grower even on Fortuniana rootstock and a little slow to repeat.  However, the beautiful blooms make this a worthwhile variety to grow. 

Polo Queen – is classified as a pink blend.  It is a sport of Cajun Moon discovered by Cal Hayes of California .  Our blooms are almost pure white and generally have good form.  However the first year blooms were too small for exhibition.  We’ll continue to watch and evaluate.

Pope John Paul II – is a bright white variety hybridized by Keith Zary of J&P Roses.  The first year plants on Dr. Huey rootstock produced nice clean white blooms with good size and form in the spring.  However the plants did not grow well in the summer heat and the blooms were small with no form.  They were not much better in the fall.  The blooms have lots of petals, so it should make a decent cut flower if form is there.  Looking forward to seeing how this variety does in the second year.

Rainbow Knock Out – is a shrub classified as a pink blend from hybridizer William Radler.  The blooms are actually shades of coral, pink and yellow.  Our first year plant grew fairly well, but the blooms were small and nothing special.  It was not a prolific bloomer.  We’ll keep watching for better things.

Redemption – is a nice deep pink rose from hybridizer Eddie Edwards.  Our first year plant came on strong during the summer and we had some very nice blooms in the fall.  We are not sure that our plant is Redemption, as we have been told it might actually be Susan Berry.  We’ll have to get that sorted out, but we are adding more of this variety in 2008.

Sheer Magic – was the 2007 J&P Rose of the Year.  Hybridized by Keith Zary, the blooms have creamy petals that are heavily edged with deep pink.  The color combination is beautiful, but the first year plant lacked vigor for us.  Not sure the blooms have enough petals to be a good cut flower.  Will watch and hope for better things in 2008.

Strike It Rich – is a 2007 AARS winning shrub from Hybridizer Tom Carruth.  The deep yellow blooms have a hint of red on the edge, but are too loose to be a good cut flower.  The plant is a prolific bloomer, but not a tall grower in its first year for us. 

Sun King – is an eye-catching bright yellow with a reddish-orange edge from Meilland.  Our second year plant continued to lack vigor with short stems.  While the blooms have great color, they lack size to be a good cut flower.  We’ll give it one more year and hope for better things.

Tabatha – is a pink blend variety from hybridizer Eddie Edwards.  Our first year own root plant was a little slow to get established, but the fall blooms have given us hope for better things this year.  The color and form of the blooms are good.  Will keep watching!

The Wright Brothers – hybridized by Eddie Edwards and named for Fred and Jack Wright, two brothers from North Carolina who are outstanding rose exhibitors.  The exhibition form blooms are a creamy white with deep pink edges.  Our second year plants grew well and seemed to not be as prone to blackspot as they were the first year.  We added more of these to the garden in 2007.   

Tibet – is a white rose from the florist industry.  Our first year plant on Fortuniana rootstock grew and bloomed well, but the blooms were too small for exhibition.  Hope it improves with age.

Timeless – also known as White Timeless, this white variety is improving with age in our garden.  The blooms are a very nice white with good exhibition form.  The plant is a little slow to repeat bloom. 

Topsy Turvey – is a beautiful cherry red with white reverse floribunda hybridized by Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses.  The rather compact growing plant produces beautiful eye-catching blooms and nicely formed sprays.  We continue to enjoy this new variety and will try it on other rootstocks.

Vavoom – is classified as an orange blend floribunda from hybridizer Tom Carruth.  Our first year plant on Dr. Huey rootstock produced nice sized blooms that were a brilliant light to medium orange.  So far the growth habit has been somewhat compact, but we plan to try it on different rootstocks.  The blooms have lots of petals.  Looks like it might be a good rose for all of us Tennessee Volunteer fans!

We Salute You – is an orange-pink variety from hybridizer Tom Carruth of Weeks Roses.  Our second year plant was hit pretty hard by the spring freeze and was slow to recover.  The blooms we saw were medium orange with a hint of pink.  We’ll keep for another season to see if it improves.