2011 Rose Review

by Jeff Garrett

 It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone!  Before you know it we’ll be back in the garden pruning our roses.  In the meantime, we can only dream of all the great blooms yet to come. 

Now is a good time to evaluate your garden.  Do you have roses that you are planning to replace?  If so, what will you be planting in their places?  There are several good sources you can use to determine what rose you might want to purchase.  These include the annual Roses In Review program conducted by the American Rose Society.  The results for our district are available on our website at chattanoogarose.org.  Another good source is the “Horizon Roses” publication.  The focus of this 100 page booklet is on newer exhibition type roses.  It can be ordered for $10 from Johnny Premeaux, 700 Westbury, Orange, Texas, 77630. 

With each passing season, we like to take time to evaluate the roses in our garden.  We particularly enjoy evaluating our newer roses which we have been growing for three years or less.  Many rosarians tend to make a quick judgment on new roses, which can be a mistake as sometimes it takes a plant a little time to get established and growing well.  Therefore, we evaluate our newer rose varieties over a three year time span before we make a final judgment.  Following are some of our observations.

Always and Forever – is a medium red hybrid tea from J&P Roses.  Our 2nd year plant continued to grow and bloom well.  The bush handles our summer heat fairly well.  The blooms are not huge and sometimes the form is a little flat.  But still a pretty nice variety for the garden.

Blackout – is a very dark red hybrid tea from Eddie Edwards.  The vigorous plant provides lots of dark velvety blooms with good substance, however, the form is just too flat.  We are seriously considering shovel pruning this variety even though I love red roses.

Brother Jack – is a new pink blend hybrid tea from Fred Wright.  Our first year plant really caught our eye with some very nice exhibition form blooms.  The own-root plant is vigorous and blooms well.  This fall I put a few on multiflora rootstock and we are looking forward to seeing how they perform in the coming season.

Cajun Signature - is a hybrid tea sport of Signature found by Larry Meyer.  Our maiden on multiflora rootstock was slow to grow in the first year.  Perhaps our summer heat is not to its liking.  We are hoping for improvement in the second season. 

Colorific – is a beautiful orange blend floribunda from Tom Carruth and Weeks Roses.  The bright and colorful blooms have lots of petals and good substance.  Our container plant has given us lots of nice blooms on a somewhat compact plant.  We think this is a very nice floribunda.

Crescendo - is a pink blend hybrid tea from Keith Zary.  Our first year plant was a little slow to grow, but we did see some promising blooms.  It reminds us a little of Gemini, so we are hoping it gets better in the 2nd season.

Dayna Sawyer - is a pink blend hybrid tea from Eddie Edwards.  It has very nice creamy white blooms that are blushed with pink.  However, this variety does not like our climate and is blackspot prone.  We have the shovel ready to remove it!

Diane’s Delight - is a nice red blend hybrid tea from Eddie Edwards.  Our first year plant on fortuniana rootstock produced some very nice blooms with good form.  However, the color was more deep pink than red.

Dick Clark – is a red blend grandiflora from Tom Carruth and Christian Bedard.  The creamy white blooms are edged with a nice deep cherry red color.  Typically the bloom size and form is best in spring and fall.  Our potted plant continued to grow and bloom well.

Dream Come True – is an AARS award winning yellow blend grandiflora hybridized by Dr. John Pottschmidt.  We almost gave up on this variety as it took time to get established.  Like most roses, the blooms are not nearly as nice in hot weather, however they are beautiful in the spring and fall. 

Ethan Phelps – is a deep pink hybrid tea from Eddie Edwards that is named for Eddie’s grandson.  Our 2nd year plant was somewhat disappointing as it lacked vigor.  We’ll give it one more year and go from there.

Fairest One - is a red and white bicolor hybrid tea from J&P roses.  Our first year plant in a container gave us some very pretty blooms, but they were a little in the small side.  The plant tended to sprawl also.  Looking forward the next season.

Forty Heroes - is a medium yellow floribunda from Bailey Nurseries.  Named in honor of the forty brave men and women who perished in the plane crash in Pennsylvania in 2001, our first year plant was slow to grow and bloom.  We are told it will improve with time.  It is also advertised to be very disease resistant.  We will continue to carefully watch this variety.

Grande Dame - is a fragrant deep pink hybrid tea from Tom Carruth.  Blooms have old garden form and are nice in the vase.  Out first year plant did not like our summer heat.

Great Rosarians of the World - is an apricot blend hybrid tea hybridized by Eddie Edwards.  The ruffled blooms are best when fully open.  The blooms are not very attractive once the weather heats up.

Harold’s Pride – is an orange blend floribunda from the late Vernon Rickard.  Our 2nd year own-root plant has just not grown well.  In the fall, the blooms are a beautiful creamy white with orange.  Hope vigor improves.

Howard & Sara – is a medium red hybrid tea hybridized by John Smith.  Our 2nd year plant is proving to be a very nice red variety.

Impulse - is a brilliant orange hybrid tea from the florist industry.  This variety continues to produce some very nice brightly colored blooms with good form and size.  You can get it from Steve Singer at Wisconsin Roses.

JoAnn Edwards – is an orange blend hybrid tea from hybridizer Eddie Edwards.  Given that Eddie named this variety for his wife, you would expect it to be one of his best varieties.  However, it just hasn’t lived up to expectations.  Our plants are not vigorous and the blooms tend to be a little small.  Not giving up yet.

Koko Loco - is a new mauve floribunda from Christian Bedard and Weeks Roses.  Our first year plant grew well and produced nice blooms.  If you like muddy mauve blooms, this variety just might be for you.

Lovely Layla - was hybridized by Eddie Edwards.  The blooms are a nice soft creamy white to light yellow with a pink edge.  The blooms can be great in the fall, however, the plant just doesn’t give many of them.

Miss Olene – is a pink blend hybrid tea that was hybridized by Eddie Edwards.  The creamy white blooms have a nice soft pink edge.  Our plant on fortuniana rootstock grows and blooms well.

Mohana – is a nice medium yellow hybrid tea from the florist industry.  The blooms are clean and generally have good form.  Our 2nd year plant on multiflora rootstock is growing in a container.  This variety does appear to be susceptible to powdery mildew.

Moon Over Miami - is a big white hybrid tea from Eddie Edwards.  The big blooms generally have clean white color with very good form but fade quickly.  The blooms need more substance to be good for cutting and exhibition.  There just aren’t many good white varieties.

My Girl - is a medium pink shrub from Bailey Nurseries.  The blooms on our first year plant were more deep pink.  The plant is very disease resistant just like the famous Knock Out, but has more petals.  The bush blooms well but it appears to not grow as tall as Knock Out.   

My Lady Barbara - is a pink blend hybrid tea from Fred Wright.  Named for his late wife. Barbara, the ruffled blooms are a creamy white edged in pink.  They seem to be at their best in the late summer and fall. 

Peppermint Pop – is a new pink and white shrub from Bill Radler.  All of you “no spray” folks need to take note, this new shrub from Radler seems to be just as disease resistant as Knock Out.  It also has nice pink with white reverse blooms that have a little fragrance as well. 

Pink Promise - is a 2009 AARS winner from Coiner.  This beautiful hybrid tea has nice soft light pink blooms with good size and form.  This variety is proving to be a very nice all around rose.

Pumpkin Patch - is a nice caramel orange floribunda from Christian Bedard of Weeks Roses.  The name is very appropriate, as the blooms are a nice deep pumpkin color.  The bush has rich green foliage and produces lots of nice sprays.  We like this rather compact variety!

Randy Scott - is a pure white hybrid tea from hybridizer John Smith.  The plant has nice clean white blooms with good size and form.  I have budded more on multiflora rootstock for the coming season.

Red Intuition - is a hybrid tea from the florist industry.  We first noticed this variety at our local WalMart available as a cut flower.  The eye-catching blooms are striped with light and dark shades of red.  Our first year maiden on multiflora rootstock grew very well and gave us lots of nice blooms, even in the heat of summer.  While this variety may not be the best for exhibition due to its unusual coloration, it does appear to be a good variety for the garden.

Senior Moment - is a new hybrid tea.  While I am not sure about the hybridizer or the official color class, our plant has nice vibrant deep pink to medium red blooms.  This first year plant on fortuniana rootstock grew and bloomed well.  Looking forward to seeing how this variety does in its 2nd year.

Sister Jane - is a nice pink blend hybrid tea from Fred Wright.  Our first year own-root plant really took off and produced some very nice blooms with good form.  The vibrant pink blend blooms are blushed with a hint of yellow.  I have put some on multiflora rootstock for this coming season.

Snuffy – is an orange-pink hybrid tea from John Smith.  Our 2nd year plant continues to grow and bloom well.  The eye-catching blooms have nice color and can have good form.  The blooms somewhat remind us of Touch of Class, which we all know is a very fine variety.  This is shaping up to be a very nice rose.

Stephen Rulo - is classified as a russet grandiflora and was hybridized by William Chaney.  The bloom color in our garden is a muddy medium to light mauve.  The blooms generally have nice size and form.  We may discard this variety due to the drab color.

Sugar Moon - is a nice new white hybrid tea from Christian Bedard and Weeks Roses.  Our first year plant produced some nice exhibition form blooms with a little fragrance.  Anxious to see how this variety does in the 2nd season.

Sweet Promise - is an orange-pink hybrid tea from Meilland.  The deep salmon fragrant blooms have lots of petals and are best when fully open.  The bush is not as vigorous as we would have liked, so we’ll put it on the endangered list.

T.H. Coop - is a new red blend hybrid tea from Eddie Edwards.  This is one of the best new varieties in our garden.  The blooms are shades of light to dark red.  Our first year plant on fortuniana rootstock is vigorous and gives lots of nice exhibition form blooms.  Good for cutting and garden.

The Great White - is a wonderful new white hybrid tea from Fred Wright.  Our first year plant on fortuniana rootstock grew and bloomed very well.  The large blooms have great form and are generally very clean.  I am putting some on multiflora rootstock for the coming season.  This is another great new variety.