Top Exhibition Roses of the South Central U.S
By Robert B. Martin Jr.  

Different roses perform differently in different places. Rosarians who have attended rose shows in areas outside of their own district know this. And so it is not enough, in the selection of top exhibition varieties, to look solely at the national data; instead it is also useful to examine results of shows closer to home.  

As the editor of Rose Exhibitors’ Forum, I receive the show results from throughout the country. With these results, I publish an annual 5-year and 10-year national compilation of top exhibition hybrid teas, floribundas and miniature/mini-floras in the American Rose magazine. Also, in Rose Exhibitors’ Forum, I publish all of the reported results and write occasional articles on regional variations in those results.  

The top show roses are different in different parts of the country. The reason primarily has to do with differences in climate, but there are other factors as well, including differences in the preferences of judges and exhibitors. So to explore these differences, I have divided the United States into six different regions and sorted the show results over the last five years into each region to determine the top roses in each reporting category. The results of this study for the South Central region are set forth in this article.  

The regions are large, and great climate differences exist within many. However, I made the selections with a view both to the data available and the need to retain a large enough statistical sample to make comparisons. Show results are reported by ARS district so I placed each district in a region based on geographic location and the climate zones in the Sunset National Garden Book. Under this system, the South Central region includes the ARS Central, South Central and Tenarky districts.  

With the hybrid teas, I tallied points for roses awarded royalty using my standard system which awards six points for Queen, five for King, four for Princess and three points for each rose on the Court of Honor. Unlike other point tabulations reported in the American Rose and Rose Exhibitors’ Forum, I did not award points for roses staged in the principal challenge classes of national and district shows, since this would have required an examination of the residence of each exhibitor, and I concluded the results would not be worth the effort and time. I used the same system with respect to miniatures and Minifloras. In all the other categories, I simply tallied the number of trophies recorded. All of the results are set forth in the tables accompanying this article.  

Hybrid Teas

Beginning with the hybrid teas, the top exhibition rose in the South Central region is the beautiful deep red, ‘Veterans’ Honor’, which enjoys a top ten ranking in every region as well, and is clearly the best red exhibition rose. This is the only region in which it is ranked No. 1, although it is No. 2 in both the adjoining Southeast region and North Central regions.  

The No. 2 hybrid tea is ‘Moonstone’, which continues at the top of the national 5-year rankings, having finished as the No. 1 exhibition rose in three of the past five years. It is also in the top ten of all six regions, and is ranked No. 1 in the North Central and Northeast regions. It also enjoys a No. 2 ranking in the Southwest, and a No. 3 ranking in the neighboring Southeast.  

Louise Estes’ is ranked No. 3 and is in the top 25 ranking of four other regions, including its only No. 1 finish in the neighboring Southeast. In the No. 4 position is ‘St Patrick’, the beautiful yellow AARS winner. The chlorophyll in the petals of ‘St Patrick’ makes it a great lover of heat and sunshine and it is also in the top ten in the Southeast and Southwest regions, as well as the Northwest, where the moisture and cooler temperatures bring out the green. However, its offspring, the apricot ‘Marilyn Monroe’, a more recent introduction that performs well in the Southwest, does not appear on the Southeast list at all.  

In fifth place is ‘Hot Princess’, the electric pink florist rose, which clearly loves the heat and sunshine of the South. It is also ranked No. 4 in the neighboring Southeast region and appears in the top 25 of all regions but the colder North Central.  

The No. 6 ranking goes to ‘Gemini’, which was the top hybrid tea in the nation in 2005 and is also the No. 1 rose throughout the west. The No. 6 ranking in the South Central region, together with a No. 5 ranking in the adjoining Southeast region, are the lowest rankings in the country. It is, however, in the top ten of all six regions and is clearly a superior exhibition rose, one of the very best hybrid teas ever introduced. It was also an AARS winner and was the winner of the 2004 American Rose Society Member’s Choice Award as the top rated rose in Roses in Review. It is therefore both an excellent exhibition rose and an excellent garden rose.  

The pure white ‘Crystalline’ ranks No. 7 in this region. This tends to be more of an exhibitor’s rose, because when it is right, it is an extraordinary exhibition rose. But it does require a great deal of disbudding to get that one bloom, and requires careful spraying. The old favorite, ‘Touch of Class’, once the nation’s top exhibition rose, continues to do well here with a No. 8 ranking.  

Rounding out the top ten are the florist rose ‘Raphaela’, which at No. 9 enjoys its highest ranking in the country. ‘Signature’, ranked No. 10, continues to be a top exhibition variety and appears in the top ten of all six regions. It is known for its sensitive foliage and is also more of an exhibitors’ rose than a recommended garden rose.  

All but one of the regions have roses on their list that are unique to it. In the South Central region, ‘Classic Touch’ (#16)‘Affirm’ (#18) and ‘Fantasy’ (#22) are unique and appear on the lists in no other region. ‘Lynette’ (#15) and ‘Raspberry Swirls’ (#20) are both near-unique, appearing in the top 25 in only the South Central and Southeast regions.

 Miniatures

Among the miniature roses, the national No. 1, ‘Fairhope’ is No. 1 in the South Central region by a wide margin. ‘Fairhope’ has been the national number one exhibition miniature for ten years, and is number one throughout the south and center of the country. In the nation’s upper corners, however, it is second to ‘Irresistible’, which ranks No. 2 here. ‘Irresistible’ has many more petals than ‘Fairhope’ and performs better in cooler, coastal climates.  

The No. 3 miniature in the region is ‘Soroptimist International’, which is No.2 all along the east coast and is in the top 25 in all regions. Fourth is the red ‘Miss Flippins’, which is in the top ten in all six regions, but does show much more strength in the south than in the north.  

The oddly-colored ‘Lady E’owyn’ is fifth in the region, the land of its birth – the highest national ranking. It does not crack the top ten anywhere else and is not in the top 25 on the west coast. The outstanding 2005 Member’s Choice winner, ‘Bee’s Knees’ is now ranked No. 6 in the South Central region and is rising here, as in the rest of the country. It is also a beautiful and easy-growing garden rose that should be considered for every garden. ‘Hot Tamale’ weighs in at No. 7, while ‘Arcanum’ and ‘Incognito’ round out the top ten.  

The growing influence of the Minifloras, now begins to appear in the South Central rankings, as more shows have introduced a separate royalty and court for Minifloras. The leading Miniflora is ‘Lady E’owyn’ (#5), followed by the ‘Tiffany Lynn’ (#11), the hot new red ‘Memphis King’ (#15) and the brightly-colored ‘Conundrum’ (#17).  

‘Memphis King’ (#15) is unique to the region, as is ‘Memphis Queen’ (#22), likely because of their more regional distribution. Also unique are ‘ Odessa ’ (#24) and  ‘Jilly Jewel’ (#24). The roses ‘Chelsea Belle’ (#19) and ‘Linville’ (#23) are near-unique, appearing only here and in the Northeast where they are Nos. 20 and 18, respectively. Also near-unique is ‘Michel Cholet’, at No. 20 here and appearing elsewhere only in the Southwest as No. 21.  

Local hybridizer Robbie Tucker has five roses in the top 25, while Whit Wells has two.  

The competition for the miniature spray shows the competitiveness of this class, here and throughout the nation. ‘Child’s Play’ has a modest lead, followed by ‘Green Ice’ and ‘Incognito’ in a tie for second. South Central judges tend to prefer the exhibition form to the more decorative forms of miniatures in this class. However the latter are represented by ‘Green Ice’, ‘Elfinglo’ and ‘Gourmet Popcorn’.  

Floribundas

The floribunda spray class is lead by ‘Playgirl’, which is also No. 1 in the Southeast and appears on the list in all six regions. ‘Showbiz’, also highly ranked in all six regions, is No. 2 in the South Central region. It is followed by ‘Nicole’, which is No. 1 in the Northeast and North Central regions.  

Among those on the South Central list, ‘Royal Occasion’ and ‘Bill Warriner’ are unique. The remaining roses on the list are also top exhibition floribundas in other regions as well.

It may be noted that singles and semi-double roses are well-represented on the list, with ‘Playgirl’, ‘Nicole’, ‘Lady of the Dawn’, ‘Playboy’, ‘International Herald Tribune’ and “Betty Boop’.  

In the one-bloom-per-stem floribunda class, the South Central judges show something of a preference for exhibition-form floribundas. Leading the list is ‘Sheila’s Perfume’, followed by the decorative rose, ‘Scentimental’. ‘Natali’, with exhibition form follows, and the list includes exhibition-form varieties such as ‘Kanegem’ (#5) and ‘French Lace’ (#6).  The judges do give a nod to the decorative form floribunda, with the aforementioned ‘Scentimental’, and ‘Nicole” (#4), as well as the singles, ‘Betty Boop’ (#6), ‘Playboy’ (#8) and ‘Playgirl’ (#10).  

In assessing the rankings for the floribunda bloom, I have the sense that the differences that appear between the regions have less to do with climate, than with different judging preferences between the regions. The one-bloom-per-stem class is a class in which, at least theoretically, exhibition form roses compete on an equal footing with those of decorative form. In practice, this does not appear to be the case, except for the Northwest where the trophies are evenly divided. In the Southwest, however, few of the top roses normally show exhibition form. In contrast, regions in both the east and central portions of the country show a preference for roses of exhibition form.

 Polyanthas, Climbers and Shrubs

Moving to other regions of the trophy table, the polyantha spray class is dominated nationally by three roses, ‘The Fairy’, ‘China Doll’, and ‘Margo Koster’. In the South Central region, they finish in that order with ‘The Fairy; maintaining a wide lead. The rose “Caldwell Pink”, found locally in Texas , makes its only appearance here, though it may well be ‘Pink Pet’.  

The climber class has for several years been a two-horse race between ‘Altissimo’ and ‘Fourth of July’. Here there is no contest as ‘Fourth of July’ has a dominant lead. ‘ America ’ is No. 3, matching its national ranking, however its locally found pink sport ‘Pearly Gates’ is but sixth.  

In the classic shrubs, the hybrid kordesii ‘ Dortmund ’ leads the list, as it does in four of the six regions. It is followed by the hybrid rugosa, ‘Linda Campbell’ and the hybrid musk ‘Belinda’. The hybrid rugosa, ‘Therese Bugnet’ and the hybrid musk ‘Robin Hood’ tie for fourth.  

The modern shrub class is led nationally by ‘Graham Thomas’, first in three regions, and ‘Sally Holmes’, first in two. In the South Central Region, ‘Sally Holmes’ leads by a wide margin, with ‘Graham Thomas’ in a three-way tie for fourth. The AARS winning ‘Bonica’ and ‘Flutterbye’, are tied for second. The eleven roses represent a diverse group of shrubs. Notably, there are only three David Austin roses on the list, which, compared, with the rankings in the other regions, is small.  

Old Garden Roses

Completing the analysis with the old garden roses, the national leaders in the Dowager/Genesis are ‘Baronne Prevost’ and ‘Sombreuil’, which are No. 1 in two regions each. In the South Central region, however, the No. 1 rose is ‘Souv de la Malmaison’, followed by ‘Marchesa Boccella’ and ‘Sombreuil’ is at the bottom in a tie for ninth. The number two OGR in the Northeast is ‘Marchesa Boccella’. ‘Baronne Prevost’ is fifth, behind ‘Green Rose’. Three of the roses on the list are species roses, reflecting the influence of the Genesis award.  

In the Victorian class, it is all about ‘Rose de Rescht’, the No. 1 winner in five of the six regions. In the South Central region, however, it has only a one-trophy lead over ‘Paul Neyron’, which is No. 1 in the neighboring Southeast. In third place is ‘Pink Pet’, which is likely to be reclassified as a polyantha. The climbing Bourbon ‘Zepherine Drouhin’ finishes fourth. As a historical note, I have removed ‘Irene Watts’ from the Victorian class rankings since it has been subsequently ruled that the rose known and shown as ‘Irene Watts’ is an imposter, and is really ‘Pink Gruss an Aachen’, a floribunda ineligible for the class. But for this technicality, the rose formerly known as “Irene Watts” would have been tied for fourth in the South Central region.  

Conclusion

For those who show roses, I hope these lists will be of value in demonstrating what shows well in the South Central region. It should also be kept in mind that roses do well at rose shows because they make beautiful, symmetrical blooms and sprays. So, for those who love to cut beautiful blooms, or enjoy them in their garden, most of the roses on these lists make good garden roses as well. And, the fact that they appear often on the show tables in the South Central region usually demonstrates that they grow well locally. So try out some beautiful exhibition roses for your garden.  

* Robert B. Martin Jr. is the Editor of the ARS quarterly publication, ‘Rose Exhibitors’ Forum’ and the Chairman of the ARS Horticultural Exhibitors’ Committee. Show results are also reported at www.RoseShow.com.

Top Exhibition Roses of the South Central U.S
By Robert B. Martin Jr.

 Miniature/Mini-Flora Spray Trophies 2001-2005

 Floribunda Spray Trophies 2001-2005

Floribunda Bloom Trophies 2001-2005

Polyantha Spray Trophies 2001-2005

Climber Trophies 2001-2005

 Classic Shrub Trophies 2001-2005

Modern Shrub Trophies 2001-2005

Dowager/Genesis Trophies 2001-2005

Victorian Award Trophies 2001-2005