Not what I was expecting!

To add to your woes Damo (LOL) I'm not convinced it isn't 'Temple Bells' either

These are some photos I went out and took tonight:



HMF says 'Temple Bells' has 7 petals... mine now has flowers with 7 petals... it didn't when I first photographed it last year (and TBH I'd forgotten about it since then and was thinking it was wichurana (which it can't be with 7 petals and repeat).

This is the leaf:



It has 9 leaflets as the photo on HMF also shows in lime green.

These are some other diagnostic type shots I took this afternoon:

Bud:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Rachis:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Older Bud about to open (note it is flushed pink... this is a consistent feature):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Stipules and thorns:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

New buds:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

OMG Simon I am so sorry. I just checked & I had "White Bells", not "Temple Bells". I will look into "Temple Bells" when I recover from my stupidity. I blame recent dental surgery Hahahaha...

OK just looked at my plant and pics online & I agree with you. We both have "Temple Bells". My plant mostly has 9 leaflets too & the pink blush to the buds. I am really sorry I stuffed this up so bad...lucky you had a clue!

Hey... don't worry about it at all ... if I had a dollar for every time I stuffed up on here I'd be a rich man! LOL

'Temple Bells' is just the 'best fit' at this point in time... I'm also asking far more experienced people than me to assist with the ID. If it does turn out to be 'Temple Bells' then this will be awesome. The story goes that when Sam McGredy left Ireland he grabbed a handful of roses to begin with in NZ and one that he grabbed was 'Temple Bells'. He has based a lot of his work with miniatures on crosses with it. I think it will be most fortuitous if it does in fact turn out to be it.

Oh wow. How cool! Fingers crossed for both of us then! When I looked at my plant before, I got pollen all up my arm so that points in the right direction regarding the possibility of good breeding me thinks! LOL