First flush review: Perfume Passion (aka Beverly, Kordes), Sweet Intoxication (J&P), Young Lycidas (DA), Ice Girl (Kordes panarosa), Baronne Edmond de Rothschild

Apologies straight off the bat for lack of pix. I plan to post some of Perfume Passion, Ice Girl and Young Lycidas after the second flush. I'm just covering a few of the newbies for me, those not mentioned too much yet.

First of all, I have to rectify my first take on Perfume Passion, which I bagged on another thread a while back. Er, wrong rose ID. The rose I thought was PP, was in fact a second 'gift', another Sweet Intoxication, and the rose I thought was Ice Girl gone looney pink was PP. Confused? Skip this portion of the program, which really was a conversation between Jac and myself.

Okay, nitty gritty:

Perfume Passion, heavily campaigned this year in Treloar's catalogue, is a winner so far - very interesting floral/spice fragrance that wafts a bit, handsome and proudly borne many-petaled 4.5" flowers, very nice looking wide-branching young shrub. Bloom holds really well on the bush, at least 10 days and still counting. Graded petals shades from near white to lolly pink. Stippled look from a distance. I like this one. B+, mark to rise if the leaves stay healthy past the innoculation period of commercial field spray.
Sweet Intoxication: Also heavily campaigned by both Swanes and Treloars. (The 'Garden Vixen" that will steal your senses and captivate your soul!!!!)I can't complain about this one, I can only say that so far it's a bore. The blooms are small, the much-touted "clove" scent (why I bought it) is more cleanser-bitey than clean, and unless cloves start smelling like Morning Fresh, I have no idea where the notion of clove comes from in the description. The flowers are okay, the colour is a who-cares mauve two-tone, with darker centre. In its favour, I'll say that it's a good bloomer. Not great, but good. So much for rose porn.

Young Lycidas What an absolute darling this little DA is! Just keeps throwing out blooms, basal breaks, teeny little leaves, yummy little flowers with a fascinating scent that develops and changes as the flower ages. Nice colour, too - luminous cherry-wine to start, then ages to more pink or purple, but the best colour is at the peak. Looks luminous in sunlight. Not a bad one for posey cutting, either. I am enchanted with it , it's like a hyper-active runt of the litter, precocious beyond its size. I have no real use for it as a cutting rose, and it's too noddy for a specimen in a pot right now, but i fuss over it. Just a charmer.

Ice Girl Very pretty form, okay fragrance, PJPII minus charisma. Gimme Jardins de Bagatelle any day for swoon material.

Baronne de R: I won't do a run down on this one, because you all persuaded me to buy it in the first place. All I can say is : THANKS! Like it very, very much, and I give it a B++ The cherry colour is delicious and refined for a deep pink , and the fragrance is elegant. Parole still leaves it in the dust for cutting and scent, but the Baronne is definitely a keeper for me.

Betsy what about Soul Mate , hows that going ?

Because it's a 'soft release' still being trialled and not widely out there in Oz, maree, I thought I'd play it prudently/conservatively, and not comment until the end of the season. Probably needs more thoughtful and expert analysis than mine to be part of the evidence brought to bear on a commercial decision on SM .

Okay , no worries ....

Can I throw my 2 bobs worth in about "Soul Mate", I think you will find it will/might take a couple of years to mature. I make this comment only with how mine is going, not forgetting mine is in VERY heavy black loam. No buds yet as one young lamb helped it's self a little while ago.

That's just so Circle of Life, roseman. Julia Child ate many a lamb, now a lamb eats Julia Child (aka Soul Mate. )

betsy your sweet intoxication will take off and it will give you bigger blooms once it matures , i bought mine bareroot, and it was very slow to begin with , my blooms weren't huge but they aren't small either . the scent is truely intoxicating tho .. love it .. i would recoomend this rose very very healthy

Oh Dan, I am encouraged, but I am a quick-to-judge rose person. Valencia, Fragrant Cloud, Parole, Jardins de Bagatelle. were beloved from the first bloom. Ditto Adolph Horstmann, which is a three bloom wonder in its sixth year.

It's not take-off speed for me. I am patient, sorta. But SI is not what I was led to believe. The fragrance is just another citrus. Young Lycidas is soooo much better.

But I am your servant, Dan, and thank you for your as always esteemed - HIGHLY esteemed - opinion

ALSO: I am so cross about this top-price and over-hyped rose that I will give my two away when the weather cools in March.. You pay postage, roses are free.

betsyw wrote:Oh Dan, I am encouraged, but I am a quick-to-judge rose person. Valencia, Fragrant Cloud, Parole, Jardins de Bagatelle. were beloved from the first bloom. Ditto Adolph Horstmann, which is a three bloom wonder in its sixth year.

It's not take-off speed for me. I am patient, sorta. But SI is not what I was led to believe. The fragrance is just another citrus. Young Lycidas is soooo much better.

But I am your servant, Dan, and thank you for your as always esteemed - HIGHLY esteemed - opinion

no prob betsy , always a pleasure .. i have young lycidas here too , altho the perfume is nice . i gotta say sweet intoxication is a way better scent . maybe its my climate as oppose to yours

well i gotta say , i had a very bad experience from couple of nurseries that i bought bareroot from. the first one i bought 10 bare root out of the 10 two made it the rest died . the other the free rose arrived dead . so i wont be buying from that nursery ever again, had to replace few of them , i bought them potted up and $ 30 + lol.

betsyw wrote:ALSO: I am so cross about this top-price and over-hyped rose that I will give my two away when the weather cools in March.. You pay postage, roses are free.

betsy , i will be happy to pay the postage and take them LOL

Sweet Intox fragrance better than young lycidas? Okay, not for me.And I'm no big DA fan, so I am highly critical here. Sweet Intox leaves me cold.

Must be a question of olfactory chemicals.

Again, two Si plants to give away in the autumn. Free plus postage

betsyw wrote:Sweet Intox fragrance better than young lycidas? Okay, not for me.And I'm no big DA fan, so I am highly critical here. Sweet Intox leaves me cold.

Must be a question of olfactory chemicals.

Again, two Si plants to give away in the autumn. Free plus postage

sold
sold
sold

LOL

Just sent you a pm, Dan.

got it betsy and i replied . thanks hun

Isn't that just it Betsy , hyped up roses from the growers , i'm not putting anymore roses in the ground till i try them in pots first , which is annoying cause there's the time factor there , and like you i'm very impatient , i'd like a beautiful , scented rose now, not in three years time , lol !!! Jordan , there you go , some more roses to your collection , must be your lucky day !!!!! Betsy just a question , how do you find Freisia for scent and health , my search for a yellow , scented , healthy , hybrid tea standard rose bush has come down to this rose , its a floribunda though , all the really good yellow's don't come in standards ,Valencia does , but as you say a big rose , maybe i'll just have to try it and see ......

maree, I have freisia growing here. Nice and healthy, quite strong growth, bright yellow flowers but nothing to write home about scent-wise, at least to my nose.I have to sniff hard. Maybe others can detect more than me.
jordan, how can we avoid having the same trouble from those nurseries? Are we allowed clues or is that against the rules. I just don't want to be sharing the same experience down the track.

What silky said, although Friesia is scented (for me), but definitely not a wafter. Ideal shape, though, and healthy, pretty. Not for the vase, because it blows fast, but it repeats fast, too.

End of year, if Soul Mate gets the nod from Swanes, then it could be a real contender for you.

Can you not try Valencia as a regular rose, maree? It's very upright, takes up no horizontal space, at least as a four-year old, and is not averse to a pot.

Thanks Betsy , i have a standard rose garden around the back of the house and bush roses dotted around the front , the arches i had climbing Pierres de R on them , but the no scent did them in and i pulled them out and put in climbing natives , which are nice , but i'll put back a scented climber on them when i find a good one . The available spaces i have are in the standard garden , Papa died and i am quickly tiring of PJP11 , which is where i want to put a water fountain in the middle of the standards . I am thinking of Fragrant Cloud and a nice yellow . I'm hoping Soul Mate gets the nod from everyone , and then i'll be really , really happy lol ha ha !!!!

I really, really want you to try Valencia, maree. If you must have a standard and you can get Val in that form, then grab it. Forget whatever I said about shape, etc. You need this one in your life, trust me.

No worries Betsy , i'll take your advice , and bung it in next winter , no trialling , you and everyone else love it . Magic have it , as a standard , they say to cut the stems fairly short when picking flowers , i generally stake the canes too as i live in a windy area . Done deceided , ahh , what a relief lol ....

fresia is a strong grower for me here , i would say the scent is medium , altho we have few at work and sometimes i cant even detect a scent , and the flowers dont last too long on the bush , a strong wind and bye bye fresia LOL

Thanks Jordan , thats really decided it , no Fresia , cause i live in a windy spot , do you have Valencia Jordan ? How does it go in Melbourne , also do you have Fragrant Cloud ? Hows that in Melbourne too ....Thanks ....

Friesia doesn't require much of a breeze to make it blow, let me tell ya.

Last summer I was admiring one admirable bloom-covered specimen. I fanned away a passing fly, and half the bush's petals just fell in a heap. (very embarrassing - I had only met the owner two minutes before)