Question for Neptune about Neptune rose

Hi Neptune , i have read so many different opinions on this rose , so i'll just ask you about it , is it a good repeat flowerer and how is it health wise ? Thanks ...

Hi mare,

first I will talk from a exhibiters point of view........

the first year the rose took off very well....grew nicely and the health was good......
into the second year , it seemed to take a backward step in bloom production.
The flowers were cut in the morning and by the afternoon , they weren't much chop
Is it a good repeater...in all honesty...no......compared to one of my bankers(red intuition), it would be a one to ten ratio
Now the smell/scent of the Neptune is fantastic and have won many a comp with this one in the scent division. It is strong and intense

Thanks Neptune , i can see now why so many different opinions on this rose , one thing everyone agrees on is the perfume , thanks again ....

Betsy , this is back from February , i'm in two minds about this rose ...

Maree, so many of my roses behave badly in their second season with me that I have to wonder: Is it just me, or also other factors? Rainwater vs tap water? Drip-feed vs hand feeding?Dr Huey understock (yes, I have heard that roses grown on the Doctor may perform poorly in succesive years. )? Lemon-tree Syndrome (alternating on and off years of production).

Do some HTs get burn-out, where sleep-creep-leap becomes leap-sleep-creep? I'm looking at you, Sightsaver.

Werribee Park should be a super place to look at older plants, see if the older Neptunes bounce back in production. Please check out their Paroles for me too.

If the Neppies look good at Werribee, then I'd say it's worth a shot. It's a divine-looking bloom, and you'll love the scent, I am pretty sure. BUT Is it worth investing the space and money on a standard? Hmmmmmmm....

Betsy , i had a look and i did not see Neptune on the Werribee Rose gardens website , there's lots of other roses there that i want to look at but not Neptune . The spot i have vacant ,is a prized spot in the garden ,only the best roses go there , so i'm going to be very carefull what i plant there and its at the front too , its companions will be , Fragrant Cloud , Oaklahoma , Firefighter, Valencia and Heaven Scent ,  i thought a mauve/purple would look good but its got to be good one , will probably forgo the mauve if i can't find one after going to Werribee for a more reliable rose .   I know you don't like light pinks Betsy but have you tried Heaven Scent , one of the best performing , fragrant roses i have .   Parole mum has had it for years it has always been a great rose for her , i planted it but just didn't like it , nice colour but the roses are just tooo big , reminded me of dark pink cabbages , sorry Betsy lol ...     The Americans talk a lot about own root versus grafted roses mainly because as you know ,RMV virus , but i think maybe you could be right about Dr Huey,
maybe at the first sign of Dr Huey coming through the rose could just shut down , don't know , have to ask one of the experts that ........

I've always had a yen for Heaven Scent - big blooms, great scent. Sounded so good on paper.Then I saw a garden display section of them growing at Swane's, and I just couldn't come at that toothpaste-spit pink. A bit like you with the Parole cabbage, to me HS looked like a ghastly pastel agapanthus.

If the intended rose is for a prime spot, maree, yeah, then I would skip the tricky mauves, esp if it's for your show bed.

(Now, see, this is where growing roses in pots is so good. When the party's over, it's not hard to get the awful guests to leave ;-))

Lol ha ha Betsy ,poor Heaven Scent and i don't even like agapanthus ,never mind i still love her , you've definately got it down pat with the pots , trouble is , i live in Victoria , in suburbia , no room here for heaps of pots , do you have any suggestions for that bed , the rose would be in between Fragrant Cloud and Oklahoma ,( i'm being good and not shortening names lol ) i have read that Double Delight goes good with Fragrant Cloud but i just can't come at planting that one , i'm thinking maybe Fionas Wish , will have to go and raid mums garden and trial some blooms against it ...

 

I think you're on to a VERY good thing with Fiona's Wish. Let me know how the colour goes with F Cloud. Double Delight is probably my least favourite rose in the known universe, so no good asking me to validate that parking ticket ;-)))))

Okay, on topic: FWIW Fragrant Cloud has several colour manifestions (How are we feeling today? A bit brick-ish? A bit medium coral, a bit persimmon?). Neptune might look a bit "off with some of them., so Neptune might hav been an unlikely choice, anyhow

Back on track again Neptune lol , gees arn't we lucky we've got you to jog our memories , cause i do get a bit side tracked , ps Betsy i'm with you on DD...

I have found this thread on Neptune very interesting as it is colour in roses I really appreciate. My love affair with purple roses started with Angel Face when I saw it at Cowra (NSW)  over 20years ago unfortunately it is a rose I've had little success with both growing and on the show bench. I have tried Charles de Gaul and Vol de Nuit with limited success. My most recent purple acquisition is Blueberry Hill and so far I've been more than happy with it from a growth point of view. I have seen it and judged the rose on the show bench and I've encountered a couple of very impressive units. After seeing a magnificent example of Neptune in a show pot at Swanes I've been tempted to add it to my show roses however at the moment with over 400 roses on a quarter acre block I am short of space so it is on the back burner at the moment.

Good grief, 20 years and 400 roses later, and the only mauve you find has promise is Blueberry Hill. This doiesn't bode well for the rest of us.

Interesting that the lovely (and I assume adult) Neptune you saw in a show pot was at Swane's. All the gorgeous little Neps I saw at Bunnings were from Swane's, too. Could it be too much to hope that Swane's has some good Neptune stock?

I have always found Swanes roses to be of good quality. You must remember I judge roses purely for exhibition so it does limit me.

I'm thinking as far as purple roses go its a toss up between Neptune / Dioresssence / Fragrant Plum , it seems Neptune fantastic perfume , but not a great repeat flowerer / Fragrant Plum good perfume but  i think it depends on the weather for that rose how much it blooms doesn't like it too cold ( read that somewhere )tempermental rose that one and Dioressence great perfume but a floribunda , can be a bit more pinky/purple i think ...   Ohh dear , toss a coin i think .... don't know about Charles de Gaulle have just planted it will know in about three years time ...

Bit of a dilemma eh Maree? Once you get into these situations it just goes round and round in your head. Maybe Werribee is able to settle it for you one way or another. You might be struck speechless by something!
Guess what? I've dug a new bed so I could move my alien which, after its ghastly neon orange stage, turns a muted rosy/soft burnished orange colour. Its going next to a new echium, Cobalt spires. And guess what is going there too? A couple of Valencias. Betsy and you finally convinced me. I'm hoping the blue of the echium will tie them together.

How much room you got left in your garden now Silky , the Orange Alien is growing on you hey , does it have a perfume Silky , and Echiums , i love echiums , haven't got any room here though for one and two Valencias , the more the merrier lol !!! There's a new rose coming out , called Blue Emotion , i'll start a new topic ..

I've still got a bit of room Maree, but not much energy left. The Orange Alien has grown on me somewhat but absolutely no perfume. It was a case of outright murder or move it elsewhere. I haven't actually dug it up yet but I will soon. I'd love to have Warm Wishes in there too but not enough room in that spot.

Where you digging in the rain today Silky ? time for a day off next weekend and off to Werribee , shame about the no fragrance on Orange Alien ...

Lol. No digging today, just weeding. That bed was finished a couple of days ago and then piled compost on top while I planned in my head. Just a sprinkle of rain late in the day here. Yes, day off to relax and enjoy looking at all the glorious roses next weekend. Hope the weather is good.

Yep , fingers crossed ...

Although I have seen many and varied coloured roses during my garden visits as part of the Roses Down Under here in NZ I have found purple roses to be few and far between.