Your most bloomiforous roses

Do you have roses that are rapid repeaters, or even better, are non-stop bloom machines? For once I'll set aside the criterion of perfume, and only define the question by asking for moderns - HTs, Floris or Grandis, preferably but not exclusively doubles and preferably shortish to medium height.

Ha, Betsy, short, fat and overdressed? Well my Victoria Gold always seems to have flowers, great health, bright green shiny foliage, nice shaped bush. It works hard all season and doesn't ask for much in attention. No perfume though. Another is Margaret Merrill, quick repeater, lots of flowers, healthy, sweetly perfumed white flowers.

Brigadoon, firefighter , st Patrick and fabulous(flori)

Hehe, you have perceived the variation on my old question, silky ;-)). I am drawn to both your suggestion, Margaregt Mrril in particular because she is 1) a known perfume emiotter, and 2) because her name crops up again and agin. I worry only about thrips on those white blooms

John, indeed, we share an enthusiasm for Firefighter. Have the intention to add yet another one to the FF herd. IMO teh best all-around red out there.

Brigadoon - now on the list if i can find one. How does it go with no spray? Its place in the J&P timeline suggests it might be susceptible. The early '90s was not the greatest time in the history of resistant roses. Might be the very thing to replace Daybreaker as a specimen rose while DB recovers (note the pollyanna optimism).

Ever the optimist Betsy hey? Poor DB, hope she makes it. Yeah thrips are a bugger on Margaret Merrill. That is the only white I have, but future will include Jardins de Bagatelle and PJPII. Do they also get thrips?

Thrips are the main reason I've stered clear of whites, silky.(Having said that, for reasons beyond my own comprehension, I now have Ice Girl and Summer Memories. Must have been a trick of the light when I ticked the boxes online) Already the thrips are playing hide n' seek in IG. Also - I am sad to say - the thrippies just lurvvv Sightsaver.

Funny thing about JdB - it doesn't seem to be a thrip magnet, and that's another big plus for this scrummy creature. I can make no guarantees on this score, but it's ever been my great joy and surprise that Jardins seems invisible to the critters.

That's great news Betsy, another reason for Jardins to figure in my endless imaginary design perambulations!

Why restricted to moderns?

Well said Gary

Okay Gary, do you have in mind a shortish-medium-sized antique rose that will bloom and rebloom like crazy all season, and will be happy in a large pot?

You did not mention pots but my sister in law used to have a Commtesse de Larbathe in a pot. It flowered its head off. It's in our garden now as she moved house.

We have a large old railway bridge transom (like a sleeper except nearly twice as thick) that we are going to stand up as a post. I want to put a Boarderer in a basket and hang it off the post. They flower continuously and can be covered in flowers.

Well, I really, really, really like the Comtesse. A quick look tells me it's Duchesse de Brabant, a name more familiar to me. This one could be my first tea! If I can source it this season, I'll get it now. If not, then Magic Gardens is at least one place that I can order it next year.

Borderer I find less appealing - looks a bit Carpet Rose to me, and it has only faint if any scent.

But the Comtesse/Duchesse - very nice. Seems to tolerate a bit of shade - is that correct? Thank you Gary/Balinbear

Betsy, if you join HMF or have joined HMF use it's advanced search and place your criteria in it and this will give you endless plants as possibles to choose from.

I'm an HMF junkie, David, and I never buy anything without first consulting  that esteemed site.

BUT - and as head of this forum I think you might agree - with 3000+ roses to choose from, of which hundreds might fit the criteria of any search, there is no substitute for personal recommendations. RoseTalk and Gardenweb are my go-to guides in that respect. Not the last word, but when I see a rose mentioned again and again and again , by a variety of gardeners, then it gets my attention.

It is not a foolproof system ;-)) A long time ago I bought Double Delight on the strength of its incredible and widespread popularity, and never have I loathed a rose so much, so thoroughly, so viciously.

And then there is Baronne de Rothschild, which I would never had considered had I not read so much about it here. I woudl never have picked it out from HMF. Personally, I think it photographs rather dully. The praise for it here pushed me, though, and as you know, I rejoice in that rose ;-)

betsyw wrote:Well, I really, really, really like the Comtesse. A quick look tells me it's Duchesse de Brabant, a name more familiar to me. This one could be my first tea! If I can source it this season, I'll get it now. If not, then Magic Gardens is at least one place that I can order it next year.

Borderer I find less appealing - looks a bit Carpet Rose to me, and it has only faint if any scent.

But the Comtesse/Duchesse - very nice. Seems to tolerate a bit of shade - is that correct? Thank you Gary/Balinbear

Our Boarderer's grow up to about 600mm high but yes not a lot of scent.

The Comtesse has a delicious citrus scent. It can be kept under control with pruning and can grow in a bit of shade but as with most roses they enjoy the sun. Most of ours only get on average about 4 hours sun.

Betsy are you a'premium member' by chance ? if not, give me some basic things to go on, lets start with colour, we will not go to Ht's/flori to start with. It might take a couple of days with my other commitments at present, below is what can be sourced as a premium member.
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David,  that's so kind and sweet of you to help play the HMF  find-a-rose  game. It's fun, isn't it?

I tell you, though, time is so short to get a rose up and going by the deck entrance for Christmas, so I'm going to try the Summer Memories I already have started . Here's an HMF member's pic - very densely clothed,a  nice Yuletide white/cream, is said to be bloomiforous and compact.
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If things don't pan out, SM can go out the back with the other battery hens, and I'll move in a blooming gardenia or something showy.

Gardenias a good choice for outdoors entertaining Betsy, fresh and cool and wafting fragrance especially in the evening when guests often roll up. Also no thorns if someone gets tipsy and rolls out merrily onto the the deck and straight into a prickly rose! That summer Memories looks nice though. Touch of tinsel might look OK for Christmas.

Mmmmnn i'm thinking Henri Matisse Betsy , only has a slight fragrance , but is such a good rose which has been its saviour in my garden , interestingly it was advertised as highly fragrant when i planted it ....

Armed with all your thoughts, I'm going to have a look around the various nurseries to see what's fat and overdressed right now. The Chosen One for the entrance was meant to be Daybreaker, but she's not going to be suitable in time, even if she does recover.

Tinsel, eh? Okay! My thought here, silky, was white solar fairy lights, which I use all over the deck (it's  approx 26' x 16') during Christmas/New Years, to also be strung over the rose bush (the little bulbs are quite cool to the touch, so won't burn the plant).

Stop pushing Henri at me, maree. You know I'll just buy one when I see it, even if it's tiny and totally unsuitable. These things are like popcorn - just mention it and I want it

Lol ha ha Betsy , i've got space limitations , so when thats filled up , i'm done until something dies or something unpleasant happens to it ....

I've had a yen for Henri Matisse myself. Love the colours, especially that shade of red in its swirls. I've already got 2 stripeys, Red Intuition and Grimaldi, (live them both) but I would dearly love Henri too. I'm hopeless! Happy to find it's a good one Maree. Trouble is where can I put it? I've dug so many new beds in the last few months, the garden began to resemble an excavation site. Lol.
Betsy your Christmas decorations sound magical.

Just remember Silky , that Henri only has a mild fragrance , performance wise in my garden though , i can't fault it ...

Yes Maree, it's not one for a fragrance hit but my solution is to mix up those with little/no scent with the power perfumes, so you still get the wafting affect. That's the theory anyway. Of course you can't beat a fantastic fragrance but visual delight is part of the joy of growing roses I reckon.