Poll about a new rose (hypothetical case)

I agree with the two last comments re the popularity of bright coloured,repeat flowering bush roses.
Its a commercial reason and whilst the buying public are ignorant about their purchase the market is really driven by the large growers,retailers and landscapers to a lesser extent. A corporatist world will tell you they produce what the public demands,but in reality they control and create that market.Its the other way around. We are influenced by the bright displays which scream" buy me" , its impulse buying. No mention you are obtaining a diseased, poorly structured and short lived plant.
The short longevity allows new ones to be marketed and the cycle continues.
That said, some growers are trying to improve disease resistance, I would not be without Aotearoa,lil Marlene, Tamora, or indeed Mr Lincoln. The yellow floribunda, sold under licence by Swanes called Sunny Boy is another which has no disease,and its yellow!
The overuse of Iceberg in boring landscaping has made it a purist laughing stock, but if grown as a shrub with light trimming ,with shears occasionally, it behaves like a mini Tea rose,masses of flowers,healthy foliage and a great structure.
Re once flowerers,its interesting that we ignore the fact that they flower with amazing vibrancy for sometimes 6-8 weeks, yet we all love Camellias, flowering gums, Tibouchinas etc etc which actually flower for sometimes a shorter period.

Spot on...

Buy: nup
Freeby: yep

LOL

A couple of reasons why non-repeat flowering is not everything

Alice Garnier
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Albertine
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

See... I'm with you, Gary. My rationale is that roses that don't flower all the time are able to channel more energy into their annual flush so that they actually put on a better display than most recurrent roses. 'Climbing Cecile Brunner' is putting on a show here at the moment... better than any other rose here by miles at this time of year.

It would depend on the colour, fragrance and petals for me

Hi Simon,

This is a long way away from the original post (time wise) but I thought I would put my 'two bobs worth in'.

I am presuming the underlying question here is...if I saw a rose that I really liked BUT it was not free flowering would I buy it? Would I buy it - yes. I have plenty of shrubs that only flower once, (some, for only the briefest of time) that give me the greatest of pleasure - but they are worth it. Port Wine Magnolia is a case in point - it is probably my favourite shrub, and yet it has tiny itty bitty fragile flowers that bloom all too briefly... but the fragrance takes me to another zone. But that's another story......

Off subject .. I agree Mangohead, we have 2 port wine magnolia's and I adore them.

I do wonder if any of those who would not purchase a rose that did not repeat flower have any Iris's in their garden. We have heaps and even though they only flower for a few days I wouldn't be without them.

I have Orchids. I can keep them alive but they never re flower. I think I need to do some research haha.

Wet blanket comment here; nursery after nursery selling old roses goes bust. A modern spring-only rose without the street-cred of being old won't win in our climate zones (in countries where winter is hideous it's a different matter). Yes I grow lilacs etc but if I had the option of a repeat-flowering one, I'd choose it.

I would buy a once only flowering rose it was a perfumed variety. I like roses in a cottage garden setting and it wouldnt bother me flowering once if it flowered profusely.

Simon a once flowering very healthy Damask with great fragrance would be very worthwhile addition to my collection.

Overall, I'd have to agree with Margaret. But, if I'd had my rathers - I now would have chosen the once blooming Albertine as a cover for my old shed, then the supposedly recurrent Climbing Red Pierrre. In fairness though, I'm not convinced that the plant I have is actually Clg RP.

It would depend on the rose for me... if it's hardy, lush and nice fragrance? I would. The iris bloom only for a short time but I adore them. My rhododenrons and camellias likewise only put on a relatively brief show but oh... for the period they bloom, they pull out all the stops and 80 year old trees are solid pink from one end of the garden to the other.

It looks like quite a few of us love our Iris's.

Looks like it Carole. I won my first Iris through the Ross' 2GB Gardening programme. It was called 'First Movement' and was one of the first Australian bred iris' from Rainbow Ridge in Galston. It was a beautiful soft apricot colour and alas, didn't bring any here with me when I moved, but I think I gave some tubers to a friend so may get a piece from her. I've only got a few blue ones here and they are actually still flowering for me ... must be this balmy weather we are having. One that I always wanted to get is called 'Eagle's Flight' - its a dual toned blue.

I have Eagle's Flight here somewhere.. I'm really over my iris. I love them but I hate how messy they look once they have finished flowering and the wind around here flattens them right when they are flowering... so I'm getting rid of them all except the dwarf ones as they can cope with the wind being closer to the ground.