SoulMate aka Julia Child

By all accounts, the US rosarians who grow this lovely compact, fragrant rose as "Julia Child" have nothing but compliments for it - a very successful variety in health, rebloom, and general all-round Good Rose Thing.

Swane's launched it in Oz back in 2009 as "SoulMate". Blow me down: Only three years later, and it's not in the catalogue any more. Can't find it at Treloars or Magic Gardens , either. Anyone know why what seems to be a damnfinerose of recent release should be struck off the rolls so fast?

Betsy,
I am pretty sure David tried to get this rose. If it is the same one there is going to limited release in September by one of the nurseries.
I will get him to post when he gets home. He his out doing his bit for the Red Shield Appeal.

Carole, thanks so very much for such a speedy reply. If it's released here (re-released?), I'm going to stand in line for a pair of them. Still fail to understand Swane's thinking on this one: maybe they've sunk their compact yellow budget into SunnyBoy or something bizarro.

I'm waiting with my crisp $20 note (oh, I wish it were a $1000 bill) for a darling Salvo to knock today. Bless ya, David, and Sallies everywhere.

That does seem odd doesn't it Betty. I often wonder why some roses are so popular in the USA, but don't get as much attention here. Apparently the USA is full of Knockouts in their public planting, but I don't think I've seen any here.

Mind you they were mad keen on Hot Cocoa and I for the life of me can't see what all the fuss was about.

Sally, the success story of Knock Out in the USA is a tribute to nearly two decades of marketing. The modern bullet-proof rose! The landscaper's dream! The fact that it doesn't look like a rose or smell like a rose hasn't stopped it from a sales explosion that now accounts for something like 50%-plus of all rose sales in America. Oh yeah, and it isn't even bullet-proof; at least one strain of BS finds KOs quite to its liking, and to top it off, untended swathes of KOs are now hosting RRD. I suppose KO was a decent first step for hybridisers towards tougher roses, but therer are so many better later, even nicely fragrant efforts out there now, like Ping Lin's (sp?)Easy Elegance roses.

As for tepid "Hot Cocoa", it has zilch charms for me, but it's a hobbyist's indulgence to colour-collect. It's well past its novelty, and the hoohah is over, I think.

Flip side of the coin: One of our OZ favs you don't hear much about in the US is "Crepuscule". Maybe if it was relaunched as Koala Knock About, we'd see it fly out the US nursery doors

Betsy, I have emailed Swanes back and forth about this rose. They are going to "soft sell" it in September. If you want it I would line up now.
PM me if you want some details from my correspondence with them. I will get an American members knowledge to post on this thread about 'Julia Child' if you like.

David, that is FANTASTIC news about Julia Child/SoulMate/Absolutely Fabulous. Our American cousins (and our UK cousins, who call it AbFab) have really endorsed this one across different zones and different degrees of expertise/experience. I'll PM you in a moment, then will email Swane's to see about a pre-order.

It will be past online bareroot season in September, so I might mention to the local Swanes agent nursery that he should place an order for two potted-up plants. I'll have to pay him his triple middleman rates, but I think that it will be worth it.

BTW: I've never heard of "soft-selling" in the rose retail market. what is the possible advantage of not including every rose variety you have in your catalogue???

It is in my opinion that they are testing the waters as to say whether they should bud heaps or just sell it as plant. I think it is called 'marketing'. Which one sells 'Pope John" or 'Julia's Child.

I see. PJPII vs Julia Child. Hmmmm. Game over.

Do you think it also may be a case of too many yellow compact floribundas vying for market share? Friesia, Victoria Gold, SunnyBoy and all the others I'm sure exist out there. Yellow is so, so, so specific a statement colour as opposed to ,say, pink or white.

Maybe if they'd kept the recognised name 'Julia Child" (both the lady and the rose) and skipped the unknown SoulMate, the little newbie might have started out on a better recognition footing.

Oh yeah, I have all the answers. Surprised that Swane's isn't bashing down my door, begging me for sales strategies

roseman wrote:Betsy, I have emailed Swanes back and forth about this rose. They are going to "soft sell" it in September. If you want it I would line up now.
PM me if you want some details from my correspondence with them. I will get an American members knowledge to post on this thread about 'Julia Child' if you like.

nice rose .. might see if i can order one too

Lol Betty, you should send your resume and a few ideas to Swanes.

I agree about Hot Chocolate being 'over', but they talked of little else for about 2 years on Garden web, at least it felt like it. Treloar sent me a free one last year and nobody else wanted it, so I planted it. UGLY.

Crepuscule has a large following amongst the OGR people in the States. I've had no luck with Noisettes. My Lamarques are still alive but they don't wow me. Aimee Vibert looked ok this year, but MAC and Crep. both bit the dust. MAC, never had any leaves and Crep never got going.

I agree that Julia Child has a good rap from just about all respondents. And I also agree about the name, especially since that movie about Julia Child with Meryl Streep was fairly recent.

Sally! I am desolate about your noisettes! Larmarque I've heard can be tricky-ish, but Madame Al is as tough as a truckie, or it should be. My first foray into roses included a MAC and a Reve D'Or, and I was an ignorant and vile abuser - three hours max of sun, high wind location, cramped containers (yes, so stupid that I planted them in pots!),you name it. Reve grew a bit with faint enthusiasm, but MAC just bit the bullet and grew and bloomed well enough to cover an arbor in three years. Maybe you got a dud plant. Maybe Martians ate the roots.

The us Rose Forum is a top source of info for me, but, yeah, there is a component of giddy faddishnes, too. Part of the fun, I think - novelty roses are always good fodder for What Color Is Yours? Mine just bloomed! Me Too! threads.

Back to SoulMate/Julia Child: Jusdt received an email from Finbarr at Swane's confirming Roseman's excellent news. Potted roses in September, bareoot in 2013. I've placed a forward order for mine from the Swane's agent nursery about 20km from me. The rose purchaser there was quite pleased to learn about SM/JC -never had heard of it before.

okay have emailed treloar roses and they dont have it and they wont be releasing out in the future

Treloars won't carry it Jordan as they are not the agent for the firm in the US.

okay thanks david

Swanes will have Soul Mate (Julia Child) in September

finbarr, are they going to be potted or bareroot at that time of year as Jordan lives in Victoria.

Jordan, Misty Downs buy buds from Rustons each spring. If you contact them they would probably propagate the rose for you.
Misty are very obliging people so it's worth a try.

I am not ordering buds from them this year or I would offer to graft them for you.

the plants will be in pots but able to post anywhere on the east coast.

finbarr, any idea of postage and plant cost yet, as you can see I am in Mudgee, central west NSW

umm, not sure, still dealing with winter shipping. i'd expect that you would be looking at a list of $45 including shipping anywhere in nsw/vic but maybe that can change for fellow devotees. i'll post again when the plants are in and can be sure of supply. main winter release is 2013. the delay in release was caused by some rogue plants appearing in early production.

Ozeboy wrote:Jordan, Misty Downs buy buds from Rustons each spring. If you contact them they would probably propagate the rose for you.
Misty are very obliging people so it's worth a try.

I am not ordering buds from them this year or I would offer to graft them for you.

thanks ozeboy

I'm intrigued by the notion of 'rogue' plants'. Are they like rogue elephants, running about and stomping on all the other roses? Or are they cuckoos in the nest, popping big boofy unnamed flowers amidst the dainty yellow JC blooms?

Seriously, Finnbarr, thanks for answering the question about the strange absence of SM/JC from the Swane's catalogue.