Form. Colour or Fragrance

As an exhibitor I rate form of a rose bloom the most important followed by colour. Fragrance doesn't rate as it is not part of judging criteria.

Hi Doug, funny you place form first, I understand it from your point, but what about that rose you showed on a different thread a while ago which won champion, does it go on the judges taste ?
As for colour does a certain colour come up trumps in general at shows although being a different variety.
I have just been viewing a seedling a lady has bred in the US and will ask her permission to post it on here and would like your thoughts please Doug

Believe it or nnot, Ausrose, I'm probably as form-conscious as an exhibitor, but far more limited in range. I am an ultra-orthodox, red-state conservative, rose fuddy duddy. No noddy blobs, no muddled centres, not big on super-high petal count and definitely biased against singles. I do have a weakness for frou-frou ruffles and scalloping, though.

But without power perfume, I don't care how good the damn flower looks. A rose has to proclaim its rosiness: "Look at me, I am obviously a rose. Sniff me. Go ahead, you know you want to.'

fabulous scent notwithstanding, colours I can't llve with, : corpse-flesh mauves, bubblegum pinks.

For me a rose must have fragrance , no if ,buts or maybes , i'll give it three maybe four years to prove itself , and then out it comes if it doesn't perform , i'm mellowing a bit now , it used to be two years .  I just think if it doesn't have fragrance i might as well just grow Camellias . I'm not too fussed about form can live with that as long as the fragrance is there and ditto colour, if its got fragrance i'll consider it , the stronger the fragrance the better ....

I will take any rose at the moment, single, double, perfumed or not, high, low, with aphids i could work with, BS i could ignore, a Dr Huey I wouldn't whinge about anymore, an iceberg would be nice...

- flowering has been so dismal with the drought (with crimson rosellas causing havoc too) ..  a Rosa viridiflora would be welcome

at least I can look at the lovely photos posted by members

Awwww, hariet... have a virtual rose. It will rain soon.  

Oh Hariet , thats awfull ,so sorry to hear that , are you on a suburban block or a property ? do you have water restrictions as well ? I well remember the ten long years of drought we had in Victoria and last year was a stinker too , my thoughts are with you ...

Hi Maree, we live on a 17 acre small holding. My front yard is nearly an acre and my back yard about 0.5 acre. We are on our own water but we have a bore for the garden but can only have one tap on at a time and then for no more than 2 hrs straight but if it has a spell (a bit like me) it can go for another 2 hrs. But with the size of the garden it is a constant job and some sections get stressed. I have about 200 roses, dotted about the place and so that makes the watering inefficient too.. the only positive outcome from the drought is that the weed problem seems restricted to thistles and sticky weed this year...we have just had 1/2 an inch in the last hour or so, the first decent fall for months but i see the blue skies are back now..We have buckets in the shower to catch the splashes and my laundry water goes out to the back yard roses - but they suffered from getting too much water too soon, they started to shoot and then late frosts have killed the plants - i think i have lost about 6 The Childrens Rose...
are you on water restrictions yet??

How are your 4 babies coping hariet
The weather map suggests you are in for   what chance are you

some better than others but basically they look like death warmed up.. I have started to talk to the MOTH about moving when the girls are through school, just a total of 3 last frosts and drought this year and I am looking for a better climate...

I guess, you mean the better half when you place this MOTH

Sorry to hear the weather has been so unkind.


Move down here, Harriet. The roses will grow well....

roseman, better is a relative term I find

Well AutumnDamask, i do drool over those good growing conditions down there plus the access to all of the roses nurseries down south is tempting.. but not sure i could do the hot summers down there any more.. west coast of SA did me in that way..

but heh all of this whingeing be me is working, another downpour is happening... all of your good cheer is working - thanks

Hariet , hope the downpour lasts for you and you get some good rain , 200 roses , thats a lot to look after , i'd be stressed too , we are on mild water restrictions , a drought won't be a problem again though , cause we have a unused desalination plant ready and waiting to go if there is another drought , if you can afford the water bill , and yes our summers can be torrid , so far this year Spring is mild , windy but mild ...

Maree, this is hariet's weather at time of posting
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never trust the weather maps roseman - maybe they are good for cloud cover but the rain is hit and miss and miss... 

Maree, how do your roses cope with the wind, do you put a stake in to support them and have you noticed a difference to the rose bush after you have done this?.. i staked a row of Rosa rugelda last month, and although they are not flowering yet, they have come on in leaps and bounds since i staked them and put stakes in mid way to tie the long canes down.. they are going to get a 10/10 for vigour and drought resistance

Is this the rose hariet,
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Nice plant

well yes it is but that is a god awful picture of the flower, looks like someone fed it lemon juice

If with the link, you are allowed to go to the photo's at the top of the page there are better one's

The weather map looks good Roseman , cross fingers hey . Hariet yes i stake them , have to , we are coastal , so there is always wind , i put about three stakes around each rose and tie each large cane to the stakes , plus put a tie about half way up , right around the bush on the roses that are at the front of the house facing the footpath . We don't have a front fence to protect them as we have a sloping block ...

See, the forum produces rain dancing teams for those in need Harriet!! LOL  I do hope you and your roses do better this year.  Move down near me - S.E. Melbourne!!

Sorry to "thread jack" again, Sue, S.E. Melbourne is in Port Phillip Bay,  , I do honestly hope all of Australia which needs it GETS it

David I was referring to exhibition class roses where form is paramount and colour and fragrance aren't a consideration. In other classes (e.g floribunda, miniatures etc) form isn't suppose to be taken into consideration however I suspect it is by many judges more than likely subconsciously rather than consciously.

While I am probably attracted to form I do tend to lose interest if a rose doesn't stand up to the Nose Test. Unless the colour really grabs me.
In which case, it has to be at least 2 of the 3 for me.