My favorite type is the stuffed look like Paradise Found.
Carol

I also really like the stuffed look with the inner petals folded over.
This is Valencia
Shape trumps color every time.
Carol

I think I consistently fall for four different looks over and over. It can't get any better for me when I see a big, stuffed, flattish old fashioned looking rose like Evelyn. My next favorite would be the globular, antique look Jude the Obscure often has. Third look that gets my eyes poppin' is a really ruffly rose like Angel Face, and last I love those HTs that have a nice spiral in the middle of their blooms like Frederic Mistral often does.
Here's an example I love of Evelyn. Diane

Here's a globular Jude the Obscure. Diane

And here's a ruffly Angel Face. Diane

And finally, here's the spiral in the center of a Frederic Mistral bloom. Diane

Thanks Ladies - Great examples!

Probably nana's four types cover the options for me, but I must admit to being especially partial to some of the David Austin blooms. Don't know quite how to describe them (since he has several different types also), but here a couple DA blooms I just adore:

The Pilgrim
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William Shakespeare 2000--wish I had a better pic of it.
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Actually, looking over my pics just now, I realized that I adore dozens of those blooms. A gorgeous bloom is a gorgeous bloom--regardless of the shape.

Don't know that I have a color preference--though maybe golden yellow or dark red shades are my most adored colors.

Kate

Kate, those are gorgeous blooms.

This is a picture of a Peace rose with the pink color very prominent around the petal edges. Peace is always lovely, but even more so when it looks like this.

The combinations of pastel yellow and pink blush that a Peace rose can come up with are some of the most beautiful in roseland!

My favorite rose (other than its tendency toward blackspot!)

Kate

nanadoll, I'm swooning over your Jude. absolutely beautiful.

I like the amazing intricate rosettes such as 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' or 'Prospero'

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hoob - That is a lovely bloom, I see what you mean. Kate - yes Blackspot can be a problem with Peace, but wasn't so much this past year, I've been there though, I'll just have to see how mine do and if I can deal with it.

I guess it's that classic tea shape that got me into roses, but the more I learn, the more my tastes tend towards the stuffed, old fashioned look like Evelyn, as shown by Diane. Also that Pilgrim of yours, Kate, is utterly lovely. Though in spite of all that, globular might become my favourite! Those always just make me smile!
I'm not partial to the quartered look, as it happens.

oh dear - surely I am not going to be the only one who prefers the simple, 5 petalled open bloom WITH STAMENS. Muddled centres - no thanks. Button eyes - I'll pass. Fat globular types - damp balling mess (even in dry East Anglia). High centred hybrid tea - cliche and I usually dislike large shiny leaves.

But, a bloom which is still obviously close to its wild type gets my blood pumping. The ur-rose, for me, would be something like R.dupontii.....although I have departed from type a few times because I am also attracted to the very spherical shape of Raubritter, Pomponella and a lovely, but feeble Austin I once owned, Compte de Champagne (and you could see stamens in its incurved bowl-like shape).

Not only am I completely, boringly conservative about shape, I tend to stick almost entirely to whites and pinks (and maybe a few sneaky pale yellows).

Given the choice between 6 perfect blooms or a confetti of tiny pale blossoms, insignificant in themselves, but fabulous en masse, I will go for quantity over quality every time. If I wanted really opulent flowers (which I hardly ever do), I guess dahlias or peonies would give me that rush - roses, on the other hand, are small, dainty, and generous.

Now, I have got in trouble on other forums for being forthright in my tastes and ideas - this is NOT personal. There are many, many plants I do not care for, would do badly in my garden and do nothing to lift my spirits........but I happily accept that these very ones might be dearest of all to someone else - no judgement about YOUR personal desires from me.

Apols, Sara-anne - it was your thread I referred to.

It would be a boring world indeed, if we all had the same likes and dislikes. I have no problem with you expressing your personal preferences, that was why I started this thread.

I love the roses in all forms. I really love the tight exhibition hybrid tea spiral. But I also like open semi-double blooms with stamens showing. I like ruffles and scallops. I like the globular, balled up form that some of the DAs have too. But I also really love this stage when the blooms are about halfway open, and like this one, often have little imperfections in them. I love that odd little, stray, curly petal.

SUNDANCE
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Nanadoll,

I just cannot take it anymore; you and that Evelyn. May I ask, what is her mature size? Is yours grafted or own root?

I must make room for one.

Lynn

I like them formal like an HT.
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As well as simple.
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Unique.

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And whatever form Tamora may take.

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Harryshoe - Those are gorgeous!

Can't give a definitive answer because I really do love them all. Classic exhibition HT to delicate singles and everything in between, doesn't matter, they're all gorgeous to me.

And no, Campanula, you are not the only one who adores the simple 5 petals of a single bloom. There is just something so clean and pure about them that captures my heart every time.

Hybrid teas are my favorite. When I see a beautifully shaped hybrid tea it takes all my strength to resist ordering it (though I've only just started my collection). It's what I grew up thinking a rose looked like, and I didn't even know they came in other shapes until recently. Next, I believe, are floribundas, but only if they have a visible center. If it isn't a hybrid tea shape then the center has to be visible. I don't much care for 5 petal roses, but Morden Snowbeauty caught my eye and I'm considering it for next year.

As for color, my favorite is definately red. Not the pinkish red many reds seem to be, but red-red. It doesn't matter if it's dark or light just as long as it doesn't have pink in it. A red hybrid tea takes my breath away. Other than red I think my favorite is pure white, such as Morden Snowbeauty, Iceberg, and Annapurna. Certain purples and delicate pinks also catch my eye, followed by golden yellows and bold oranges.

It's fun seeing what everyone's favorites are!

I know what you mean Rosecandy. I think familiarity is why the classic hybrid tea look is so appealing to me. I definitely love all roses though. Not every hybrid tea bloom is perfect by any stretch, but when they are, it can take my breath away. What I love more than that though is continuous bloom during the season. I know there is always going to be something blooming and it gives me something to look forward to daily. One of the most beautiful sights is, there is a certain time of the day when the sun shines on my roses in a certain way that it makes them glisten, it is just beautiful!

Seil, your photo is stunning. what is that lovely thing?
Harryshoe, your photos are gorgeous, too. I love Tamora, which is a favorite of mine.
Diane

Lynn, I forgot to answer your question. I have several Evelyn roses, all grafted on Dr Huey. Before the D--n trees started shading them out, they were about 4 X4 feet with the largest being a little bigger. Now it's more like 4 X 3 feet, give or take a little. I'm transplanting one Evelyn to a sunnier place before it breaks dormancy because I'm beside myself over the situation. (Yes, we thin the trees and limb up). Evelyn still blooms beautifully but not as much. I have a small hedge of E's near the sidewalk which passersby love. They stand up to the heat well, too. Diane

Nana, thank you. It's Mutabilis.

My tastes are fairly catholic with a few caveats (and I don't mean to denigrate the taste of anyone who's posted so far) in that I don't like modern-looking roses like most of the hybrid teas and I really dislike red and orange roses. I adore singles like Mutabilis, a rose I've had in every garden, and really every form that looks old-fashioned and romantic, whether globular, quartered, stuffed with petals or semi-singles. They have to evoke a certain feeling in me, which the traditional high-centered modern roses never do, although many of the moderns, such as Yves Piaget, make me swoon. I have a country garden and strident colors or modern shapes just look odd against a background of boulders and hills.

Ingrid

Favorite is hard.

I love the full quartered look. All those petals in that pinched shape.

Or the delicate intricacy of a single.

And almost better are the masses of blooms that just one cut makes a bouquet.

The ones I am not a fan of, the high centered, slow opening buds, that end up as giant deeply saturated typical HT.

That is not an opinion on those who love them, just my feelings based on them as a child. With people who showed and would have a fit if you got with in 10 feet of their prized beauties.

For me, color is huge! I like lots of petals, too. Bi-tones seal the deal for me. That isn't to say I don't like singles, because I love Altissimo and Sharon's Delight.

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Symphony, an Austin that stays compact

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Pure Poetry

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Chicago Peace, never the same

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Alpine Sunset, a very small HT bush, love it!

Odd blends (Distant Drums):
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Ruffled (Miami Moon, killed by lawn service, new one coming):
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Stripes (Modern Magic, I must find this one again):
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I love stuffed (Paradise Found is yet ANOTHER rose not available in Oz), quartered, button eye, globular, flat, single, everything really except for the high-centred HTs. I wonder why there are so many of us who don't like them?

Thank you everyone for participating, I've enjoyed this very much. I think the main thing about growing roses, is that we all grow the ones we enjoy the most. I think that I would probably love most all of your rose gardens, even though it wouldn't be the way I would do it, it expresses your individuality and I think that seems to come through. The important thing is that what ever roses we grow, they bring us enjoyment.

This post was edited by Sara-Ann on Mon, Jan 20, 14 at 7:20

"What I love more than that though is continuous bloom during the season."

Oh, definately! The biggest reason I don't want once bloomers is because they bloom on old wood; if something should happen to them I might need to wait two years before I get any flowers. Equally, and perhaps most important, is their desease resistance. I don't spray and I don't want to spray, so any rose that's susceptable to desease won't survive with me. I'm also new with roses, so that adds to the necessity.

I'm so excited to be getting roses! It's felt like spring all winter because I just picture them all blooming. I have to be careful, or this can become an addiction ;)

I tend to fawn over quartered, flat blooms. It may be that after first looking through Rose Encyclopediae, more Centifolias, Gallicas, Damasks, and HPs were on my lists of "most beautiful blooms" than any other and the disappointment I felt when I learned they would never thrive here in Santa Monica strengthens my desire for those shapes.

I love lots of petals typically, but I count Mrs. Oakley Fisher amongst my favorites on account of the color. Color is very important, but I do like all sorts of colors in roses. In descending order, I consider White, Apricot, Dark Dark Red verging on Purple, Light Yellow verging on Cream, and crazy blends/bis/striped/unusual roses as my favorites. I have tendencies, but no strict 'rules' or absolutes.

Again in descending order, some of my favorite blooms are Madame Hardy, Reine des Violettes, Gloire de Dijon, Blanchefleur, Lady Hillingdon, Boule de Neige, Mrs. Oakley Fisher, Distant Drums, Crown Princess Margareta, Etoile de Lyon, Felicia, and Hot Cocoa.

Jay