I have only studied these reds in others' gardens (near the coast) ~~ Firefighter, Olympiad, Veterans' Honor and Ingrid Bergman.

Veteran's Honor has the most perfect semi-open buds. Didn't care for them fully opened tho.

Couldn't warm up to Olympiad or Ingrid. Color didn't hit me right. Firefighter is a wonderful color and fragrance, but not quite an elegant rose. I want it! Hear it gets very tall in Ca.

You might want to have a look at Grand Amore, but it gets quite tall. It is a beautiful red also. If you want Ace of Hearts, Heirloom Roses currently lists it as well as Grand Amore. You might want to give them a try. The flower quality is fairly consistent on both of these two reds.

Iris_gal: Veteran's honor seems to be so highly praised for its perfect blooms, I think I may have to go with this one.. Lots of descriptions though say that the the blooms fade to pink when open so that's what makes me unsure of it. Also that it tends to have floppy stems. Firefighter also is said to fade to pink. I want something unmistakably red in the garden.

the_bustopher: Grand Amore looks great! I think I'm going to pull the trigger and get Asso Di Cuori there at heirlooms...but I don't know if I'm patient enough to grow a rose from a 4x4x6 pot lol

Opening Night produces excellent open blooms.

Veterans' Honor is my favorite--I always get nice long stems from established bushes--I have to make sure they aren't too long if I enter a rose show.

Veterans Honor is a good one, and I definitely think Firefighter has potential, plus it has a great fragrance. One not listed that has gorgeous exhibition type blooms is Let Freedom Ring. Not much fragrance, but it holds its color and lasts a long time when cut. Mine sets on blooms all season, seems very healthy. Love's Magic is a great rose, my favorite red, but I'm not sure the blooms are exhibition quality.

The thing I like about Veterans' Honor is how long it will hold it's form. No chance of it blowing too quickly for the judges to see it. Oklahoma blows much faster for me. Ingrid Bergman was pretty but the blooms were small for exhibiting I thought.

I don't exhibit, but the blooms on 'Big Ben' might work for you. Unfortunately, I didn't take pics of it blooming in the garden, but I did find a pic of a bouquet with one 'Big Ben' in it -- just to the right of center in the pic below. I got mine from Roses Unlimited. It's a half-brother to 'Mister Lincoln', 'Oklahoma' and 'Papa Meilland'. I don't remember it "blueing" (which I actually like) as much as they did, however.

:-)

~Christopher

{{gwi:2120521}}

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Big Ben' at HelpMeFind

Veteran's Honor and Let Freedom Ring are the only "bankers" that have been mentioned so far -- the rest of your list will occasionally throw an exhibitable bloom or two, but none of them have consistently great exhibition form like those two. Let Freedom Ring is more fragrant than Veteran's Honor, but neither of them wins any prize for heavy fragrance.

For fragrance, I'm going to direct you to Lasting Love. Not a proper exhibition bloom, but in every other way a perfect dark red, gloriously fragrant, very disease resistant (NO mildew at all) red hybrid tea with glossy foliage.

Here is a link that might be useful: My photo of Lasting Love in my garden

Thanks everyone for helping me narrow down my options, and for your great suggestions. So many names so little room in my yard! I really appreciate the great pictures as well.

Amazing how many of you guys put in a word for Veterans' honor! Of all those suggested, it got 6/8 votes. It must be a heck of a rose, now I must give it a try. I look forward to testing its' longevity. I've searched other posts here and there seems to have always been favoritism towards Veterans' honor and Ingrid Bergman. Those must be some solid red roses. My take is that Veterans' honor would look better for its single blooms while Ingrid Bergman bush as whole would look great in the landscape-which would be nice to have since my Mister Lincolns are so Tall and Lanky looking. It is amazing the variety available for a "red" rose. Thanks everyone.

What I like most about Ingrid Bergman (besides the gorgeous color) is that the roses last forever on the plant. Not really a + if you want something for exhibition, but the bush as a whole when healthy and mature is breathtaking.

Veteran's Honor has won many many awards on the exhibition circuit. It just depends on what you intend to do with the roses. I did not keep it in my garden.

The only reds on your list that I still have are Olympiad and Ingrid Bergman. Olympiad is a very bright red with nice petals that ruffle. It's a good garden performer although it does take breaks between blooming now and then. Neither one of these roses have any fragrance.

Thanks for the input decobug. Breathtaking huh? The bush pictures I've seen of Ingrid Bergman full of fat red buds do look striking. hmmm..Would be great to have a nice looking bush that I can incorporate into the landscape...the choices.. lol

I don't plan on exhibiting, My intentions are to just have a Long Lasting true red rose that does not purple for cutting in bouquets, and I heard that exhibition type ones are best for that purpose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ingrid Bergman

In my garden, Veteran,s Honor has the best form, red color, thick velvety blooms, large in size for a show rose.
I do like my Olympiad also, although the bloom is smaller.
Another of my favorite red roses in my garden is Beloved.
It's a deep red rose with beautiful form, long stems with
velvety petals, doesn't blow quickly, and is a prolific bloomer.

I have several favorite reds. They are Veteran's Honor, Let Freedom Ring, and Grande Amore. Black Magic is another fav but probably too dark and form can go flat in summer. Grande Amore is more orange red than blue red and the bloom can be smaller at times, not always. Veteran's Honor has been one of the top 3 exhibition roses for years along with Gemini and Moonstone. Let Freedom Ring hasn't been around as long as Veteran's Honor. I have 2 of each of the 4 reds mentioned. If you can, I would recommend getting Veteran's Honor and Let Freedom Ring. I had Opening Night and it bloomed a lot, but the open bloom was as flat as a pancake.