You DEFINITELY cannot judge a bloom accurately on an immature own-root plant.
The color is usually correct, but just as hoovB says, the form and petal count will vary.
That's why it really doesn't bother me much to pinch off the early blooms.
They won't look like much anyhow, and you'll have a stronger plant, more quickly.
IF your rose had opened its first bloom, and the flower was PURPLE, or RED, or any other color u
nrelated to the supposed color, you could assume your rose was mis-labelled.
It happens -- even rose vendors make errors. My grandmother told me that's why
they put erasers on "lead pencils."
But in this case, it's probably just immaturity.

Jeri

Even when mature, petal count varies greatly. In the Spring especially it has 25-30 petals on average but later on it tends to double that number. It improves with maturity, of course, as all roses do. :-)

Regards,
Paul B.

Aww, that is an absolutely gorgeous photo, Hoovb!!!

I am again intruding on posts, but am intrigued about how long should one be pinching off an early bloom? what is this process? And around how long does it take for a rose to "mature"? I am thinking that bare root roses when shipped are already 2 years old by the time they "arrive" at one's doorstep. And that "maturing" is when they have acclimated to one's soils?

"Mature" will probably be after they have been growing undisturbed in your garden for about 3 years.

Pinching off the buds is simple. Just snap them off at the base of the bud. You probably need to pinch them off before they bloom just once--when you first get the rose. In about a month, your new rose will be growing some good roots and can begin supporting new blooms more readily. But I will confess that I'm not too strict about snapping off those first buds, unless the rose looks like it needs a little help.

Glad to see another Kansan on the rose forum. There aren't too many of us here.

Kate

I am thinking that bare root roses when shipped are already 2 years old by the time they "arrive" at one's doorstep.

*** That is true of budded roses.
But I suspect the op's Golden Buddha is on its own roots.

In my garden, an own-root rose might take 4-5 years to really mature, because my conditions slow them down.
In MOST gardens, depending upon the type of rose, you'll have a fairly mature plant by the third year. Perhaps even faster.

Jeri