Photos???

Jeri

I am not in SF right now- but i will ask my MIL to try to snap some quickly.
I have cuttings here- so i have a few leaves.

Lola, your description sounds completely in line with Sterling Silver. Don't let the sprays confuse you. Flowering in clusters, sprays, is completely in line with the genetics of virtually all roses. Some provide more single bloom to a stem, but that is an artificial expression that human "unnatural selection" has selected for. MANY Sterling Silver bushes produce sprays or clusters of flowers naturally. Finding larger, one to a stem flowers is the oddity.

Take a look at the foliage. Sterling Silver's leaves are darker, bluer green than most HT foliage. There is a definite "bloom" to it, like the bloom or "ash" on a Concorde Grape. It gives a powdered or "dusty" look to the leaves and rubs off easily with your fingers. That might help you to narrow the identity down to fewer possbilities.

Nothing in your description so far eliminates Sterling Silver as a possibility. And, nothing in it positively pinpionts it as the definitive ID. There have been many mauve modern roses which resemble Sterling Silver in many ways, mostly because MOST of them contain Sterling Silver in their ancestries.

And, yes, sharp, detailed photos of all the various plant parts will certainly help! Kim

Several come to mind, but like Jeri said, I'd hesitate to hazard a guess without seeing pics.

Did you look at the monster I posted in the link below?

Here is a link that might be useful: What to do about Blue Girl?

I am not in SF right now- but i will ask my MIL to try to snap some quickly.
I have cuttings here- so i have a few leaves.

Blue Moon is much like Sterling Sliver, but even more fragrant. Might be worth checking out.

Regards

Taoseeker, this rose is INCREDIBLY fragrant when newly opened. Oklahoma, is beside it and is not as boldly smelly. Spent blooms are moderate or mildly fragrant.

Jeri- yes i read your Blue Girl Monster post with great interest. I truly thought this was CL blue moon (offspring of Sterling silver) until i read that yours had stiff tall canes. Until we deadheaded/pruned all the lower roses off this bush, and cleaned out some rusty spots it was pretty uniform and about as tall as wide. Plenty of bloom low down.

Roseseeker, i didnt realize even HTs can bloom in sprays. Thanks for informing me that it's not that HTs wont spray like a FL , but rather Floribundas wont long stem. Also- i am unable to see any ash on my cuttings but they traveled in a wet towel. ;-/.
Pics coming soon!!

Here are a few pics. 2 are a little washed out as they were taken in full sun at high noon!

Another note- I deadheaded (back to 5 leaf) a huge flush and I cut out anything with rust, which was about 1/4 of the plant. So, it doesn't look as full as it did. It is much narrower (the blooms were hanging off the sides before).

My MIL misunderstood the "dusting" question, and noted that the petals were shiny (silver) instead.

I don't know how to do more than one pic at a time! doh.

last one......

Thanks for the photos, Lola. I don't see anything about your rose which would enable me to state it is NOT Sterling Silver. If anything, the texture of the petals and especially the shape of the buds point more toward Sterling Silver than Blue Moon, Blue Girl or any other mauve modern rose I know. Blue Moon, etc., all have longer buds, hence longer petals, and are more translucent than those of Sterling Silver. As I said, I can't see anything which proves positive it IS Sterling Silver, but there are no indications it is NOT Sterling Silver. But, yes, it looks very much like Sterling Silver to me. Kim

Yeppers.....doesn't look like mine. BG's leaves are not serrated on the edges like yours, Lola.

Thanks everyone for your input. I am happy to know this is likely Sterling Silver. I was really perplexed because is a little taller than Helpmefind indicates, and has no single stem blooms at all--... but now learning that this bloom style is completely acceptable on hybrid teas I will forever hope all my hybrid teas abandon their single stem averageness and become blooming machines like this Sterling Silver. It sure is a happy guy all these years in a pot with sick rose pals nearby. Glad I got a cutting cuz it's a winner!

Sterling Silver CAN be a great rose, but only if it receives "high culture". Keeping it potted where the soil is warmer than in the ground and the surrounding air is warmer and likely drier (reduces fungal issues), will definitely push it to grow and flower. It has been used as a florist rose for many decades, only fairly recently replaced by an "improved" cultivar. It CAN also be a total dog if not given the best of everything, fed very well and kept warm, so what you're doing so far is the right thing for it. Once you can stand doing it, start keeping the flower buds picked off it to force it to grow into a larger, huskier plant. It will then surprise the dickens out of you with just how spectacular it can be. Kim

Kim, It's my mother in laws rose that is doing so well. It's potted and seems strong and healthy - a heavy pruning apparently revitalized it as it is better off than all the others right now.
I have a few cuttings here in zone 6 which i am hoping will turn into as nice a rose as hers. I'll keep in mind your debudding advice when mine gets ready to put out.