My own root plant is growing nicely and had two big blooms. The weather was hot so I didn't think it was fair to evaluate them. They just looked like so so pink flowers with no scent. I hope the next flowers will be better. I'm blaming the weather.

I got a bare root of FM a about a week ago. Planted and it is starting to leaf out.

After I had already ordered FM, I saw a row of 5 gallon plants at a local rose nursery. It was during a heatwave and after seeing the plant in person, I regret my decision to order it. I would have been happier with 'Peace'. I thought what a shame this rose was named after Francis Meilland. But maybe time will change my mind.

The fragrance of FM doesn't stand up well in our hot and arid climate as do many other roses such as Ebb Tide, Twilight Zone, and Mr. Lincoln. However on the same day I was able to smell the roses described as having a citrus scent such as Angel Face and Pope John Paul II. I can't say how FM smells like.

This post was edited by musaboru on Mon, May 20, 13 at 19:44

The CT rose society is growing FM as its project rose. What makes this pink rose special is that it passed the German ADR testing--roses are grown without pesticides and then evaluated. The original name was Schloss Ippenbag--it got the ADR designation in 2008.
Another HT with ADR designation is Grande Amore.

The CT rose society is growing FM as its project rose. What makes this pink rose special is that it passed the German ADR testing--roses are grown without pesticides and then evaluated. The original name was Schloss Ippenbag--it received the ADR designation in 2008.

Another HT that has received the ADR designation is Grande Amore.

My new FM has bloomed once. The flowers were clustered and quite small. They are a very lovely shade of pink. I just figured it was another mislabeled bare root or else the first bloom is not normal size. I was going to check with friends to see how mine compared. I'm talking blooms about one inch across fully opened. Maybe it's the weather.
Mary

Of my new roses this year, FM is growing like crazy. I planted it in the winter, as we do in the desert. It has 4 blooms right now, is about 2 1/2 ft. tall and has thrown out 3 new canes so far. The blooms are fairly large for a newly planted rose with a nice scent. I love this rose!

I got FM at the end of March and as of today it has lost a main cain and no growth. Looks like another rose with overstated reviews. Perhaps growing it in a greenhouse might be the answer.

Happyret,

Where do you live and where in the yard is it planted? In my experience with my roses and helping out others at work, roses don't grow for one of 3 general reasons:

1) Not enough sun. This can be due to shade, planted on a north facing exposure, etc.
2) Wet feet/over watering
3) Planted near another plant with massive roots. I planted two roses across the fence from a massive wisteria and they flat out refused to grow even though other roses in the are were growing fine. Transplanted them away from Wisteria and they have shot up.

Schloss Ippenbag

I love the names Germans come up with for roses.

Some of my very best roses were absolutely awful starting out. As they established, they became wonderful. A few months is not necessarily a fair indication of performance.

There is a large bed of FM at the U. of GA. botanical garden. Fairly mature (2/3 yrs) bush's. They look great. Tons of blooms. Nice clean scent. I'm VERY tempted to put a couple in my garden.

Having read responses to some of my posts that say things like 'some of us don't give a d*#n about blackspot because we don't have a problem with it,' etc., I'm extremely amused at the thought that one of the healthiest HTs ever introduced MIGHT NOT like those areas!!!! The locations of the negative feedback/reviews mostly fit that geographical profile.
And I'm amused beyond my ability to communicate it at the idea that just occurred to me: maybe some roses don't like their owners.
You're very sweet, Hoovb. But my gardening patience for plants does not extend to people who are rude to plants without giving the plants their due. You know, I've never met a rude plant!

Here is a link that might be useful: They really don't deserve to do so

As I've already said, hoovb, you're very sweet.
However, Schloss is German for castle or palace. And the rose is named 'Schloss Ippenburg' not "Ippenbag."
The link below provides a photo of the "castle" with a glimpse of the gardens.
My guess is that it is equivalent to naming a rose for Malmaison, Sissinghurst, or Buckingham Palace.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schloss Ippenburg

I forgot to mention that it was bred by the Meillands. The Meillands are French. And according to HMF, the Meillands introduced the rose as 'Schloss Ippenburg.'
So doesn't that mean that the French came up with the name?

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Schloss Ippenburg' rose

hoovb,
I see that zack_lau mispelled it earlier in the thread.

And please folks, the rose is named, here in the US, for Francis - a man. The man who now long departed gave us the Peace rose.
F R A N C I S, not Frances.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wiki on the Meillands

My sister already made fun of my Francis. She said, " Poor Francis, standing in the shadow of Pope John Paul II". But I have big hopes for Francis. He's in good company.

Here is a web site with the latest ADR test results.

Here is a link that might be useful: ADR Test results

This post was edited by zack_lau on Thu, May 23, 13 at 11:29

zack_lau,
I was hoping that you'd point out that I misspelled "mispelled" so that we could all have a good laugh about misspelling.

Thread link below to last year's discussion of ADR testing and 'Schloss Ippenburg."

Here is a link that might be useful: Kordes roses verdict: excellent

My Francis, planted as a bareroot in around Feb., is just starting to bloom nicely now. I'm quite happy with the blooms. I smell very little fragrance, but know time may make the difference there.

It's a lot lighter in color (almost white, like in the photo above), with just hints of pink. Very healthy. Deals with our very dry heat well.

My francis meilland are doing great. Both plants are budding and one bloom has opened (end of 2nd day). It has a very pleasant rose scent better than my Pope John Paul rose.

Beautiful bloom, Kousa!

My bush has only one medium sized bud so far, probably another week or 10 days til it opens, can't wait! Hope it looks as pretty as the one above!

Andrea

Mine has not yet bloomed, but is covered in smallish buds. HMF calls him a mid season performer, so I am hopeful. Mine is a sprawler and appears to be pink. Looks nothing like Jim's in Az. Got him from Regans. More fragrant than the Pope????? Think I will sleep in the yard tonight! Lol

My FM now is now 3f tall and in it's second flush, with 8 blooms. This flush is much pinker than the first and the fragrance is more noticeable but still not very strong. It seems to laugh at the heat here but I'll no more by August. So far, I'm very, very pleased with him.

Mine has just now started to grow after being planted bareroot back in February. Really, that's pretty unusual for my area where everything grows like it's on steroids. I've had exactly one flower, and it was almost white, with just a hint of baby pink/peach.

I wouldn't say that FM is more fragrant than PJP. I just think FM's fragrance is better than PMJ because it smells more pleasant and nicer than PMJ FM is not as overpowering, intense, and heady as PMJ can be sometimes, But that is just personal preference. There maybe many who prefer PMJ scent over FM. To me though, they both smell awesome.

Mine hasn't bloomed yet. I don't even think there's buds yet. Waaah! It looks like he's gonna be gorgeous tho!! (If the thrips don't get him)

I planted it a few month ago, and it has not budded yet. I did get to see a few specimans at the Rockfeller Rose Garden in the Bronx in full bloom: they look great. However, because of the name, I have high expectation for this rose. But what I saw is a tad ordinary. I am sure they are great roses, but I serectly was hoping for something with a little more that extra something because of the name....

Beth, FM is one of the few light roses I have that the thrips did not seem to like.

Really, my FM smell is exactly like Double Delight sweet smell, but stronger than DD. the color is exactly like the selling photo power white outside, and pink in the middle. Size is about 4.5 inch for fully bloom. I bought it last Oct in a 5 gal paper bucket. It was the last one, and it was sick due to the black spot from the nursery,. Until now, it still not seen getting batter . I didn't see too many rust in it. but the cane turned red/ purple. I try not to move it, keep it in the bucket, how's your guy's FM in disease resistance?

My FM has had the cleanest shiniest leaves, no matter how sticky the weather, in my no-spray garden. The blooms were extra large but I only had one flush in the fall. The scent was pleasant but milder than I like so I hope it gets stronger. It's also getting bigger than I planned on but fingers crossed for more blooms this year.

I've heard raves about DD so will be thrilled if FM smells like that one day!

Mine is big now and grows fat canes to the sky. At the top it branches and makes the biggest sweetest roses. They look like Beth's pictures. Heat never slowed it down, the flowers opened and the size was impressive. The stems are strong so it's easy to use them in arrangements.

Is this the new HT size? Dee Lish and Eternal Flame have the same large bush shape. The flowers are up in the air most of the year. Keeps them from rusting that's for sure.

Does anyone know how FM performs as an own root rose? Will it grow as tall as the grafted and does it bloom better or worse?

Mine is own root but I don't know how it compares!

Thanks Lavenderlace. How long have you had your FM? How tall was it by the end of year?

My Francis Meilland is into it's third year in 2020. It is taller than I had realized, topping over 5'. Each cane has one flower on a long stem, a hybrid tea trait. So I get around three ENORMOUS flowers each blooming cycle. The blooms have an old fashioned quartered center, but their size is so gigantic, that this becomes a side issue, rather than looking romantic. Foliage is blackspot and mildew resistant, but does get a bit of rust. All in all, I don't like this rose, finding it gawky. It is not elegant. However it is easy to grow and the large size / flowers might impress others. Scent is good.

This is Francis Meilland. The big whitish blob. There is one other bud on this plant. To left is Stormy Weather, a climbing rose.

Everyone has to have a baby Huey.

I've redone this rose bed. Have given away Francis Meilland roses as I don't like them.

I don't like its lanky growth and stingy bloom production either. Though I do love its blooms. It seems some FM roses produce the old fashioned quartered center which I do not fancy and some produce the hybrid tea rose form with one center which I like. This is a rose that should be purchased in a garden center where you can actually see its blooms so that you don't get an FM rose bush that produces the quartered center blooms.

Francis is such a beautiful rose. I love the citrus fragrance.