Love Potion for specimen container - or better?

11 years ago

I've never grown Love Potion, only remember its launch and its overhypey name and the usual rose porn hyperbole.

Now I think it might have stood the test of time (and many of your gardens) Looking through the posts here and the comments on helpmefind, it seems to be a pretty good sort after all, despite its giddy PR.

What I'm looking for right now is a FRAGRANT prolific bloomer, small and reasonably wide growing , suitable for a pair of containers to bracket a garden stairway.

I am looking for short, fat, and very perfumed. (gosh, sounds like an Agatha Christie character). Colour is of no concern. I already have Friesias (Sunsprites), and they are so-so for me.

I seek your opinions and ideas.

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Comments (5)

seil zone 6b MI
11 years ago
I'd go with Julia Child. I think she meets all of your requirements. She's compact and bushy, blooms a ton and has a nice fragrance!
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
11 years ago
The Austin rose, Sister Elizabeth, is a fragrant, beautifully lilac pink rose which is on the small side and tends to sprawl, which might be perfect for a container. I don't know about the heat in your area, but in my very hot garden it does best with afternoon shade. The mini, Sweet Chariot, might also be a consideration, although I'm not certain about fragrance. It also sprawls beautifully. The Dark Lady has huge, intensely fragrant blooms of deep lilac/purple on a shorter bush. I buy my Austin roses via mail order which are own-root which tend to stay shorter than the grafted ones.
ksgreenman
11 years ago
Compact, bushy, and fragrant sound like 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' but if disease resistant and carefree are also criteria, I also grow Julia Child and it really is a winner.
betsyw
Original Author
11 years ago
Interesting, and thank you all for your input. You know, Seil and KSG, Julia Child was my first choice, based on comments I've seen here. Everybody loves it, recommends it. That always does it for me.

The catch: In 2009 it was launched here as "SoulMate" [sic] by our premier rose seller Swanes. Blow me down, but it is no longer in the Swanes catalogue, which has to be a record of sorts for retail rose brevity. It's also seems to be absent from all the other major east coast rose seller catalogues. Bizarro.
betsyw
Original Author
11 years ago
Seil and KSG - just a quick follow-up to say that you spurred my interest in Julia to such an extent that I pursued the idea. It turns out that another Forum member here, a knowledgeable and well-connected Oz rosarian, has been in talks with our big supplier Swane's.

Cut to the chase: Julia Child aka SoulMate, will be available in limited release in September, and in bareoot production next year.

So yeah, I've forward-ordered two for September. Thank you's to everyone xxxooo