My reds are:
Don Juan- very pretty climber
Mr. Lincoln - stately stems, scent
Firefighter- agree with hoovb re (heavenly!!) scent/repeat
Let Freedom Ring- not as much scent but stays a clear red
Ingrid Bergman- agree with all re color, etc. she's a pretty bush and bloomer in my yard
Rouge Red- yes- a better cut rose than on the bush
Chrysler Imperial- it was new and had trouble getting started but now has buds so will report later!
Veteran's Honor- I have on Dr. Huey and Fortuniana; both doing well and the form and color are outstanding; less scent than others
PROUD LAND- this is my favorite! The blooms are huge and last a long time on the bush. Of all my bareroots this year- it was the first to bloom and it got over five feet tall already!

I've got a lot of red roses but few of any mentioned in previous postings. Lavaglut has been one of my best heat-loving reds but Black Cherry is worth watching since I transplanted her from a pot into the ground.

Black Magic and Veteran's Honor are both highly recommended for the low desert area. Opening Night is gorgeous and a continuous bloomer for me. Better than her parents, Olympiad and Ingrid Bergman, but she's still 2nd year.

Added two new red minifloras, Shenandoah and Ricky Hendrix, this year. STILL have perfect blooms even at 110F. If they continue like that through the summer, I'm converting the whole yard next year, lol.

i dont know if it is the official title and not just one made by the store, but i like the red knight

Taboo (Barkarole). Brand new this year to me - although Lavaglut is also spectacular. That "deep red" that I was looking for that doesn't fade in the heat.

Veterans' Honor, Black Magic, and Olympiad

Ken and Glenn,
How big does Kentucky Derby get in Fl.?
Nancy

Dame de Couer

Beautiful full bush, NO blackspot and doesn't burn in the hot heat. Has a nice smell too.

Deb

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my post. I saw some gorgeous red roses and it's going to be difficult to make a decision:)

So far I'm leaning towards Kentucky Derby, Veteran's honor & CI. I'd like each one though:)

Will need to visit a nursery that has all of them and not make a impulse buy.

There is also a spot on the other side of Double Delight that will be available for a pink rose. This will be another decision I'll need to make. Any suggestions?

Thanks again,
~Evie

For us Northerners, Cuthbert Grant is an excellent, cane hardy fragrant red, with decent repeat, and excellent health.
Al

I have to confess that I purchased Lovers Lane on a whim this spring and it is awesome!! My very young plant keeps pumping out huge red blooms that begin with a white reverse.

Lovely rose!

Ronda

Here is a link that might be useful: Have a look!!

I like Chrysler Imperial, Papa Meilland, Olympiad, Lavaglut, Glad Tidings, Lilli Marleen, and red blends including Love, Kleopatra, and Granada. My Papa Meilland did not survive the Easter freeze. I don't have Granada right now, but it does very well in Florida on R. fortuniana rootstock. I have seen it in Orlando looking rather impressive. If you are somewhere by Tampa, please double-check the rootstocks that these roses are on.

Nancy,

My Kentucky Derby's can get 6 feet tall and 4-5 feet wide but I usually do not let them get that big. They prodcue nice long stems for cutting which I do regularly which helps keep them under control.
Glenn

I have limited experience, but I can share what I know.

The Losers:
Ingrid Bergman: Had 2 of them, really feeble growth in my garden, hardly bloomed. Pulled them both, they are with a friend in a container and doing very well

Beloved - Had great blooms last year. This year, I had a really nice flush about a month ago, but it is a BS magnet (I think I have it under control,...just), no sign of rebloom. Mostly an unattractive stick. It will probably be shovel pruned by fall, I don't want it infecting my other roses.

The Winners:

Lavaglut - got some own root little spuds from Chamblees. Picked it because it is supposed to resist the heat. One of them was a bit diseased with blackspot. It has been a phenomenal success so far. Shook off the BS, sending up growth and lots of pretty quartered blooms that just hold up in the heat. Lacks fragrance, but looks great, and makes my neighbors envious

Crimson Bouquet - Got a big healthy bush from S & W Greenhouse. Put out a first flush of beautiful double red blooms against an attractive bush. New growth, more buds are coming. So far, so good

Black Jade and The Raven

Showbiz is a very cheerful little rose. I have many reds but I just thought how cheerful today it was, just loaded with blooms, so many and the bees cheerfully partaking of it for long periods.

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I don't care for orangey reds or blue reds so:

Francis Dubreuil
Lavaglut
Deep Secret

For reds I have Chrysler Imperial, Christian Dior, and a couple Veterans Honor roses, one in a pot and one in the ground. Veterans Honor is the clear winner. I love my VH roses. Beautiful form, pure red, long lasting, great for cutting, and even some scent to boot!

Here is my potted Veterans Honor that resides on my back deck. Keep in mind that not any plant gets this honor, but only those that have earned the right to be there. :^)

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Well, nobody has mentioned any mini's, so I will start there.
I love the red mini-flora Robin Alonso. Vigrous and disease resistant bush, deep dark red velvet flowers that hold form forever and don't fade or burn. Blooms are the perfect size for a mini-flora. This is about as close to perfection as they get. Every bloom is exhibition winning quality.
FOr big roses how can you not be in love with Veterans' Honor. Big, bueautiful dark red velvet flowers with usually impeccable bloom form and some nice raspberry fragrance as well. IT is one of my favorite roses of all.
Cesar E. Chavez aka Beloved is another very good deep red HT. Mine really blooms heavy and often--very little time between flushes with this one and the bush is healthy as well.
A new red for me this year that I think I am really liking is Pride of England. It's first blooms are formed quite necely and the dark cherry red is very attractive. This is a very good rose and is blooming quite heavily and it is only 8 weeks old for me.
The only floribunda red I grow is Pinnacle and it is a white reverse red, but still quite a beautifully blooming red rose no matter how you slice it.
John

Papa Meilland. I like its color and fragrance better than Chrysler Imperial, Mr. Lincoln, Oklahoma, Taboo and other reds I've had through the years. I have room for only about 35 roses and I have 4 Papas - that's how much i love him. : )

Erotika is a good, disease resistant unfading red that is lesser known that red lovers might want to try.

I'm interested to see the Florida folks touting Kentucky Derby.

After my mother died, I planted some roses in their yard to give my father something new to do-- he was a good gardener. I went to a local nursery that budded on fort, and of course spent some time in their display garden. These were huge old plants with lower canes as thick as my wrist (OK, I'm a skinny guy). Kentucky Derby was clearly the most impressive red rose in the group, and it was December, not KD's best season.

Ever Grow Papa Meilland?

Pretty sure I'm going to buy Veteran's Honor on fort stock but this one, Chrysler Imperial and Kentucky Derby are also roses I'm considering.

Thanks in advance,

`Evie

I don't know what I'm doing wrong but Veteran's Honor has ben a disaster for me. Go with Mr. Lincoln.

I guess my 2 favorites would be:
Corpus Christi
Taboo

Patricia - Love my Field of the Woods also, but definitely not a climber here.

Papa Meilland, Papa Meilland and Papa Meilland

after that

Taboo
Rouge Royale
Alec's red
Grand Gala
Red Intuition

If you live in a really hot area, consider Crimson Bouquet. In our 100+ heat, she is blooming her fool head off--just loves the heat. She's gorgeous also.

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Kate

I have not had alot of red roses. I SP my Mr Lincoln. But Don Juan in my last house was wonderful. It bloomed all summer long. A wee bit of BS but not bad. I am in zone 8.

Form and Fragrance Chrysler Imperial
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For shade of red and fragrance The Prince
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Just because I love it Don Juan
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Hmm...wow that's tough! I can't just pick one!

I guess if I HAVE to pick just one, me and Jim would pick Black Magic.

We had that one already in the ground at our rental house a few yrs ago and we fell in love with it's rich color and long stems and the incredible fragrance.

But...I also have to say that in Honour of my grandmother, I will always always always love Mister Lincoln. I planted one in my garden just for her and will always do the same no matter where I live. Not exactly my favorite if I had no emotional ties to it, but it was one of her top #2, so I have to love it.

My other new fav is Veteran's Honor. We just planted it and it's a beauty. Very rich color and great fragrance.

Jim's more the red rose lover, I'm more the pinks, blushes, english rose lover.- Terra

A new one for me that has just started blooming but is gorgeous already is Royal William. Nobody has mentioned it here which surprises me. I saw it for the first time in Nancy Pierce's Dallas, TX garden and knew I had to grow this red rose.
My bush is healthy, floriferous, and the bloom color is exceptionally dark and consistantly colored with no color streaks/faults. The blooms are initially a bit small, but I am confident that they will increase as the bush establishes itself and matures. The fragrance is light but definite.
John

Jon, I grow Royal William. It is a great rose, indeed. I didn't want to list all my reds, so this time RW wasn't mentioned. It will give you big healthy blooms in abundance.

I have Mister Lincoln, Chrysler Imperial and Rouge Royale. ML is a huge rose, he is over 6 ft. tall now. He is very generous in Spring and early summer. CI however, always have blooms, she isn't very tall in my garden, about 4 ft. I counted 8 opened flowers yesterday and about 10 buds, and it was 100 degrees yesterday!
Rouge Royale is new, although he is only about 1.5 ft. tall he's given me about 5 flowers already.

Rosyjennifer, I think you are responsible that I got Erotika. Yes, when it blooms, it has a great damask fragrance. Unfortunately Hortico sent me a pitiful plant that is still under 2' and has maybe 2 canes. I will not discard it till I find a better vendor who carries it.

We agree in Papa Meilland! :-)

favorite: Lavaglut

Runners up:

Don Juan
Ingrid Bergman
crimson bouquet
Olympiad

No favorite yet- still working on it. I do love red and orange though. Cramoisi Superieur is on my fall order list, also Illusion (supposed to be very disease resistant), and Deep Secret, maybe Fields of the Woods too. According to HMF, Taboo and Barkarole are the same. Brandy

I counted up the nominations and discarded the indecisives. Here is the top choices:

VETERANS HONOR ....... 8
CHRYSLER IMPERIAL ... 7
PAPA MEILLAND ........... 6
BLACK MAGIC ............... 5
MISTER LINCOLN .......... 5
ROUGE ROYALE ............. 5
CRIMSON BOUQUET ..... 4
DON JUAN ....................... 4
LAVAGLUT ...................... 4
INGRID BERGMAN ......... 3
OLYMPIAD ...................... 3
TABOO ............................. 3

VETERAN'S HONOR must really be some rose! Now where can I get it own root?

Best wishes,

Patrick

To my nose Black Magic has zero fragrance. I should add that I cannot smell much on Veteran's Honor either. I grow both although Black Magic doesn't do much in my yard no matter where I plant it. I think I am at trying and failing with the 4th plant.

I am afraid the the high number attached to Veteran's Honor is most part due to the fact that it is easily available while some others are not.

I agree with Hoovb: Firefighter is an awesome rose.

Jerome

Patrick,
We've had 3 Veteran Honors (grafted) for several years, and got our 4th from J&P also, but this time got it as a New Generation own-root one (locally). It does great. Love VH, can you tell? My husband's faorite rose. Phyl

How does VH do on its on its own roots?

James23, I don't know. When I bought VH, it was only available from Jackson and Perkins, on Dr. Huey. But I can tell you that the general rule of thumb is that bushy, well-branching varieties tend to have more vigorous root systems than do slender varieties with few canes. VH is super-vigorous, with thick canes that spread out. That's a very good sign for own-root potential.

I had one more spot in my garden for a red rose, and I was going to get Veteran's Honor because I planted it in my landlord's garden and loved it! Now I may get (2) of them and ditch my Mr. Lincoln. He has a wonderful fragrance, but is stingy with blooms - life is too short to wait and wait and wait for them.

My Oklahoma, Mr. Lincoln's sibling, blooms way more frequently and has a heavenly fragrance. I am not as familiar with the 3rd Sib, Papa, but will be sure to check it out at the garden store tomorrow. Love the (3) Sibs, but I find them (especially Mr. Lincoln) a bit challenging near the coast. Mildew and black spot love them. VH is a bit more resistant, blooms more frequently, has a nice scent (albeit more subtle) and lasts so much longer in a vase.

My personal favorite is The Squire. In my humble opinion, Oklahoma is better than Mr. Lincoln. The flowers are darker red, more refined, and smell stronger. There are huge healthy ten foot bushes of it around Santa Cruz. I've grown Papa Meilland budded and own root, presently I have a virus indexed own root plant from Vintage Gardens. In all these years and different permutations, it has grown in small zig-zags, and the flower color has been more magenta red than blackish crimson. I keep hoping it will improve and look like the pictures of Papa Meilland, but it won't perform unless coddled and given high culture. I've given up this year and ordered Charles Mallerin instead to replace Papa Meilland.

Depending on your needs, these red roses are worthy of your attention:

Black Baccara

Oklahoma

Royal Canadian

Crimson Bouquet

Lavaglut

Sympathie

Linda Campbell

Black Jade

Climbing Altissimo

Doorenbos Selection

(Camara is one of my favorites, but its coloring is vermilion with tips blushing black -- not a true red)

Thank you for sharing. Oklahoma is not as well known or popular as CI, Mr. Lincoln or PM, but it is one of my favorite red roses for all the reasons you listed. It is nice to hear that you share that opinion, and great to hear that it has grown so well in Santa Cruz (mine is still young, but very promising).

Your post also makes me feel better about ditching my Mr. Lincoln that doesn't bloom well...I don't think these blogs do a good enough job stressing that sometimes it's just the health of the root stock versus the rose itself. I don't think Mr. Lincoln would have its stellar reputation if it scarcely bloomed, and mine shares the same conditions as my Oklahoma. I just think I may have picked up a Mr. Lincoln on root stock that isn't vigorous.

Liebeszauber

I think Firefighter is a great red rose in every way, mine just doesn't bloom enough. It could easily be my favorite if that changed.

i have several good reds, I'm not sure I have a favorite though.

Liebeszauber

Grande Amore

Royal William

Forgotten Dreams

Firefighter

Let Freedom Ring

Dublin Bay

My Mister Lincoln is looking much better, hoping to see some improvement, Chrysler Imperial is hanging in there. I would be very happy if both of these roses were more vigorous.

Zipitty: I'm glad Oklahoma is doing well for you, it's a classic I will always grow. I doubt Mr. Lincoln would have remained as popular if it weren't for its name. I'm very particular about my roses, especially red ones. The ones I recommended have done well for me and in most other situations I've seen them. I've grown other red roses too, but those are more collector's items. I'm testing out some new reds this year. I never bothered with them previously, because I wasn't impressed by their performance in other people's gardens. However, all the hardware store Week's bareroot roses are 50% off at the moment, so I took the plunge. I won't be able to fully evaluate or recommend them until three years from now:

Black Magic

Burgund 81

Cesar Chavez

Chateau de Clos Vougeot

Chrysler Imperial

Command Performance

Firefighter

Ingrid Bergman

Konrad Henkel

Legends

Let Freedom Ring

Love's Promise

Oh My!

Ollie Weeks

Olympiad

Opening Night

Preference

Veteran's Honor

Thanks for the posts. I picked up a Firefighter & Veteran's Honor today to add to my Oklahoma and Velvet Fragrance.

romogen, I just saw your list of new roses. Wow! I don't have that kind of space, but I wish you the best of luck with your new roses. I notice you like Austins...my husband fell in love with Ambridge yesterday so we picked that up as well for our pink section.

Here is my list of favorites and best in my garden. One of my favorites that is not in my garden at the moment is Chrysler Imperial especially for its fragrance. I had one, but a late freeze clobbered it. Others that usually do well are Lilli Marlene, Lavaglut, Starfire, Grand Amore, Rock & Roll, Munstead Wood, Veterans' Honor, Opening Night, The Prince, and LD Braithwaite.

Zippity: Thank you, space is definitely not an issue; however, I am limited by time, water, and rodents. You will like Ambridge Rose, it's charming, floriferous, fragrant, and has mannerly growth. The color is more peach apricot than pink. You might consider spraying, because it does suffer from foliar diseases but vigor is unaffected.