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| Of course we all know by now that there is no perfect rose, but I suspect many of us do have a rose that stands out by virtue of its beauty, fragrance, health and just overall wonderfulness. Many of you will say it's never just one rose, and I agree since different roses are splendid at different times. However, when I walked through the garden this morning I realized that over a long period now there was one particular rose that never failed to bloom, had gorgeous and fragrant flowers, grew steadily with and without fertilizer and had very little disease. That rose is Souvenir de la Malmaison. I was reluctant to even buy this rose and was fairly lukewarm about it as it was getting established, but it is now one of the most reliable and steadfast ornaments of the garden, and which I now would never want to be without.
I'd love to hear if there is such a rose in your garden and why it's your best rose. I decided that we should be allowed two runners-up, and in my case that would be Le Vesuve and Belinda's Dream. Mrs. Dudley Cross would have been a contender except for her issues with mildew this spring, and Aunt Margy's Rose would be another one for its wealth of bloom and completely clean foliage, but we have to draw the line somewhere and two other roses are going to be the limit. I can't wait to find out what everyone's choices will be. Ingrid |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I just got Souv de la Malmaison from Chamblees last weekend, I hope she performs as you say! Mine has got to be Julia Childs, she is amazing in every way. |
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| For me, Mme. Antoine Mari. Hands down, most and best bloom -- frequency, quantity, color, and quality -- of any tea in the garden, on a nice-looking (if rather large) shrub. Runner-ups would be Mme. Alfred Carriere (only because she is so rambunctious) and Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux. |
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| Although my personal sentimental favorite will always be Pinocchio, I think I'd have to say the best in the garden is Golden Celebration. It's so enormous and puts on such a display that it draws a lot of attention. People stop in the street to admire it. And on top of that it smells heavenly! |
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| For me, it's Belinda's Dream - here it's a large bush, disease free, and as long as I keep deadheading, just pumps out the blooms! Also love Nacogdoches, it's still young, but love the bright yellow roses, and so far is very healthy.
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- Posted by mariannese 5b (My Page) on Fri, Jun 15, 12 at 18:06
| From a different climate and a different continent: the thornless alba Chloris because it is such a dominating presence in the garden when in season, huge, healthy and floriferous, a mountain of blooms dwarfing its support, a plum tree. More modest in size but always in bloom, Gruss an Teplitz. Losing either of these roses would be a minor tragedy. |
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Yes, most probably 'Belinda's Dream'. This isn't even the best flush. This is a poor flush as BD goes.  |
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- Posted by sherryocala 9A Florida (My Page) on Fri, Jun 15, 12 at 19:06
| Best in garden is Mme Abel Chatenay. Second place goes to Clotilde Soupert, and third place would be either Quietness or Souv de la Malmaison since SDLM is having a bad year. I'm glad I have Rhodologue Jules Gravereaux coming, and I may have to bring back Belinda's Dream. Sherry |
Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...
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- Posted by karenleigh z7 NC (My Page) on Fri, Jun 15, 12 at 19:18
| I haven't been here in forever, but I want to join in! My best rose is Clementina Carbonieri, beautiful blooms, great fragrance and disease-free. Runners up are Mrs. BR Cant and Perle d'Or. |
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- Posted by professorroush 6A (My Page) on Fri, Jun 15, 12 at 21:06
| My word...I've got two Belinida's Dream, know where there's another, and have never seen one bloom that good! For me, probably Marie Bugnet is the most trouble-free, dependable rebloomer. In second place is my scentimental favorite, Madame Hardy, and rounding out the ticket is Carefree Beauty. |
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- Posted by barbarag_happy 8a SE VA (My Page) on Fri, Jun 15, 12 at 22:05
| My most perfect rose--- isn't mine! I just saw Jean Bach Sisley at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. From beautiful blooms to wonderful foliage and a great shape-- all this on a very young plant. Now I just cannot understand why this China is not better known cuz it's a wowzer! |
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| Sadly, none of my roses are perfect because the conditions in my garden are part shade and coastal fog (blackspot and rust, oh no!) but the rose that tries hardest and has the best fragrance is Rose de Rescht and I'm happy to say this is a good year for her. She's so good that I have five of her. Others that are dear to my heart are Belle Amour and Excellenz von Shubert because they do so well and I love their fragrances too. But I can't stop at three...Kathleen, Lyda Rose and the champion Francis E. Lester do so well with minimal sun. There's more but I've cheated enough. I envy all of you growing teas. I long for Lady Hillingdon and Clementina Carbonieri but just not enough sun. I'm grateful for the blooms I do get and the part shade extends my bloom season and gives me richer colors. |
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- Posted by melissa_thefarm NItaly (My Page) on Fri, Jun 15, 12 at 23:36
| There isn't one. They're all too beautiful and not one of them is faultless. A sort of winner by default is 'Comte de Chambord'/'Mme. Boll'. It has a true old rose character but is healthy and reblooming, compact, has beautiful blooms and wonderful scent, and never gets discouraged. |
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| Three-way tie: 'Anna Olivier', 'Mme. Antoine Mari', 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'. Most perfect modern rose? One most have probably never heard of: the Floribunda 'Bambi' (Watkins, 1962). Looking at pictures, you would never guess its merit; you have to grow it. |
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- Posted by harborrose 8a-PNW (My Page) on Sat, Jun 16, 12 at 1:55
| I wish I knew what my most perfect rose is. Maybe next year. |
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| Oh dear, this is too hard. I don't have any perfect roses but there are a few which I look forward to above all else. R.MOYESII - probably on it's own, this might not be so thrilling (lanky, even a bit gaunt), but it stands at the edge of the late summer end of the allotment, surrounded by purple hazel and russian sage (perovskia), with a huge clump of (early)deep magenta tanacetums underneath. At all times, this little vignette looks good but is absolutely outstanding when seen on a misty autumn east anglian morning, glowing heps and the swathes of soft grey-blue. Next up is a new one for me but one which promises to be a heartbreaker - the glorious field rose, AYRESHIRE SPLENDENS. Never mind the teas and old eauropeans, this gorgeous rose is everything an old rose should be - graceful, floriferous, fragrant, delicate yet robust, utterly healthy - a modest charmer but almost perfect. Finally, nothing gets my heart beating faster than the harbingers of spring - the spins and early yellows so it must be my first and also one of my loveliest, R.PRIMULA. Common primrose and white narcissi beneath it, it simply glows with freshness. Even now, flowerless, surrounded by love-in-the mist and californian poppies (practically weeds), it has a presence at the end of the gravel garden. May well be rivalled by our Cambridge rose, Cantabridgiensis. sneaking up cheatingly on the outside is the wonderful apple rose, R.pomifera -fighting hard to beat the lovely R.californica plena. |
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- Posted by bellegallica_zone9 (My Page) on Sat, Jun 16, 12 at 6:39
| I have to echo harborrose. Everything I have now is less than 3 years old. It will take another year--at least--before I can say. |
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- Posted by mendocino_rose z8 N CA. (My Page) on Sat, Jun 16, 12 at 9:43
| They are perfect for so many different reasons. For today I'll say Wolley Dod. The flowers fruit and foilage are all beautiful to me. It's incredible vigor and lack of disease are wonderful to me. I don't even have to water it. |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Sat, Jun 16, 12 at 10:47
| I think that the one that brings me the most happiness is Harison's Yellow - it's the first to bloom, and while it isn't the most fragrant rose, when the bush is covered with flowers, I can smell it across the yard. I especially love the contrast of the delicate flowers with the skin-ripping thorns - it cracks me up. For my other two, I chose Yolande D'Aragon, for her scent, and Miss Edith Cavell, for her bountiful scarlet blooms. |
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- Posted by lavender_lass WA zone 4 (My Page) on Sat, Jun 16, 12 at 13:25
| This may be a little intense for a Saturday morning...but I believe "The Last Samurai" answers this question, better than I could. There's a 5 second ad...and then the clip. It starts with the Samurai explaining that searching for a perfect blossom would not be a wasted life...then cuts ahead to the end of the movie, when he's dying and realized that 'they are all perfect'. I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan, but I believe this is the best movie he's ever made.
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Here is a link that might be useful: Link to The Last Samurai
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- Posted by burntplants 8/9TX (My Page) on Tue, Jun 19, 12 at 19:44
| OGR: MUTABILIS Blooms 12 months a year here in Houston, completely bullet-proof, huge bush, smells heavenly (each flower has barely any scent, but when there are literally 100 blooms on the 8'x10' monster the scent becomes strong!) Modern: DON JUAN |
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- Posted by sandandsun 9a FL (My Page) on Tue, Jun 19, 12 at 21:55
| Ingrid, I read the old English gardeners long ago. There seemed one constant among their praises. And understanding what that meant I wanted it. I waited more than twenty years to have her, and I don't call her my favorite, but SDLM is, of my eldests, probably my most perfect garden rose. Note that I think pink in roses is like green in grass. Although I don't remember the old English masters' praises specifically, I've come to feel they were short of the mark. There's just something about the silvery tones in the pink and the usually peppery but sometimes very sweet fragrance, her vigor, and her dauntless desire to bloom. I agree with you entirely Ingrid. Chris |
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- Posted by jeannie2009 PNW 7/8 (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 2:27
| Belinda's Dream for her constant blooms even though she is in partial shade. Double delight she's 3 years old this year and the blossoms have grown much larger than last year. The smell is pretty special also. Comtesse du Caya on my. She's in an extremely protected area in my back garden. Her red foliage against her peach/coral blossoms...just beautiful. I just love her. The companion plants around her are strawberries. Their bright green foliage surrounding her deep red foliage is ... special. Hope I dont sound like I'm bragging...not so ...just love roses. Could palaver on and on. Enough said. Jeannie |
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| Is there a rose more perfectly exquisite than Evelyn--she of petal packed blooms, sweet scent, and subtle coloration? I'd put her up against old Abe Darby any day. Diane |
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| hoovb, I have never seen anything like your Belinda's Dream, it is magnificent. How tall is it? It is almost like something taken from an animated movie or film where they stick hybrid teas on to a climbing rose because it's not in bloom. Yours look real though. I might need to try it, even though I am in a zone with frosty winters and short summers. The only rose I have that can compare with Belinda is Aloha, it has large hybrid tea like flowers, and two really good flushes a season on a heathy large plant. Come to think of it, climbing Mme Caroline Testout can have this look too, tons of hybrid tea roses in two good flushes. I would have to add Jaqcues Cartier and Charles Lefebvre to the list of my best roses. So perhaps; Aloha, Jaqcues Cartier and Charles Lefebvre.
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- Posted by Llanwenlys 8 (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 9:22
| This year it's Alchemyst
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| The best performing rose in my garden is Mary Rose, maybe the most perfect rose in the garden, but, it's not my favorite. Nymphe Egeria would beat it if it bloomed as much as Mary Rose-but Mary Rose is a few years older so maybe things will change. |
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- Posted by random_harvest z8 TX DFW (My Page) on Thu, Jun 21, 12 at 12:42
| I have and love Belinda's Dream but have to admit that sometimes the edges of her petals crisp. My most perfect rose is Martha Gonzales. Perfect plant -- dark green, dense foliage; perfect flower -- sassy gold stamen surrounded by petals of bright, clear red with an occasional white racing stripe; and almost always in bloom year-round, even in blazing Texas summers. Cuttings are easy and she can be kept to just about any size with hedge clippers. |
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| Well, the ones that jump out to me are the ones that have a nice growth habit, disease and insect resistant, and blooms that are just outstanding! There's 4 that are real standouts... R Rugosa Alba Tammy |
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- Posted by barbarag_happy 8a SE VA (My Page) on Sat, Jun 23, 12 at 12:03
| Today I'd have to say-- to my surprise-- an Austin rose, Tamora. Last season in a pot and this season in the ground, she is always covered with pretty pale apricot blooms. Tamora is a nice small rounded shrub and blooms are nicely distributed all over. |
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- Posted by sabalmatt_dallas Z8 Dallas (My Page) on Sat, Jun 23, 12 at 20:38
| It's difficult to pick just one.. I would have to say my top performer is souvenir de la malmaison, closely followed by mutabilis, manchester guardian angel and pleasant hill cemetary. |
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| My favorites change daily- However I REALLY love Star of the Nile this week. I also love the Teas- New found loves this year: |
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| After seeing Stainless Steel 2 years ago (at a nursery where every rose was covered with BS and PM) with one single unbelievable bloom, I had searched every nursery within driving distance to find another, with no success. So this winter I ordered it bareroot from S&W Greenhouse. From Feb to now it has been growing quietly, putting out a few small unimpressive blooms here and there. But yesterday morning I was blessed with what I had seen 2 years ago, and hope to enjoy for years to come. It is hard when every rose is beautiful, and so many have amazing fragrances to pick out "one". But I cut this bloom (couldn't help myself), held it in my hand and sniffed and ooo'd and ahhh'd for my 1 hour morning commute, then stared at it all day in a vase at my desk at work. Excuse me for being so verbose about a single bloom. It is large bloomed (approx 5"), perfect HT shape (yes I know I'm in the antiques area), ghostly greyish, whitish, lavendarish - with a minority of pedals a little darker lavendarish at the eges, and a perfect, tantalizing fragrance - not so strong like Chrysler Imperial or Double Delight, but strong enough, and intoxicating. After all that pining, it looks like she will be everything I hoped for. |
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| Ingrid, I wonder if you have seen Comtesse de Rocquiny, another light pink Bourbon, which actually looks like Souvenir de la Malmaison to me. Once thought to be extinct, it is a gorgeous rose; I love it for its beautiful form and for its scent too, which might not quite rival RdlM. I was lucky enough to get it from GM, but VG should have it too. Best, Larry |
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| Larry, I haven't seen Comtesse de Rocquigny, although I have heard the name, but I've just looked it up on HMF and it really is very similar to SdlM. Since I already have two of SdlM I doubt that I would order it, assuming I could even find it right now. I must say though that the small Bourbons fascinate me and I'm happy to say that I have five varieties totaling eight roses. Mme. Dore is also quite beautiful, although rather diminutive, which doesn't bother me since it still likes to bloom. Leveson-Gower is also a favorite, with a much darker pink color. Ingrid |
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| I'm going out on limb and pick a relatively new rose in my garden--Austin's Lady of Shalott. It's only been growing here for a couple months, but so far it comes closest to perfect of any of my roses. If my computer weren't broken (I'm using my son's old laptop), I'd show a picture of her lovely blooms--apricot/golden with a touch of yellow/buff/pink. Wonderful shades and shape. And for a bush only a couple months old, it puts out an amazing number of blooms and reblooms. The bush is about 3 ft tall now and filling out nicely--a good-looking bush, in other words, even without the blooms, and it will be bigger and fuller with maturity. And talk about health--wonderful. It is quite vigorous and has been completely disease-free since it got here. I just can't say enough good things about this rose. The only thing I have never checked is its fragrance--must do that today when I make my rounds. The next few weeks will be the real test for any rose growing in Kansas. Temps will be over 100 for at least the next 2 weeks. So far Lady of Shalott hasn't even exhibited a slight shrivel--whereas some of my other roses are totally burnt up by nightfall. But even the best rose can stand only so many weeks of unbearable heat, so we'll see how she stands up in the long run to this challenge! Last year, Mystic Beauty was my favorite (she is identical or nearly identical to Souvenir de la Malmaisson). I guess I could give her runner-up position this year -- she isn't doing that well in this intense heat (neither am I!) and her new blooms are ruined by evening, but you have to give her credit for determination. Every morning she just pumps out more blooms! Amazing! And of course they are exquisitely delicate pastel pink/white. Not sure who else deserves runner-up, but maybe I should nominate Double Delight since I always say I can't imagine any garden without a Double Delight. However, I'm very impressed right now with another new rose, only a couple months old: Red Intuition. That thing will not quit re-blooming, and the striped dark red on red is so unique and attention-getting. Health seems good so far. I predict a good future for this rose. Kate |
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