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Maggie!

I was walking in the Sarah P Duke rose gardens (as I do almost every Saturday...) when I noticed they had added a new rose. The tag red "Maggie", which made me very excited because that was a rose I was already curious about! It was easily one of the prettiest plants in the garden, with lush foliage and an abundance of near perfect blooms. I already love bourbons, and this was an excellent example! Sure a strong cerise color, large blooms, beautiful quartering and amazing fragrance. It's very nice to preview a rose in your own climate, amd I definitely will be adding this in the spring.

Comments (21)

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    9 years ago

    Beautiful shot with that fountain in the background. I've seen many pictures of Maggie and was never really interested. Yours somehow shows a different side of hers that made me want to have her. I wonder if anyone knows whether she'd like a hot, dry climate. What am I saying? I have no room!

    Ingrid

  • User
    9 years ago

    I'll ditto Ingrid. I've tried Maggie before, and was disappointed with the fragrance. The foliage has that nice peppery scent, but the flowers themselves were only lightly scented to me. Maybe I can't smell Maggie.

    I "replaced" her with Romaggi Plot Bourbon--same characteristics of fragrant foliage/not so fragrant flowers--but RPB takes up a lot less space.

    I'd be willing to try Maggie again, though, because I'm wondering what I would get from a cross between Maggie and Romaggi Plot???

    I love this picture by AmiRoses.

  • Vicissitudezz
    9 years ago

    This seems like an ideal chance to ask about how many found Bourbons are named "Maggie"? I see two different entries at HMF, and I'm not at all sure what to make of that.

    They look similar to me, but the first photo posted here looks like the rose that is supposed to really be 'Madame Eugène E. Marlitt'. The second photo could be either one? Both are quite beautiful.

    Always curious,
    Virginia

  • User
    9 years ago

    I saw that too, Virginia. I think people who own the found rose are posting pictures in the Geschwind 1900 record. But I have no idea if that is another synonym for the found Maggie or not.

    By the way Ingrid, you may already know this, but this rose was rediscovered here in Louisiana, in the more northerly part of the state. I seem to remember Vintage's description saying it was also found all around New Orleans, which is about 2-3 hours east of me. We get HOT here, but humid hot. It sounds, though, like people growing it in the hot and drier parts of Texas have success with it, too. So it would be one you could at least try, I think. If you ever find some room. :-) Maybe it's colors would echo your geranium/pelargonium and Wild Edric?

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    9 years ago

    I have 5 Maggie roses. They are beautiful.
    Maggie does get quite large compared to what I think I saw in the picture. She is around 6 feet tall, and at least that wide.

    Sammy

  • Kes Z 7a E Tn
    9 years ago

    Such a beautiful picture of a beautiful rose! I first got 'Maggie' in 1997 when my children were young and she grew to be a big girl in less than stellar conditions- maybe 5 or so feet tall but wider than that- a good 7 ft or so. She does blackspot for me but doesn't seem overly concerned by it. I don't spray. Last winter wasn't kind to her and most of her canes died back to the ground, the first time ever since I got her. For all intents and purposes, I'm starting over, but I can't imagine not having her. For me she has a wonderful fragrance, both the leaves with a peppery smell and the flowers with a sweet old fashioned rose fragrance. It doesn't waft. I don't know how this all translates for people outside my zone, but FWIW.

  • Spectrograph (NC 7b)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    How small could Maggie be maintained? All my really large spaces are spoken for. Could you cut her back severely in early spring? This little rose in my photo seems to be blooming profusely on new wood.

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    9 years ago

    bellegallica, I also have Romaggi Plot Bourbon and it's a lovely plant, but for me the flowers are so fleeting. Maggie looks as though her blooms are so much more substantial. A cross between the two would be fascinating! Maggie's color would certainly fit well in my garden, and I love cool pinks of any saturation the most.

    phasedweasel, it's been my experience that chunky large plants don't do terribly well if you cut them down and keep cutting them. Even in the picture you posted it looks obvious that Maggie will get larger very soon.

    Ingrid

  • Spectrograph (NC 7b)
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    To follow up: I planted a band of Maggie from Long Ago Roses last spring. Here it is this spring. It's about a foot tall and filled out with foliage, and starting to put up some longer canes. I have it between two mature blackberries, and if it feels like growing on them, it's welcome to, I love when brambly plants make a thicket. The leaves have been pretty healthy in our conditions.

  • bossyvossy
    7 years ago

    I have Maggie but, poor thing, its in more shade that it should and has become a skimpy bloomer

  • fig_insanity Z7b E TN
    7 years ago

    My one year old Maggie came from Linda at Longago, as well, and she's blooming her silly head off, lol. LOVE her. I didn't let her bloom last year at ALL, hoping for more growth, and it must have worked, as she's close to 2' tall with several canes. And for me, she smells wonderful.

    John

  • Vicissitudezz
    7 years ago

    I just got a baby "Maggie" from Long Ago this past week. She's small, but looks healthy and ready to grow (as did the other roses I got). I know Linda of Long Ago sometimes posts here, and I hope that if she sees this thread she'll post a photo of her "Maggie" that she shared with me. Too gorgeous!

    Virginia

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    7 years ago

    I broke down and acquired Maggie last September and six months later she is one skinny twig and not much more. She has been drip watered very regularly during all that time. Deanna Krause, her near-by neighbor that was acquired ten days later, is far ahead in growth and is blooming. Both are mildewed, but so is practically everything else, unless it has blackspot instead. A few clean roses are Annie Laurie McDowell, Heirloom, La France, Charles Darwin, Blush Noisette, Aloha and Jessie Hildreth. The garden looks like an Intensive Care ward. Two roses that have utterly refused to grow are Sister Elizabeth and Carding Mill, both on their own roots. Carding Mill grafted some years ago literally exploded into growth and bloom.

  • Vicissitudezz
    7 years ago

    Ingrid, I think there was another thread about "Maggie" being a slow starter for a lot of people; I'm not expecting too much from her until she's had some time to get her act together. I hope yours isn't somewhere front and center where you can't ignore her while she goes through her 'ugly duckling' phase.

    I'm glad you have as many clean roses as you do; your conditions there have been so screwy lately.

    Virginia

  • summersrhythm_z6a
    7 years ago

    Virginia, I just got one from Linda (Long Ago Roses) too! Want to have a race and see which baby grows faster?? :-)


  • Vicissitudezz
    7 years ago

    summersrhythm, I keep my roses in pots, but I'm already worrying about what I'll do as the babies get bigger. In other words, I'm not in any huge hurry to have them outgrow their current living quarters!

    I hope your baby grows quickly, though...

    Virginia

  • summersrhythm_z6a
    7 years ago

    I think yours will be bigger since you're in a warmer zone. I was just having some fun. :-) Had too much ice cream-raspberry cheesecake gelato, too sweet......mine is growing in a gal pot right now, I will plant it in the garden by Sept.

  • Vicissitudezz
    7 years ago

    summersrhythm, if "Maggie" is slow to get growing, do you think it might be a good idea to coddle her this winter and overwinter her in a pot? I have no experience with cold-zone gardening, but it seems like this could be a rose that could benefit from some protection until she gets established- what do you think?

    Linda, that photo is pretty amazing... I hope my plant will eventually look even half that good. How old is that plant- do you recall?

    Thanks,

    Virginia

  • summersrhythm_z6a
    7 years ago

    A lovely photo!

    A good idea Virginia! I will do that. Keep it in a pot this year and plant it in the garden next spring.

  • erasmus_gw
    7 years ago

    Thanks. I am not sure how old it is but guess it is between 15 and 17 years old. It does seem to like heat. It repeats in big flushes. If your plant puts on a lot of growth this summer you probably wouldn't have to coddle it but in Buffalo you might.