Prairie Sunrise is such a beauty! She has the look of a David Austin English rose. Although hardiness isn't an issue for you in Texas, it was also bred to withstand Iowa's hot summers. I've found it to be a great rebloomer and her blossoms hold on the bush and in a vase for a good time. Fragrance seems just mild to me - everything else is awesome!!!

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Prairie Sunrise is also very healthy in my climate and is a fairly small plant of about 2.5 feet in my garden, though my climate likely has some effect on that. I agree totally with what Karen says and would also say that it is on my must have rose short list.

Of the others you mention, I grew Gentle Persuasion and shovel pruned it because it was a blackspot disaster for me.

Cheers,

Rideau Rose Lad

I agree with Rideau Rose Lad - Prairie Sunrise has excellent disease resistance for me too, and stays a nice manageable 3 feet high or so.

Here too it is small but gets blackspot. I love the blooms.

Heirloom Roses has a large bed of Buck roses in their display garden so while I don't grow all those you mentioned myself, I've observed them over the years at different times of the year in a no-spray garden.

For what it's worth since we're in very different climates, Gentle Persuasion and Wild Ginger don't seem to grow as strongly as the others/are much more susceptible to blackspot.

I selected Winter Sunset, another apricot Buck rose, for my garden which I've grown now for 6 years. The staff there said they felt it was one of Buck's best, it always looked good when I saw it and now growing it no spray myself it is very vigorous and disease resistant and fragrant to boot. The color fades to ivory pretty quickly on the bush, so I like to cut them for the house.

Hope that is helpful,
Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sunset photos

I have a hard time with bucks, it might be the the ones Ive chosen over the years, but they seem to die on me, however prairie sunrise, came through our winter very well, with mostly green canes.

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Winter sunset on the other hand... is near death. not very hardy at all. It also looks like I lost honeysweet (sigh my wife liked that one alot)

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I pretty much decided to stop buying bucks, Im sure there is better examples than the ones I got, but ive been disappointed with them versus the austins for general hardiness here. I havent lost a austin yet in 4 years, (though my little l d braithwaite isnt looking so hot, I think a deer stepped on it and crushed it right to the ground!)

Honeysweet, which isnt looking GOOD at all , not any green as I can see. Oh well, this might be the only pic I ever get from it.

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Silverkelt

My Honeysweets made it through my Zone 5 Illinois winter in great shape; they had a lot of cane dieback but have rebounded vigorously. Prairie Sunrise also had minimal cane dieback and seems to be bulletproof; last year was the first in the garden and I agree with Karen; it's a great rose. Gentle Persuasion will be a new addition for me this year, so I can't comment about its hardiness or vigor. Golden Unicorn came through unscathed and is a nice apricot color and had the most cane left with minimal protection. I was impressed since this was a first year band from Heirloom. Wild Ginger died back to the snow line but has put out a few green leaves, so it wants to live. I had already replaced him with a sibling Wild Ginger next to him, so now I have two. Oh, well.

The only Bucks I can't seem to grow are Distant Drums and Golden Princess. These are the 2 I really wanted in my garden, but I guess they aren't meant to be.
-terry

Next time I visit my parents down in OR, I am stopping at Heirloom and picking me up a Prairie Sunrise! It is on my short list with a few others. I may get Quietness too,
although I have to think about it, I have lots of pinks. Your pics of PS karen are so pretty, you also commenting on how it stays smaller cinched it for me. Thanks! :o)

stop! you're giving me rose envy :D now, I really want prairie sunrise, golden unicorn, gentle persuasion, wild ginger, distant drums, winter sunset, and honeysweet! too many roses, too little yard, too little money :(

Malmason, I only have 2 Buck roses, but one of them is Prairie Sunrise, and I'm in your region, so I'll chime in. My Pr.S. is young, only had it since last summer, but already it looks bushy and healthy, blooming not continuously but quite respectably. Beaituful color and interesting bloom form, reminding me almost of some dahlias. I wouldn't call the blooms long-lasting, but they have decent vase life of several days. Mine had a little blackspot at first, so I know it needs spraying in blackspot country like ours, but since I spray almost all mine regularly (usually with Bayer Advanced, Disease Control; occasionally with Banner Max), I haven't seen a hint of blackspot on this rose since. It's not a big rose; should stay under 3 feet tall, but is nicely bushy, with pleasing smell. I was looking for a substitute for Just Joey, which has struggled for me. Nothing looks exhactly like JJ, but this is a pretty darn good substitute. Exellent purchase on your part, I would say!

My other Buck? Blue Skies. This is a totally different rose. Also less than a year old for me, it's taller, lanky, not well-filled-in, but I'm hoping with maturity that will change. It's also a little more prone to blackspot, but nothing that a regular spray routine can't handle. This rose I got for the color! The closest to violet blue I've ever seen in a rose. Of course that varies with the weather, but it's also got lovely hybrid tea form; definitely NOT a shrub, as most Bucks are. Only disappointment is lack of fragrance, so I bought a Lagerfeld along with it. lol

Mike

Thank you all for sharing your experiences with Buck roses and enticing me to other varieties. You, evil rose people, you!

I am very pleased to hear about PS. As I mentioned, it was an impulse buy and never thought about it or never paid any attention to it. I was so fascinated with the large 4 inch bloom with intoxicatingly sweet fragrance. The bush was in a 2 gallon container and about 1 ft tall. When I go back to the nursery and see the roses, I have a better idea about how they are.

My garden contains some Buck roses also - Carefree Beauty, Earth Song, Aunt Honey, and Blue Skies. All the roses are indeed carefree except BS. BS had very strong citrus fragrance and acted like HT, but he decided to not grow.

Someone mentioned Winter Sunset - I've had the opposite experience with this rose; it is three years old and has been very bs free and very free flowering. No or very light fragrance, but I really like the apricot to buff coloring. It was one of the first bloomers this spring. This is one of my favorite roses.

Here you can see the bush shape on the right
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Here's a close up of the blooms

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Oh for pity sake! You guys quit already. I have to get to Heirloom, I have several holes in the East garden that are crying for orange or coral or apricot roses and all my Buck roses have been wonderful.

I'd been doing so well in the resistance department and then you start posting pictures.

Hee Hee!

Here is another Buck rose-- Prairie Princess. Super hardy and blooms all season long.

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at least someone's doing well in the resistance department this year- I'm doing absolutely horrible! DH has no idea what he agreed to when he said go ahead.... if I just get everything planted when he's not looking, he won't notice, right ;)

kandituft

I have no problems with being able to justify my rose hobby...My husband has a classic muscle car hobby (4 of them). Guess which hobby takes more money to buy and maintain?

I grow a few Bucks and for the most part like them, and find them to be resistant to blackspot even without spraying (especially Distant Drums and Winter Sunset). However, Sunbonnet Sue was the worst and I shovel pruned it this Spring. Flowers that aren't anything special and blow quickly, and VERY prone to BS in my climate.

Scott

Scott

The only Buck rose I have is Prairie Princess. And she just keeps going. I too can have issues with BS where I live but she has been BS free this year so far.

I was just at Heirloom and usually I just walk past the Buck roses, they haven't appealed to me. This time, I wanted to be "fair" and so I studied each one and found that Prairie Sunrise was gorgeous with a good shrub shape. What a tease though! Heirloom didn't have any in stock! This happens to me almost everytime I go there: I see something I love and they don't carry it at the time. I did just find that Chamblee's carries it though. It's on my short list for next year. I did order a Quest and Jayne Austin from the 1/2 price sale. I just can't stop myself. What an addiction! CJ