Nope, that's not Alchymist. The leaves are wrong and the bloom is wrong. Alchymist has tightly packed petals in the bloom, with a button eye. Also, Alchymist is not as upright as your rose. Your rose mostly blooms on top -- judging from the photo -- and Alchymist's canes tend to sweep downward (or at least outward a bit) and there are blooms all along the cane on the laterals.

But your rose IS very pretty. I'm sorry, but I don't know what it is. Hopefully someone else will be able to ID it.

Regards,

Deb

Thanks, Deb -- I don't think it's Alchymist, either...based on the photos I've seen, Alchymist seems to have a lot more color to it. This rose is cream colored on the outside with a yellow/peach interior. Also, the foliage seems dead wrong...very dull greyish-green.

When full-blown there actually is a button eye in the center, and it is blooming from laterals off of canes that have been trained nearly horizontal. I also trimmed back the laterals a lot last fall to keep the rose as close to the fence as possible, so that might be why the rose was able to bloom "up" instead of sweeping down and away from the fence.

It's a much larger plant than is visible in these pictures -- a wonderful sturdy climber, and I feel lucky to have it. ...just curious as to what it might be!

Hi John,

Does your rose smell as pretty as it looks? I'd love to know what it is, too, as I'd like to get one if it could perform in the frigid zones. Always on the lookout to try something new.

Pictures below are of my Alchymist. There are more petals and they are much more tightly packed. Bloom color does vary widely. Here it starts out peachy pink with yellow bits, then goes a bit more to a peachy-gold and lighter as the bloom ages. It has a nice fragrance, like damask mixed with undertones of sweet fruit. Too bad it's a once-bloomer.

Cheers!

Deb

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Hi, Deb --

beautiful pictures of your Alchymist! As you say, it is a shame it only blooms once a year, but wow!

I did determine the identify of my mystery rose. I trekked back to the source (Heirloom Roses in St Paul, OR) and looked through their gardens till I found it. When I first saw it, it looked similar to my (much smaller) rose, but when I got a good sniff of that strong fragrance, I know for certain it was the same rose. It turns out it's Lemon Blush, a hybrid Alba. I've included a link to the photos I made during that visit to Heirloom...and here's a photo of Alchymist blooming its fool head off at Heirloom:

Here is a link that might be useful: Trip to Heirloom Roses

John,

Thank you for the link to the photos! They're terrific. I really like Lemon Blush.

And thanks for the picture of the big, honkin' Alchymist. Mine is young yet, so the longest canes are only about 6.5 feet tall (if one was to hold them straight up). I expect it to not get as big as it does at Heirloom....zone 5, you know. :-)

You are a wicked enabler, lol. Your photo album reminded me about Paul Transon -- which I was going to look for a couple of years ago, but it completely slipped out of my memory.

So now there are 2 roses to buy. Is there a poorhouse for for rose lovers?

Heirloom is really great. You are lucky to be able to visit!

Thanks again!

Deb