Well, they are all gorgeous, and you know I adore Lady of Shalott -- yours is looking so good! But I have to admit, Fisher Holmes sprawling all over in red is a sight to behold--so Fisher is the winner.

They are looking really healthy also. Really beautiful.

Kate

All very beautiful and so healthy looking. I would have to agree with Kate that Fisher Holmes is the winner. I do think Polka is especially lovely, but then they all are.

After spending this very hot day out in the garden ICEBERG wins my vote without a doubt. Very refreshing!!! :-)

Fisher is my top choice for biggest showoff, but Polka and Lady of Shalott are close runners-up. And Iceberg certainly deserves honorable mention. Great photos and roses!

P. S.
Your photo of Lady of Shalott is smokin' hot!!!

Full of blooms! Very nice!

Fisher is astonishing! Polka is my favorite, though.
Thanks for showing the whole incredible bush.

OMG!!! Bustopher, this is heavenly!!!!
I think, all of the roses are winners!
Marina

PS. Love Fisher Holmes. Are you interested in trading cuttings?

This post was edited by the_dark_lady on Wed, Jun 5, 13 at 10:44

A rose is a rose is a rose, but in my book there is something that sets the "Red Rose" apart from all others. It's the symbol of love so my vote is for Fisher Holmes.

A rose is a rose is a rose, but in my book there is something that sets the "Red Rose" apart from all others. It's the symbol of love so my vote is for Fisher Holmes.

Polka......I just adore that color and your rose is outstanding. Really loved them all,tho. Your garden is so beautiful. Lesley

Fisher Holmes is the girl in the club in the miniskirt who stops you in your tracks and intimidates (man-eater).
Lady of Shallot is the girl you would marry.
Polka is that silly aunt who never married and has lots of fun.
I love them all but Fisher is the biggest showoff. For sure.
Lady of Shallot is substance.
Susan

Susan,

You have the talent of words. If you aren't a writer perhaps you should be. :-)

Thanks for the comments. I enjoy reading them very much.

I have been looking to see who carries Fisher Holmes now, but sources are rather few. I got it from either Hortico or Pickering in Canada, but I do not know for sure if they have dropped it or if they are sold out because it is not on either of their current rose lists. Fisher sure puts out the flowers, but like so many other red HPs, it is a knock-down, drag-out trying to keep it healthy.

Totally awesome roses!!

Oh such exhuberance!!!!
My vote is for Polka.
You have the gift of growing roses!!
Carol

I have to go with Fisher Holmes, what a show off he is.
Jack

What fun it was to happen onto the pics of these mind blowin' beauties in the depths of dark November. My late vote for biggest show off is the incredible Fisher Holmes, a rose I'd never heard of until right now. Wow. But you need a second category for sheer exquisite bloom, and my vote in that category would be for the Lady of Shalott, just achingly lovely. Diane

Susan- you DO have a way with words!! Made me smile.
Fisher Holmes is #1 followed by Lady of Shallot- they are all so beautiful though. I would love to take a walk in your garden. I can only imagine the fragrance...

the bustopher,

Usually I don't care for red roses. I very much prefer pink. But I must admit, your Fisher Holmes looks wonderful in the photo above! I'll vote for Fisher as the biggest show-off.

How did your roses do during the summer of 2014? Do you have any more photos for us? : )

Fisher Holmes! They are all spectacular and so many blooms. Just curious, do you have to deadhead them, are they thorny, and do they get BS? I would like to have a 2015 calendar with those pictures.

Me too. These are all worthy of calender photos. What a beauy to behold! I think they are all winners! Can't decide, but I particularly am drawn to Lady of Shallot and Polka. Does Lady of Shallot on any support? I cannot see any but the bush is so well shaped that I wonder that you have anything holding the bush underneath.

I will try to answer the questions as best I can. First, as to how my roses did this year, to put it bluntly, not so good. We had a hard freeze in May well after everything was growing, and many just did not do well after that. Some of my plants died as late as early in October. My Dick Clark died most recently. Still others did not bloom at all the whole year because of the freeze. Others did not repeat bloom at all when they normally do. Still others had very poor flower form. There were some, however, that seemed only minimally bothered and went on about like usual. I only got some good pictures this year, not like I usually get. The majority of the pictures I have are not all that good enough to post. I'm not the only person who has the poor quality observations. Others in our central district of ARS are saying the same things as I have heard when judging some out of town shows.

As for Fisher Holmes and the thorns, it is thorny, but the thorns are not big ones. I do deadhead it somewhat, but most of the flower remains just dry up and fall off. It can be a huge bush and requires the use of a ladder if I want to get up there and prune or deadhead. About blackspot, it is downright awful, but the flowers smell really good especially when my windows are open, and the breeze is blowing the fragrance into the kitchen. Most of my roses will blackspot badly if not sprayed. I don't think I have any in my garden that will not blackspot eventually. It is just a matter of when and how badly.

As to growing Lady of Shalott on supports, it is not on any kind of support. She will throw long canes like so many of the other Austins. Polka is not on any particular supports either. I am just growing them both as large shrubs. Lady of Shalott did reasonably well this year, but she was not up to her normal quality level. Polka did rather poorly this year also. I hope next year will be better. If I could pick the one rose in my garden that appeared least affected by the weather problems we had I think it would be Crocus Rose.

the bustopher,

I'm sorry about the late freeze that y'all had, which set your roses back so much. What a bummer! I hope your garden will be more beautiful than ever in 2015! : ) Good to hear that Crocus rose did pretty well. He is on my wish list.

Oh my! Lady of Shalott and Polka are my favorites! Just beautiful!

Fisher is the biggest show off but I like LPS best.

Bustopher, how do you prune your LoS? Yours looks so upright. I didn't prune my 2nd year bare root own root from DA and let it arch so many of the blooms are near and facing the ground. Mine is in partial shade so maybe it is reaching for the sun.

I would like to prune my Lady of Shalott down to about 3 ft tall, ideally, but that is not what has been happening. I have been trying to keep up with the dead wood in the whole garden this year, but it keeps getting ahead of me. I didn't get LoS pruned last year, and it got to at least 10 ft tall. The weather just got too warm too quick, and everything got ahead of me. This year it got warm again, but like ten years ago, it froze hard. I have counted 16 dead roses, and I keep getting more dieback which means I have to prune some more. Lady of Shalott is a strong survivor and will probably be okay, but flower quality this year is not up to what it usually is for the first spring bloom. That is a fair statement for almost all of my plants. I don't know if that answers your question, but around here, how I prune is heavily dependent on what the weather has done.

Thanks Bustopher. Maybe I should try pruning LoS down more or cut out the thinner canes.