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Lowe's surprise

Debbie and I decided we needed to walk off some ice cream (Dairy Queen) earlier this evening and decided we would go to our local Lowe's Store. Eventually out to the garden center to see if they had anything that might catch our eye. Something different caught my eye over in the rose section. Some different pots. Kords "fragrant" series. So I looked. They had mostly light pink pots that had "Wedding Bells" in them. Then I spotted two dark green pots in the middle and pulled them out. Neither pot had any blooms on them and were a little beat up, but they weren't dead OR dieing. I grabbed the tags and both read "Dark Desire". I know how hard it is to get your hands on one these dark beauties, so I plopped down my $18.00 and brought it home. A little TLC and we'll see what this neglected rose can do.

Comments (28)

  • 11 years ago

    Great find!

  • 11 years ago

    Yay! Isn't it so exciting when they have something unexpected. I hate that they always have the same old thing (sometimes it's JUST knock outs, ugh!!)

  • 11 years ago

    I'll have to look at my Lowes. I ordered Dark Desire from Palantine, but I think I killed it.


  • 11 years ago

    Good finding! I was at Lowe's last night looking for Grass B Gon, checked all the roses there, didn't see any Belinda's Dreams, hopefully I can find a couple this season.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    You are going to flip when you see this baby bloom. Several,of our Lowes has tons of them and all blooming their heads off. When I saw its striking color I almost purchased one. They were a gorgeous dark purple color and soooooo vibrant. Maybe more of a purple wine color. I was afraid it would go red so I walked away. prob kick myself later when I see your pics of it. Enjoy!! Judy

  • 11 years ago

    Yes we had a ton of them at our Lowes as well

  • 11 years ago

    Sounds great, hope it does good for you.

  • 11 years ago

    That's definitely a good find! I got mine from Palatine a few months ago, and it's been quite beautiful. No disease so far, and thick sturdy stems with these gorgeous dark burgundy blooms. They last quite a long time, but they do get a lighter more red color in the center as they age, and eventually the whole bloom turns more red. It's still quite beautiful. And who knows what coloring will come in the next batch of blooms with warmer weather. I think it's gonna be a really good rose!

    These photos don't even do it justice. It's really difficult to photograph accurately. It is a slight bit more purple-ish than what it shows up here. It kinda reminds me of MIRANDY only with way more petals.







  • 11 years ago

    Just got back from my Lowe's where they had a ton of roses on the clearance racks including a couple of very sad looking Dark Desires. I restricted myself to a multigraft of Tournament of Roses + Walking on Sunshine that I'm going to put in a pot on the patio. They were all only $5! I'm out of room this year in my beds and have promised not to dig a new one till next year.

  • 11 years ago

    We call it a violet red and yes it does go more to a burgundy red in warm weather. In bud it is quite purple almost black looking. Dark Desire was awarded a German ADR last September so it should be exceptionally disease free. BTW all of those bushes at Lowes are own root.


  • 11 years ago

    Jealous! My lowes didn't have anything spectacular on the rose rack. Some New Day, Oklahoma, Proud Land and like two others that I don't remember. Home Depot across the street had a bunch of Olympiad and Queen Elizabeth drying out on clearance. Phooey.

  • 11 years ago

    I went to Lowe's but I wasn't impressed with the plants they had. I did see something called 'soft touch' roses with no thorns. Now that is interesting.


  • 11 years ago

    I found a Christian Dior potted rose at Lowes today. The Help Me Find website says that it is not all that fragrant. Is this rose worthy of keeping? I am slowly replacing some bushes whose flowers have no fragrance. I only have around 25 bushes, so I have to be careful what I choose. I also found a Pope John Paul ll at another Lowes this week and am debating on that one too. It is very fragrant, but white roses don't interest me that much. I also found a Chrysler Imperial today which I am keeping. All of the others were those double grafts, and varieties that I had never heard of before/

  • 11 years ago

    Yes, my Dark Desire is own root but there are two (2) plants in each pot. They will stay in the pot this year and get a good healthy root system to them. I cleaned them up and was impressed with what I'm seeing right now. I can wait on the blooms for a few weeks.


  • 11 years ago

    Georgia folks, let's share rose cuttings! I picked up new Kordes "Dark Desire" for half price, $10, at Lowes distressed plant section a couple of months ago (They have even MORE distressed versions of them now for half price...I'd reduce them more with the heat wave we are having and the condition they are in) and it has been doing very impressively. Very beautiful, very little black spot despite my composted soil that never got very hot. Very productive. Wonderful fragrance. It bounced back with my wonderful organic fertilizer, with frequent but very dilute foliar feeding.....

  • 11 years ago

    Dark Desire\Gräfin Diana did get the ADR in 2014 so its going to be a good tough rose! Great find.

  • 11 years ago

    Mine went crazy with just a little care. I had to plant mine last week. A bunch of roots were coming out the drain holes. When I turned the bplant upside down to remove the pot, it was almost root bound. Loosened everything up a little and put it in my afternoon shade garden. Hasn't missed a lick. Several buds have bloomed since putting in the ground. Now, I exhibit, so it may not be a great exhibition rose but it sure will the fragrance class.


  • 11 years ago

    I love scouring the big box stores for rose "finds". It can be very surprising what they get in. I found Miss Congeniality, which HMF says was introduced just this year. I didn't pick it up, though, as I'm REALLY out of room!

  • 11 years ago

    Good thinking, Beth. I would do the same thing. You could save a lot when they mark them down. These stores are terrible with taking care of plants-it just drives me crazy when I see something not watered.

  • 11 years ago

    My Dark Desire from Lowes that a bought 2 weeks ego, just died couple days ego, and I have no idea why. Leaves just turned yellow, one after another and finally it died. But today I bought there a rose plant with label Ingrid Bergman on it. I hope label is correct.

  • 11 years ago

    My Lowes here in NE Ohio has had nothing new in roses for the past month. All they have is knockouts that no one is buying.

  • 11 years ago

    openmoon, is there any green left in the canes at all? What I found with my rescues from Lowes this spring is that the medium they are growing in has a lot of bark in it and almost nothing to sustain growth. That may be why they decline so quickly. Several of the rescues I bought I thought were dead but I transplanted them into pots with good potting mix, stuck them in the shade and they are coming back. It might be worth a shot to see if it can be saved.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Beth, no, non of green left. It is steel in ground, but it looks like it is totally died.

    My today`s purchase from Lowes. The rose has label on it Cheri Kolorscape and picture of red rose))) Pink blooms look so lovely to me, so I could not resist. Now I should find out what I really purchased)))

  • 11 years ago

    Hi openmoon,


    I am not sure what rose you have there but it is not Cheri Kolorscape. I think I know what it may be - my question to you is do flower have a strong scent?

  • 11 years ago

    Trying again with less sideways photo... The double graft I purchased from Lowe's clearance rack ended up being just the Walking on Sunshine, Perhaps they killed the other half or maybe it was mislabeled. Either way it's a very vigorous, healthy & happy plant that is constantly covered in blooms and buds. Yesterday I scored a "Dear Delores" hydrangea for $2.85. Love the clearance racks.


  • 11 years ago

    chris2486, it has very slight fragrance and it seems to me like climber, because of branches structure.. I am steel puzzled)

    danuv, I bought my Walking on Sunshine from Lowes clearance last year, labeled like Brandy

    and Im very happy with these bushes - they are blooming machines in my garden