Don Juan Red Climbing Roses Changing Color?

11 years ago

Hello,

I have been growing Don Juan Red Climbing Roses for around 5 or 6 years now. They've done great for the most part and I adore them, however the winter before last we had a historically cold winter and I lost many plants, including one Don Juan and then half of another. I replaced the dead one with a white climbing rose and trimmed the poor damaged one, and this year they're doing great, in fact, the Don Juan which I wasn't sure was even going to make it is doing better than I've ever seen it before. It shot up another 4 or so feet last year, and this year there were about 2-3x as many blooms as I've ever seen, at least 4-5 per stem, it's absolutely overflowing with blooms, however instead of the deep red I'm used to, they're a dark hot pink. I couldn't find anything about this happening elsewhere, does anyone know what could be causing this? Is there anything I can do to make them closer to that red I loved so much? While the pink is fine, it's just not what I was looking for in that particular bed.

Thanks for any help!

Featured Answer

vasue VA

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Hold the phone! SoFL Rose, thinking the same. Pink Don Juan is a pink/magenta sport of Don Juan. Others have reported the same change on their red Don Juans, so it would seem to have occurred in a number of gardens.

https://www.chambleeroses.com/order.php?id=111

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.4812.0&tab=36

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Comments (10)

Buford_NE_GA_7A
11 years ago
It seems as if the Don Juan portion of your rose has died and the rootstock has taken over. The most common root stock is Dr. Huey, which grows very fast in the spring and has dark pink to red blooms. It's a once bloomer. You will have to remove the entire plant and buy another Don Juan.
seil zone 6b MI
11 years ago
Could you please post photos of the blooms? Dark hot pink does not sound like Dr. Huey to me. Dr. Huey is a deep red rose with few petals, like maybe 8 to 10, with bright yellow stamens.
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SoFL Rose z10
11 years ago
Is it possible that it produced a sport?
Buford_NE_GA_7A
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Vasue, I was just going to post that. I have Pink Don Juan. HMF doesn't say it's a sport, but I would guess it is based on the way the bush looks and the blooms. The picture from Chamblees is not the right color. It is a deep hot pink. It also has a wonderful fragrance.
vasue VA
11 years ago
Chamblee's link above gives the history as "sport of Don Juan". Nelson's Roses lists their Catherine Nelson as a sport of Don Juan they discovered - first rose on the list - http://nelsonsfloridaroses.com/rose-varieties/pinks/.
HU-502405059
5 years ago
We just had worst winter in history here in Texas. My Don Juan of 20+ years is now blooming a PINK rose. While it's a nice rose/smells good - OH how I miss my beautiful RED DJ. Thanks folks for your post - thought I had gone crazy.
Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
5 years ago
And to think here I've been wanting the pink 1! 😃
H O
last year
Purchased a red Don Juan, it had the red roses on it. Now, every year it is producing white roses not the red. Does anyone know why? I wanted red not white.
Ken Wilkinson
last year
HO---I'm willing to bet the white blooms are small and it only blooms once a year. That means the Don Juan part of the bush is dead and the root stock it was budded onto has taken over. Don Juan can be very cold sensitive.