I have tried it twice because it has a heavenly fragrance. Both of mine were weak spindly plants with terrible blackspot despite a spray program. The blooms wilted in the heat and blew quickly. On the 2nd attempt I thought it might be better sheltered from afternoon sun. That plant never produced many blooms. Both failed to thrive, were sickly, never bounced back from winter damage.

Ratdogheads, that is what I thought I had read here. Thank you. Some of the plants had pretty blooms on them at Lowes and the fragrance was divine.

I have one that is two years old and is on the shovel prune list for this week. It isn't very strong with weak canes, it gets blackspot so badly that it completely defoliates. The first season I had about 10 good blooms, last year maybe half that and this year's blooms have been small and weak. I tried pruning it way back this year but it hasn't helped it's vigor at all.

I loved the blooms but the plant was not very vigorous at all. It did winter for a few years but it was pretty much always a short one cane wonder.

I also got mine from Lowes (of San Bruno CA - this March) and now it's full of black spot. To make matters worst, it exhibits RMV! I truly regretted buying it. I have over 30 roses all own root and this is the only one grafted.

No.

Tried it twice, and also no. An ugly bush on top of everything else.

Wow, thanks to all of you. It's definitely a no go.

I have 5 of them, 3 are in the backyard, and 2 trees are in the front, the trees were from Lowe's last year for $10 each. I grow them for their wonderful strong fragrance. I spray for BS, so it's not a big deal in my garden.

I got this rose and last year and it defoliated quickly after I got its leaves wet while way watering it in early evening. This year I have a big fat bud on it and not a sign of blackspot with all of the rains we've had. The bush so far isn't very vigorous yet, but I remember a really strong, beautiful smell to the flower. I'll upload some photos soon. As of now the only reason I would get rid of it is for the bloom form rather than the bush itself, since I prefer more globe shaped antique rose style blooms..

Here is my Intrigue tree rose at my old house in Lake Havasu, AZ. Got super hot there like 120F + at times and it did well. It does get a little black spot here at the new place in NE FL but nothing too major. It rains almost every day in the summer and gets up around 90's F and I don't spray anything. I give all my roses lots of bunny compost. It seems to help guard against black spot. Intrigue rose smells really nice too.

Intrigue rose in FL- a little black spot showing.

Your blooms are really beautiful sultry! Makes me rethink my idea of the bloom form.. I took pictures of my bush and bud today, there's another forming.. will post them once I have more pictures of the bud opening.

I tried it (because a friend gave it to me). I had all the same problems mentioned above and SP'd after three years- it wasn't worth the trouble

There are some roses that are looking for any excuse to curl up and die and this is one of them. It amazes me that this rose is still offered by the industry. For the newbies to rose growing this rose lives up to the expectations that roses are hard to grow. I have not grown it in many years but even in my Zone 8 it struggled with winters, blackspot and mildew. Very weak growth, but yes fragrant flowers.

May be this is a northern rose? :-) I put mulch on all my roses for the winter, they're all doing just fine. This rose has very strong delightful fragrance, I could smell it from far away, there aren't many roses have that magic. Nothing is prefect in life. Do you have a prefect boyfriend/husband? He is good looking, charming, has a good heart, a good job, a beautiful brain, a good temper, and knows how to dress, talk, walk, cook, garden.......and knows how to ride a bike (motorcycle).....there is no such person in life. Just like you're in love, only see the good parts, forget about all the bad.......it's the same thing when it comes to a rose. Why can't you just love this rose?? Close your eyes, smell the fragrance in the air, you could feel the peace, the magic, and forget all about BS........:-) I think I had too much ice cream tonight........ :-) Cheers

When Intrigue is good, it's great. It does have problems.

The fragrance is really great and it lasts several days in a vase. Definitely BS in the Fall.

I grew Intrigue 6 years ago for five years without any issues. I have one now that is 2 years old, and have no issues with it. The only rose that ever had black spot in my very arid garden is Barbara Streisand. Intrigue is a rose that is recommended for this climate. Maybe this rose, like many, is particular about its growing conditions....??

Lynn

Just to add my two cents. I love my Intrigue. While it does get blackspot, I don't notice that it gets it any worse than any of my other roses with the exception of Regatta, which is my cleanest rose. I have noticed that my Intrigue bare root plant is worse than my other Intrigue bush it has helped me to come to a conclusion. Any of the bare root plants that I obtain that has a waxy film on the canes is GOING to get disease on those canes. I wish I knew away to get it off but so far no one has been able to tell me how. But that wax is a breeding ground for fungus and disease. The plant can't seem to breathe, Now that may not be a problem in other parts of the country but here in south Florida where it rains and has high humidity it is a terrible problem. What I have found is if I start giving the plant some epsom salts it cause the plant to put up new canes. I have found if I can get Intrigue to give me a few new basal breaks before the plant dies from the black icky growth under the wax then I have a GREAT plant that does very very well. If you want an Intrique I would not discourage you, just beware that she is kind of hard to get started, but oh boyu she is worth it when she gets going.

I can definitely appreciate what Chris said above. When I look at Meilland roses like Guy de Maupassant, Eden and Johann Strauss with terrific foliage, great blooms, very disease resistant with wonderful fragrance and compare that with Intrigue I see the point.

Some of my Austins get worse black spot than Intrigue. So does PJP2 and Reine de Violettes.

"Forgive my rant but I think many rose lovers do not know the changes
that are happening in the genetics of roses. It is not just Kordes but
all breeders are trying to provide more garden friendly roses to the
market. "

If rose lovers don't know, how is the average person going to learn about better roses. Or, more importantly, how to avoid disappointing rose growing experiences?

Zack - I am writing on this forum for one. We take every opportunity to have information printed in magazines and in newspapers about what is happening. I do think that many rosarians promote difficult roses. I go to talk and rose society meeting and there are people trading fungicides in the back of the room. There are still rose experts that spray fungicides weekly.

Think about the landscapes and what our expectations are for trees, shrubs and perennials. We would not put up with these plants needing to be sprayed weekly or having to replace week plants because they died in the landscape.

My point is if we want more rose lovers and more usage of roses then we should promote how easy roses are to grow and roses that live up to that idea.

But do folks really want to know the easy way to grow roses or the best way to grow roses? For instance, is it really worth the hassle of sterilizing pruners to prevent RMV based on the concept of "prudent avoidance" or should we trust a study that found no evidence of transmission? Yes, it is just one little thing, but a whole lot of little things add up into one big hassle.

Chris, I had an inspector come out today for some construction work we are having done. After seeing my many roses she talked to me about roses for quite some time. She loved the roses her mother and grandmother grew she just didn't have time to take care of them. I told her about and showed her some of the Kordes roses I have that are very disease resistant. She left excited with the list I gave her along with Chamblees number and said she'd definitely give roses a try again.

I'll be a hypocrite here and NOT recommend this rose, even though I always have one growing somewhere in my yard. It is BS addicted, the form is too loose for my taste, and the plant does not grow very much. I prefer Heirloom. It smells similar, grows much healthier, and has better BS fighting power. If you love the color try Twilight Zone (even though I have other reservations over that rose as well).

Zack - Most flowering plants have issues. I grow orchids and gardenias and they can be as much of a pain in my @$$ as most of my roses. It's all relative. The decline in rose sales can probably be correlated with a number of factors, some of which have to do with limited time and increased availability of other plants.

Chris, I wish you many lucks on creating many beautiful hardy fragrant roses! :-) Kordes is new to me, I hope they're as fragrant as Intrigue. I just bought some from Palatine and Chamblee's within 4 weeks: Honeymoon, Beverly, First Crush, Summer Romance, Zaide, Lady Ashe, Duchesse De Brabant, Lion's Fairy Tale, Mme Anisette. I am willing to give them a try. But the strong delightful fragrance of Intrigue is still priceless, it's so far the most fragrant rose in my garden, I could smell them from distance not steps away, that was a big wow when I discovered that. So far I have a bloom or two on Beverly and Lady Ashe, but I can't smell the fragrance from steps away yet, they're still small. I hope they grow up fast.

Well, maybe I could try to grow in Intrigue in a pot. But this idea comes with reservations for me as well. This was the first winter that I had potted roses in my garage. After reading through the recent post here about overwintering roses in a garage, it looks to me like it is recommended that the garage be insulated or attached to your house. Mine is neither. I put mine up on wood pallets, and did not cover them. It was a VERY mild winter in Ohio. I was very proud of myself for not loosing any roses (I only had about 8 in pots). But now I am thinking about what could happen if the winter is bitter cold, which is bound to happen again.

I did buy a plant at Lowes before anyone answered here. I have not returned it yet. It looks like a fairly strong plant. I had a body bag Intrigue rose last year that never did a thing in the ground and I shoved pruned it. I may try this one in a pot. In reading through these posts, it looks like the people in warm climes are the most happy with this rose. I work in my son's lab today, so I don't have time to take a photo now -I may take a photo later and ask what you all think about how strong the plant looks. Thanks again for all the comments.

I tried Intrigue and wanted it to grow very badly as I thought the color was to die for. But alas, mine died shortly after leafing out and only gave me one bloom. I have to side with everyone else in agreeing that it is not a healthy or vigorous rose and may be worth the trouble to some, but not others. There are better roses out there. Grande Dame and Heirloom are two good choices with similar color. My Heirloom blooms a ton even if it gets black spot. I've been quite impressed with it.

On another note, Sharon, my Regatta is too one of the healthiest roses in my garden. I would be head over heals for her except her form has always been off. Do you have this problem? Mine has lots of blooms, but almost all of them have poor form. I'm giving it time to establish as I just planted it this past fall (or winter, I cant recall). I hope it straightens out since its such a good grower and bloomer, I just wish it was more like Cresendo or Gemini in form.

Intrigue sucks, unless you are blessed with perfect climate and/or are willing to pamper it to death. What makes it worse is that the flowers are so beautiful and smell amazing, yet the plant has no vigor and is a real pain and disappointment. Some people can make it work, but it's not for most people. I love hearing that there are other healthy fragrant plants out there, but the ones mentioned are not available at garden centers so you would really have to know what you are looking for and where to find it.