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Savannah

10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago

Anyone growing Kordes Savannah? Is a fragrant rose that takes the heat too much to ask for?

Comments (48)

  • 10 years ago

    One arrived from Chamblee's last Spring & is 3'+ tall now. No problem with our heat - very humid & not as high temps as yours (think we topped at 104 last year) - steady 90's this month with overnights in the low 70's. Mine spent last year growing & this year got around to blooming. Well worth the wait! Delicious fragrance of old rose with a hint of narcissus or tuberose. Beautiful bloom that unfurls like a HT & quarters as it expands, lasts well on the bush & drops its petals cleanly. More salmon here than photos show, with apricot tints that give it depth. Clean foliage no spray. Another from RU this year - like it that much!

    noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked vasue VA
  • 10 years ago

    I was thinking of ordering one from J & P. There's not a lot of information/images on HMF. Another reason why this forum is so great.

    noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
  • 10 years ago

    Savannah has been a good rose up north in zone 5, too! As Vasue said, delicious fragrance and beautiful blooms, healthy leaves - a real winner. I got mine from Chamblee's.

    noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked AnneCecilia z5 MI
  • 10 years ago

    Another northern Savannah grower here, here at least it's a winner. Beautiful blooms that open no matter what the weather. Very healthy plant and robust grower.

    noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
  • 10 years ago

    Thanks everyone for you input. I'm debating whether or not to try this rose since most everything is frying in my garden. Although Hybrid Teas are not my favorite, I may try it if it can handle the heat.

  • 10 years ago

    Savannah is one of Kordes sunbelt collection roses. They have been tested in the south for performance. I don't know about the dessert regions thou. Savannah branches well so is much less like a HT than most. Google Newflora Roses and I believe you can contact them thru email if you are wondering about a certain rose.

  • 10 years ago

    We introduced in the Sunbelt because it does take the heat. The Rogue Valley is hot and very low humidity in the summer very similar to inland N. California. It takes the temperatures well, although I do see some flower size reduction it is not too bad and if it really sizzles (105 F) I will see some petal edge burn on the fully open flowers, but no problems when temperatures are in the 90's. I would think ABQ is quite similar to our summer weather and I would recommend this rose.

    noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked chris2486
  • 10 years ago

    Chris, how do you think Savannah would do in Lexington, Ky? How does it compare with Beverly? Beverly is doing so good this year, such a big, healthy bush with lots of blooms! I just want to burrow my nose into the bloom and inhale its fragrance.

  • 10 years ago

    Would anyone mind sharing photos? ?

  • 10 years ago

    Yes photos please!! I am very interested in Savanah and now Beverly.

  • 10 years ago

    Savannah has been performing well in southern gardens - it did exceptionally well at the trials at the Biltmore.


    Beverly and Savanah are both pink Ht's but are really quite different.

    Beverly is about 35-40 petals. The scent is strong classic rose and citrus. It is a vigorous rose and really pumps out the the blooms - I counted 55 blooms in one season on an own root near my office window.

    Savannah is a huge flower with closer to 90 petals. It is pink with a apricot center. The flowers tend to be more single and larger than Beverly. The fragrance is strong classic rose. It tends to open to a very flat flower but has pretty good early bud form.

    Both are very resistant to black spot and resistant to powdery mildew.

    Savannah

    Beverly





  • 10 years ago

    I love it.



    She lost a lot of her laterals do to rose midge.

  • 10 years ago

    Both are very beautiful! I think even though they are both pink the differnces make them each stand out from each other. I am definitely planting a Savanah and Beverly next year! Thanks so much for the photos!

  • 10 years ago

    I'm very impressed with the way my new Savannah has taken off in her first year. Clearly building structure to become a nice bushy plant, and the blooms are divine. I've seen exactly one bloom so far, but it was a nice size and very refined form, beautiful color. I think I need to get Beverly too!

    noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked barbarag_happy
  • 10 years ago

    Wow!!! I love Savannah!!! I have Beverly, but it's too young to really show what it can do. I would love to get Savannah!!

    Carol

  • 10 years ago

    Patty W.....is your Savannah grafted or own root?

  • 10 years ago

    Mine is own root.

  • 10 years ago

    Just ordered one from Heirloom. Wish me luck!

  • 10 years ago

    I've had about 3 flowers since I received this rose from Heirloom. There's a good chance that Savannah may become a favorite! Beautiful flower, no problems with the heat/wind/thrips, strong growth, and best of all, the fragrance! Wow. One of my most fragrant roses, in every one of those three blooms, and delicious rose fragrance, similar to Mr. Lincoln, but with more top notes. Maybe like Mr. Lincoln crossed with Abraham Darby. In my climate, it leaves First Crush in the dust. It is more apricot in this cooler fall weather, and more pink in the heat.

  • 10 years ago

    Does it make a good cut flower?

  • 10 years ago

    Maybe someone else can comment on this, since my plant is too small to cut, and I don't typically cut any of my roses.

  • 10 years ago

    Yes good vase life in our trial -surprisingly long for such a fragrant rose -7 days in the vase clean

  • 10 years ago

    Cut one short stem already in flower & it lasted a full week at my desk, pumping out that wonderful fragrance the entire time. Cut in bud & conditioned, would think it would last extremely well.

    Noseometer, so glad you're enjoying Savannah, too. A very special rose. Sue

  • 4 years ago

    Is anyone still growing Savannah? Any updates?

  • 4 years ago

    I was also looking for updates on Savannah. I read through member comments at helpmefind, and was hoping for some more input here

  • 4 years ago

    Anybody know the expected height and width for an own root Savannah in 7b Piedmont NC?

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago



    It's doing very well in the cooler temperatures. I got it spring this year so it's still growing. It bloomed into the summer but blooms were small and flat. Color was a solid salmon pink darker than in this picture, but didn't bother cutting because they were too small. Less leaf burn in full sun than others. Holds up in the vase better than David Austins. Overall, really pleased with the fragrance and bloom form in cooler temperatures, hoping its blooms during the summer will improve.




    Lighter pink on bottom right.


    After it's been in the vase for a day.

  • 4 years ago

    I’m in the PNW not NC but here Savannah is going to be a pretty big girl even though she is in partial shade.

    Maybe 6’ tall by 4’ wide when all is said and done? And it wouldn’t surprise me if she went bigger.

  • 4 years ago

    Lovely blooms @marascz9b. Good to know about heat tolerance. @oursteelers 8B PNW how do you like the blooms? I think my climate is similar to yours.

  • 4 years ago

    The blooms are okay for me, flatter than I really love and the bush itself is also just ok but the fragrance really is topnotch

  • 4 years ago





  • 4 years ago

    Savannah is usually grown in the PNW own root (whoever does Kordes for nurseries around here) and goes out to Walmart, HD and Lowes. I have seen it every year for the past 4 yrs at our Walmart. Beverly (Kordes own root) was new this year, but they had so many that I got it clearance for $6. (I could have gotten Savannah for the same price.) MIne grows 6' if the deer don't prune it.

  • 4 years ago

    Deer "prune" anything that isn't protected by a fence here. Everything except those dang multiflora roses.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I suspect that PNW size is pretty different than Southeast size. Here in NC so far my grafted Neil Diamond pruned hard in the winter becomes 7' by the end of summer and grafted Dee-Lish threw some 8' canes even in the first year. Both of those sizes are somewhat larger than expected from all the numbers in Helpmefind and nursery sites. So I would really like to know the potential spacing for Savannah, so I can plant it in the right spot.

  • 4 years ago

    I shoveled my Savannah. I loved the color but it became a huge beast with very few blooms. At least not enough blooms to make the size of it worth the space.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago







    A bloom from today. Nights have been in the upper 40-50 F lately. I cut it to put in the vase because another day or two and it would have flattened. Very good, strong fragrance. Wafts in the house when you're holding the vase.


    Edit: second day in the vase



  • 4 years ago

    Beautiful, @marascz9b!

  • 4 years ago

    I gave mine away to a friend a few miles away when Savannah didn‘t want to grow or rebloom in my garden. In my friend’s garden Savannah formed a moderate sized bush (about 3’ tall) with multiple fragrant blooms all season long that lasted well when cut. She says that it is her favorite rose of all, and I’ve given her maybe 15 or 20 roses. She has a more sheltered garden than mine and keeps her garden well irrigated, unlike my west facing sand on a slope. She also raises chickens (with plenty of chicken poop for fertilizer).

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I've only had Savannah one season but am very impressed with her so far. Healthy dark green foliage all summer with noe black spot. Beautiful blooms and onebof the last to quit blooming this fall. This first pic is from mid November in zone 5.







  • 4 years ago

    How is she for cold hardiness??

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    In Houston my Savannah wants to be tall and narrow, 7 or 8 feet after four years, maybe two feet wide; the form is a natural pillar. I planned for this and she is at the back of the bed against the house with a trellis for support. (The plant is sturdy and the trellis not really needed except in high winds). She does well in high heat and humidity and blooms regularly in full all day sun all summer; gets no direct sun in winter but does not seem to mind. The flower is always bright, despite the color variability; can be anything from peachy pink to a fairly deep coral pink with a yellow center, but does not fade to white (I get frustrated with the number of flowers billed as yellow, peach or orange that in summer fade instantly to white or worse, a dull brown.) Savannah never goes white, and also sheds the spent bloom. Good foliage and usually blooms all over, not just at the very top. ARE bills her as "one of the best all round shrubs."

  • 4 years ago

    Really, that narrow? Is it the same for everyone in the hot climate?

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I shovel pruned my Savannah in 2021. The bush was an underachiever in my garden. Savannah has a strong fragrance, pretty bloom, and very healthy. The blooms don’t last long, nod in heat, long between repeat blooms, and not many blooms. Beverly does much better in my garden.

  • 4 years ago

    Own root?? How tall and wide did they get?

  • 4 years ago

    I love my Savannah so much. My garden was neglected for several years and it was one of the survivors. Big, beautiful blooms. Even has a lovely fragrance. The plant is huge though, definitely 7 ft tall and 4 feet wide.

  • 4 years ago


    Lots of Beverly in this bunch. Savannah would have maybe 7 or 8 blooms at the most in one bloom cycle and that was 2021, 3rd growing season.

  • 4 years ago

    There are some beautiful examples here of Savannah. When mine bloomed it was really pretty but for me there were too few blooms for a behemoth sized rose

    I had lots more blooms on Beverly without the huge size. Sadly Beverly split right down the middle in a wind storm and never recovered. She was replaced with Bliss Parfuma that has done very well.