Hey everyone!! Mine is about to open dozens at once!!

Congratulations Mike! Will be stunning.

Mike, how exciting!! It's been a long cold spring here so it's so great to finally see some roses. How tall is your MA? She looks much shorter than Farmer's at 6 plus feet!

sharon

Ugh....my MA has thrips. All my pretty white buds opened to look sort of beige and raggedy. I can see the little buggers in there when I part the petals. They're also on Poseidon whose about 5 feet from her, though oddly not on Kiss Me Kate who is right beside MA. Should I just cut and bag all the open/semi open blooms and hope for good things from the closed buds? Not looking to spray or treat with systemic insecticide as I'm all about the bees and bugs...Would neem do anything to help the tightly closed buds? Roses. If it's not one thing, it's another, I swear.

nicole- :-(

Maybe you could all send my MA good vibrations? Planted early last spring (2017), had 3-4 gorgeous blooms, but plant was tiny. Stayed tiny. Looked like it might die. Didn't really prune it except to cut out the tiny branches that turned black. Foliage looks healthy. Entire bush is maybe 1.5 feet tall and wide. No buds this year at all. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Bupkus. Because I love your photos, and she's toward the back of my border, she gets one more year. That will be year 3. If nothing then -- I'm afraid she'll have to go. :-( BTW -- I was re-reading many of these posts and saw the comments from Chris about snap judgments re banded or 2 gallon plants. I just wanted to note I purchased a plant in a five-gallon pot from a super reputable nursery. If it was younger and should have been in a 1 or 2 gallon pot -- I don't know. It was small when I planted it - certainly didn't have the canes that a bare root has in January. I was not warned or told anything about MA taking a long while to establish. And if it was a very young plant, I was not told that, either. All I know is that I've only had one bare root rose "fail" on me, and the only roses I've lost have been due to gophers or when I ordered and planted tiny band roses that came later than promised, and then I was gone for six weeks, and they weren't properly watered while I was gone, so they all died. All this to say, both of my Kordes roses (Dark Desire and MA) have been problematic for me, and I'm starting to wonder what was up -- so many people have had trouble, and someone here suggested they were rushed into production, but Chris strongly argued against that interpretation, and noted that MA won awards... I'm just mystified - not complaining.

It's year three here for my MA -- actually year three for the plants from Chamblee's (own root) and year two for the plants from Roses Unlimited.

All of them died to the ground over winter -- we had a warm spell in December followed by -22 degrees for a week. Lots of plants that are usually iron clad tough died/died back this winter. Anyway, all of the MA plants made it back, and they are all somewhere between 3-4 feet tall, healthy and blooming like crazy. The hotter the weather, the more they seem to bloom and grow. Fragrant flowers, super healthy leaves too -- but they sure are gawky (tall & skinny) plants. I have them planted on 18" centers to create more of a blocky look. Great cut flower -- but the flowers are in bunches, so cutting them sacrifices some buds.

I am glad I stuck it out with MA. These new Kordes have not been instant gratification by any means (the DAs do that so well!), but I am hoping that every year they will continue to improve.

Sunny

Aside from the dirty TP look of some of the blooms that got rained on last week and refused to drop their petals I really couldn't be happier. Its amazing that this rose went from no flowers to being among my most floriferous in just one year. I'm especially impressed with the extended bloom period. It opened its first flower on June 12th which was within a few days of almost all of my other roses, but now its still going strong with many more buds still to open while all of my Austins stopped blooming about a week ago. Some of the MA's already have new growth and new buds appearing while still blooming so it looks like the show might be nearly continuous. Vase life is excellent too.

Thanks, Sunny and Eli. I continue to hope. The photos on this thread (esp. Cori Ann's) keep me optimistic. I'm just surprised that I had no blooms, not even buds this last spring, in year 2! We shall see... (dirty tp...tee hee)

Mine has grown a lot recently with all the rain and is blooming a third time.

It is one sticking up in the middle of the photo. Awakening on the left fence.

My MA this morning. A giant stick wants to reach the sky. I wonder if I should trimmed it like a tree rose.

I am thinking of pillaring it around an obelisk or training it to the left on the trellis toward Awakeningto encourage more laterals.

I know this is about MA, but aren't you loving Awakening? Mine is really coming into its own in year two with longer canes and more constant bloom. It's a great rose for those you want something more fully petalled than New Dawn, but with the same general attributes.

I have a bud on my MA! First one this year. First one since my 3 blooms in the spring of 2017 (first spring it was planted).

Congratulations Deborah. I think you have to be patient with this rose. This is mine's third year.

Vapor, I do love Awakening. Just wish the blooming laterals were a little shorter from an aesthetic standpoint.

this conversation was amazing, and heirloom has it in stock now! Maybe I’ve found a good replacement for my disease ridden JFK at last :)

I brought a winter bare root MA and it’s the first year. It grows very well but I don’t know why it got no fragrance at all.

Wow, daocean, yours is so short. And so many buds! Fragrance sometimes takes a baby rose a season to establish.

I think mine is leggy to get out of the shade. I am going to to wrap it around an obelisk.

It takes some time to get the scent. I am not sure how it will behave where you are. I just moved mine today after it grew 7 feet tall for the 2nd time this year. It was in full sun and I tried pegging it to the ground. The laterals those main branches grew were over 6 1/2 feel tall also. The roots were so thick I had to jump on the shovel to cut through them. This is a very powerful rose.

This pic from helpmefind.com isn’t mine, but its very representative of how mine looks. Lots of long canes, very green foliage, but just one bloom. Notice the chair is being used to prop up thorny Madame (seating for those guests you don’t want to stay too long). A cat has also been employed to buttress up against the chair and keep it all in place. I hope no one is expecting little kitty to stay like that, this solution is quite tenuous, it is only a matter of time before Kitty finds something interesting to chase and Madame attacks the front walkway, LOL!

Too funny Ben! I too have cats with chair duty, but they usually perform their work laying on the chairs.

I regret nothing so far :)

Very pink in the cool weather.

Interesting to see the pink coloration. Most roses tend to go pink in my soil, but MA has only ever been creamy white with just a slight apricot blush.

After 3 long years, she blooms! (And I got a huge plant in a 5 gal pot to begin with). I believe the parentage to be something like

Wollerton Old Hall X Century Plant.

I cant complain, I’ve moved her to the undesirable part of the garden where she gets maybe just 3-4 hours of unbearable afternoon sun, and she is crazy vigorous, healthy and has a respectable amount of blooms. The flowers are quite nice, smell of myrrh , I like the green buds, but blooms in big jumbled clusters.

Ditto on Summer Romance...blooms after 3 long years! Huge, healthy, relegated to the ‘undesirables’ part of the yard. This also has a strong myrrh note, but other scents as well, overall I like the scent better than Mme A.

Here the parentage must be similar:

Bishops Castle X Century Plant.

That's hilarious! I don't have MA, but my SR has been a bloomer since the get-go in the best part of my garden. I have loamy clay. It's amazing how these roses react in different climates and soils. I did not realize the fragrance of SR was myrrh as I've always wondered about that scent. To me it smells of candy!

Ha! Here’s its blooming on a similar schedule to my new PJP so far. Most of the pink is gone now that it’s warmed up

Vapovac

Myrrh smells specifically like licorice candy to me. Summer Romance sometimes smells rosy, perfumey or like myrrh, there’s a lot of scents going on. Mme Anisette is very much just a single myrrh note.

Amanda,

It’s a very shapely bloom. With the pink gone, you can more clearly notice the resemblance to Century Plant, too. ;-)

Mine, two, three years old each, have never, ever put out pink color. The coloring is off white, progressively getting worse over time. Heathy, tall like climbers and very homely.

On the shovel prune list ..

My guess is one need dry heat to bring out the best of this one. I don’t have that here in NJ.

A very disappointing rose to me

Farmerduck- that's so interesting! I've got her here on Long Island so similar climate. She not only survived being moved in late fall and held in a pot all winter, but is blooming like nothing I've ever seen now that she's back in the ground. Really nice full form (she was doing the sky-scraper thing last season but I pruned her pretty hard when I had to move her) and SPOTLESS foliage in my black-spot heaven back yard. Creamy white blooms with the tiniest apricot blush- I've had visitors to the house just stop and say "Wow!" out loud when they see this plant- it's really special looking. Only she and Poseidon survived at all when I moved houses in December, and looking at her you'd never known she'd been moved (Poseidon is pouting hard core). Is yours own-root? Mine is own root from Roses Unlimited, 2 years old.

Hi, I have a M.A. that is a bare root that I planted early in the Spring of 2017. I am living on the West Coast of Florida a little North of Tampa. Contrary to what I was told, she bloomed that first Summer. I got a few beautiful Creamy-Apricot blooms. I have not gotten any since unless you want to count a tiny wilting white one I saw out there a few weeks ago. She is growing like a weed but spindly legs. I will prune her hard this "winter" which here for the past 2 years hasn't happened until January and the Spring started up again in February!!

My older one, around three years old, has a few buds but no blooms yet. This is one tough little rose. I accidentally left one out in a pulp pot over winter, no mulch, nothing, and she came through virtually unscathed. She's still tiny but has a least one bud on her. The health has been stellar. Both are own root.

Now to only figure out how to get her to grow a few more canes.

Sharon

I'm so glad I read this post even though I don't grow Kordes roses just to be able to read Ben's hilarious comments. Thank you Ben!

I grew Madame Anisette and Summer Romance in LV. Both bloomed during their first season. The fragrance of Summer Romance is strong, and I like it... I think both roses might prefer warmer temperatures and/or a lot of sunshine...

I would grow Summer Romance again, but do not know if Madame Anisette would make the cut (would have to compete with other white roses)... although, nowadays, if M.A. is disease resistant it will...

This Rose is the hardiest and cleanest rose I ever grew since the first year I planted it from a gallon pot. It vigorous, always loaded with blooms, and never a problem with the leaves or bugs. My most dramatic one I have ever own. Fragrant before the buds even open. It's about to open dozens of buds at once. ....I rate it an A+

My pink blooms were January in southern california, chilly but not cold so I could see how they would usually not happen.

As always late to the party! I have had MA for the past 3 years and its an own root. Originally put in front of a chimney on western exposure (1st year no blooms). Then I moved it to my rose garden in backyard with a southern exposure. (2nd year - 1 or 2 blooms). Took out a Molineux English rose and moved MA to there (corner area of rose garden with still southern exposure). This spring it was like the plant finally realized it was in a permanent spot! It grew about 4' high with lots of blooms on its tips all opening pretty much at once. We have had a wet spring so this might be a factor. Photos taken on June 8th of this year.

I'm so perplexed with some of the comments. Only because I have my own questions and struggles, and I'm surprised I actually had success with Madame (said humbly). When I order roses, I always put them into the garden in the fall because I feel like they are more established. Given that, my Madame A's first flush was insane. However, I don't have much of a repeat (and this goes for almost all of my roses until close to fall). Sadly, the beetle's torture all my rose babies and for weeks! It's infuriating.

It looks beautiful! I do wonder what is going on with it genetically because it seems to act so differently in different areas. I would think you are in a similar area to where it was bred, so it would rebloom how it is supposed to

Mine has turned into quite a beast on its own roots, It put out a 12 foot cane and decided to bloom in the neighbor’s yard instead. I’m thinking of digging it and putting it in a big pot to maybe dwarf it a little bit. I have no idea if that will work....

My Madame Anisette is own-root from RU. I believe fourth season. It blooms very nicely for me in springtime until the thrips arrive.
It has been cane hardy so far in my Z5b. This has surprised me considering my "Quatre Saisons" from ARE (rated Z5) has not been cane hardy for me at all. I haven't seen blooms on it in four years. Even 'Chianti' has been hardy and increasing in size and bloom.
I've been happy and surprised with my Madame Anisette so far.

Best fortunes with her!

Steven

My Madame Anissette.

I have two that are at least 8 to 10 feet tall. One pegged down to itself and the second one on an 8 feet obelisk.

Blooms well after 3 years and the blooms are magnificent except when they get completely destroyed by thrips.

Takes long breaks in between bloom cycles but she has perfect health no spray

My blooms up close on video

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_F3FSbt6GhY

It's so interesting to hear how tall Madama A is growing in all our gardens. I bought mine from Palatine about 3 years ago. Description says she can grow to be up to 6 feet, but clearly she surpasses the height. Again. Only had one flush this year. Sounds like she takes a while in between flushes.

Hete in new England it’s my strongest rose. Most profuse flowering one too !
I cut it back in August to about 2 feet high and Moes it’s over 7 feet tall. All the stems flowering again. The fragrance just as strong. My best of all.

Beautiful bushes by the way everyone. Good job

Well, these photos are why MA is still in my yard. She's about 2 1/2 feet tall, in her 3rd year on her own roots and gave me 3 blooms this year. She's the most puny thing in my yard. The ONLY reason she's still there is because photos on Houzz make me think that she's worth the wait. I think I will give her this next spring. If she doesn't do anything then, she's going to a new home. :-(

A photo from last year, but indicative of Madame Anisette's charming blooms.
She is one of my most disease resistant roses and is around 3 1/2 feet tall.
Steven

Is anyone, besides Heirloom selling this rose?

roses unlimited has MA. I received mine accidentally and so did many others from fresh garden living, when I ordered Michaelangelo - I got own root MA( after sporadic blooming, she went crazy on year 3 and was covered with flowers, but does not repeat well) I will try pruning more to see if it has any impact. The most vigorous and healthiest rose in my garden, amazing foliage.

Thank you ♡

Well, because of Cori Ann's photos, and Chris's comments re ADR, I hung in there with MA since 2017! It's now going into 2022 (in 3 days), and my MA will be coming out when I prune. I had MA in a prime spot in the garden, toward the back of the border due to reports of its height. I got 2-3 blooms first year, then some buds that crisped up in a hot day/dry wind day -- then nothing for over a year, then a couple of blooms, then nothing. So I moved it to a shadier part of the yard where it wasn't in a prime spot -- and got maybe 2 buds, but deer got those.

So -- not MA's fault that deer got the 2 buds from 2021, and not MA's fault that the buds in 2017 were dried up by the sundowner winds. And, maybe not even MA's fault that it got a poor start. The famous nursery about an hour's drive away that sold me both MA and Dark Desire sold them in 5 gallon pots, but the roots looked more like 1 gallon plants from Heirloom. The Dark Desire died, and I replaced it, and had about the same luck with that one. I gave DD away last month to a neighbor, and will now offer him the MA. I've given MA and DD 5 years to perform, and they haven't. So, as Moses says, life is too short (and garden space too limited) to wait that long. So, bye bye MA. Sigh.

p.s. I mis-remembered my dates in above post -- I got MA in late winter of 2017.