Whoo hoo, what blooms. My goodness

I'm late to the party, but here's my two cents worth. I have seven Bolero (floribunda 2004 from RU) plants. When my plants were band-sized, a couple of them put out basals from under the soil. The thorns on mine look about the same as yours, Kristine. The plants aren't particularly thorny, but the thorns are rather large for the size of the plants and stems. Sometimes the flowers open with a yellow tinge, sometimes a pink one. Sometimes they are just white. More unusually, an apricot tinge is produced. Mine want to bloom more than grow, but that's probably because I kept them under-watered, and under-fertilized, and have them in full blazing intense New Mexico sun. This year, with more water and fertilizer, they are taking off and some of the basals are 2-1/2 feet tall with a candelabra of buds at the top.

Here it is white:

Pink:

Yellow:

Yes, all these flowers are from Bolero, even though they look very different.

When your basal stops growing it should do this:

I'd say to give it some time, give it plenty of sun, and don't fertilize too much, especially with nitrogen unless you want it to get big first. It should bloom its head off for you next year. Once you get a whiff of the fragrance, you will be glad you didn't get rid of it.

Oh, and BTW, not that it matters, but I'm a "he" not a "she." ;-)

White, pink , yellow, at this point any color would be good lol

I think I will get a couple more next year. They are an Incredible rose

Now I don't actually know that from experience , ha ha . But because you guys are so generous with your pictures, I am hooked.

Kristine- You won't regret it. She is beautiful, flowers well, gets just a touch of black spot and smells incredible. Stargazer/Fresh Garden Living will have these for spring 2018 as does Roses Unlimited. RU usually has larger roses but FGL's are so healthy. Both are own root though if that makes a difference. It seems my own root are healthier than the grafted ones which are completely bare right now. FGL is also from OR so shipping will probably be less and the plants won't be stressed traveling across the country.

Sharon

The one that I have is from Stargazer and it's an incredibly healthy plant still waiting for a bloom

I'm going to take it out of the pot and put it into the ground next month and I think maybe that will be a better place for it. I can't wait to see it bloom. everyone's pictures are so fabulous and everyone Raves about Bolero so I may have to get a couple more

Kristine- her flowers are definitely worth the wait. They are gorgeous. She is probably my favorite rose. And her scent...ahhh.

My Nahema recently bloomed and she can't hold a candle to Bolero for scent. I just wish Bolero was a wee bit hardier. She suffers cane dieback over the winter but I don't winer protect so that might be the problem.

Sharon

Favorite, that is really saying something because you have some incredible roses .

It sounds like it has the full package.

Mine is from ARE so it is the 2004 floribunda by Meilland

http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/roses/2037/bolero

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.37467.1

Mine is also from ARE this May. It is really healthy and growing strong. I just put it in the ground two weeks ago and it's already given a flush (which I was unfortunately, not home to experience yet again. : ( )

thanks? haha, for the link Modest. I never looked at ARE before. What a selection they have. And own root. I don't know if I can restrain myself!! They have Buck's Folksinger rose. It gets some black spot but is a blooming machine in my garden.

Sharon

Kristine-thanks for the compliment. I fell in love with Bolero when i found her at Home Depot or Lowe's and bought six of them. The grafted didn't do that great here but I still wanted more. The following year neither HD or Lowe's had her so I ordered her own root from RU. Her flowers are just so beautiful and her scent is heavenly. In my opinion she has the best scent of any rose I own. Even over some of the fragrant DA's. Can you tell that I love this rose!!

Sharon

Regan's also has it as own root bare root

https://www.regannursery.com/rose/Bolero-

thanks.

I may add a couple of more toy Reagan's order

Mine is from RU, but I don't know which one since I forgot to specify. I think I have the HT 1997 because my leaves don't look like the shape or dark color of Modest's leaves (and Enchanted's) and hers apparently is the floribunda. My leaves look more olive, elongated like Kristine's. Also mine are all one bud to a stem and not like nose's photo of a cluster. Or do baby floribundas have single buds also?

totoro- Kristine's is the 2004 Floribunda. I wrote to Karyn, the co-owner of Stargazer Perennials and she told me it was the 2004 Floribunda. She will have these available in 2018 at both Stargazer and Fresh Garden Living. She will also have Kordes 'Crazy Love' and 'Apricot Candy' which Moses, PA raves about. RU might be the only own root vendor who carries both. I have grafted and own root and both have similar leaves and thorn position, thorn size and thorn color. It's hard to know if the flowers differ because I was only able to find one picture of the 1997 Bolero at HMF but it looks just like the 2004 introduction. So the mystery continues...

Sharon

Hummmm? Sharon where did you order yours?

Kristine- my grafted were purchased at either HD or Lowe's o both. I just don't remember. The own root are from RU but I didn't know Pat offered both the 1997 and the 2004 version so I don't know which one I have. I think it is probably the 2004 one since it is pretty hardy here and the 1997 Romantica one is listed as hardy to z7. Since both roses blossoms look the same to me and have relatively the same description it's difficult to know which one I have. The grafted ones are mostly dead with maybe a couple surviving canes but in a different post I asked about hardiness of grafted verses own root- http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4824775/grafted-verses-own-root-for-cane-hardiness-and-disease-resistance?n=6

and in researching found that if the rootstock is virused, which according to info most Dr. Huey is, the rose would be less cane hardy among other health issues. This might be why my own root Bolero and Julia are much healthier and hardier.

But comparing my own root Bolero to what is left of the grafted they seem identical. The flowers are the same, the leaf shape is the same and the thorniness is the same.

Sharon

Interesting update. Pat at RU said she sent me the 2004 Floribunda. Maybe my paler leaf color is due to young leaves or lacking nutrients in the soil.

The scent is heavenly for sure

Nilaa- just beautiful and I can smell her from here :-)

Sharon

what an incredible picture . I love that bloom. Mine still has nothing and it doesn't look like it's a normal Rose honestly it just putting out lots of growth that looks, I don't know it just doesn't look like it's going to do anything. When my eye feels better I will go take a picture of it I had a little eye surgery this week so I haven't really been on the Forum too much

Kristine and other fellow 'Bolero Fans',

Bolero appears to be gathering quite a following, and no wonder why. The numerous favorable comments (especially the wow! photos posted), praising its many great attributes are putting our Boleros in the limelight. I believe we have a winner, a keeper, in our Boleros.

Moses

Kristine, hope you recover quickly.

Today, my Bolero.

Totoro, fabulous!. thank you for the well wishes I am on the mend I had a retina tear so guess what they lasered my eyeball back together is that crazy so in a few days I'll be able to be back reading again. So here is a picture of my Bolero today still not even a sign of a bud I will be ordering a new one and if this one does anything fine I'll have two.

I hope you are good as new soon, Kristine.

Kristine- I wonder if you have Bolero. I'm far from an expert but mine seems to have much larger mature leaves than yours has. They're also less elongated. The stems are also more condensed but that could be due to temp differences . We have only had a handful of days this summer that reached low nineties. I had two mislabeled roses that were supposed to be Kordes Floral Fairytale. They bloomed once and were just a muddy peach tiny semi double not the luxurious fairytale bloom. It survived the winter in a pot and bloomed the same muddy peach again. The rose was so "meh" I'm surprised it's even propagated.

Sharon

It just seems to be an odd ball lol . No sign of any budding. It is in a perfect location so that isn't the problem. If I didn't know any better I would think it was in a entire plant of blind shoots that is the quality of the shoots . They do have thorns but it so spindly.

Remember I said at the very beginning maybe a month or so ago it sent out these two really long shoots of about 2 feet. Most people said that theirs did not send out long Octopus arms. So maybe I have something totally different but it's hard to know with no buds.

Thanks for the well wishes on my eye. I had a retinal tear and I'm not even supposed to be reading until tomorrow but darn it I'm just so anxious to find out what's going on on the rose Forum. it's an addiction I tell you lol

Kristine- mine never sent out octopus canes either. The grafted grew larger overall but the cane growth, if I remember, was pretty consistent in length. Hopefully yours will flower soon so you can see if it is or isn't Bolero.

Sharon

Kristine,

Looking at your photo of your Bolero.....I think, as Sharon has pointed out, you may not have Bolero. The seven leaflet leaves are not typical for the Boleros I have seen, nor does my Bolero's leaves have seven leaflets. Also, Bolero's leaflets are broader than the leaflets on yours.

Also, Kristine, it really should be blooming by now. Mine started blooming from the get go as a little fellow. It is still is knocking itself out blooming even as small as it still is, although it has almost quadrupled in size from its 4" tall liner from Stargazer Perennials.

Arnold, the brother of my sister-in-law, had a retinal tear some years ago and recovered completely, as I am sure you will. I am praying for you.

Also, I really like your half barrel planters. What brand are they? They look nicer than the Stone Light brand I have used quite a bit.

Moses

Kristine, I hope you feel better soon and that all the knowledgeable folks help you figure out what you have growing there. The leaves actually remind me of my beautiful Yvonne Rabier, but I don't that's sold by Stargazers. My ARE order had additional tags for those plants still in patent that must have come from the propagator. Molineux had a tag from DA, and Bolero had one that gave its patent name and number, and specified "Romantica" on it. Do other nursery's do this? Most of my mail-orders were for off-patent varieties.

Here are a couple of blooms of my Bolero that I hope will help speed your recovery. : )

Click to enlarge.

Wow!! Vapor, that is Incredible. This is why people love Bolero. When I order next spring I will get 2 and I bet I will have better luck.

Moses, my half barrels are from Home Depot, $20. What a deal

Kristine, I hope your eye is better!

I also don't think yours is Bolero.

Not to put a damper on Bolero, just a reality check. It's not a perfect rose (but I do have 9 of them now). Flowers are more susceptible to fried edges than some other white roses, and it does not keep good form in the heat. It is also not good for cut flowers. But of the following white floribundas that I have, it has by far, the best most mouth watering perfume.

Bolero today:

Compared to Fabulous! which looks like this in 95F, light Iceberg-type fragrance.

Pure Perfume, which also fries/thrips and loses shape in the heat, does have a nice fragrance in the morning, like grapefruit at times, like rose soap at other times, but not very strong.

Winchester Cathedral, small flowers, odd fragrance, octopus canes, ivory white opens blush, loses some form in heat, and only slight thrips damage.

Claire Austin, more yellow than white in my garden, vanilla-myrrh fragrance, takes heat and dry without browning. Not susceptible to thrips.

Nose, thank you for the well wishes my eye is doing better but I found out I also have macular degeneration so now it's all about trying to keep my eyesight where it's at and not lose any ground, good heavens.

thank you for the pictures. I have Winchester Cathedral and I agree long Octopus arms funny leaves small blooms not much of a wow factor is it at least not in my garden. So that will be moved to a lesser location something with more of a wow factor gets its place. My rock and roll Rose is just sitting like a lump I think it's not getting enough direct sunlight so that will probably go where Winchester Cathedral is now.

9 Boleros lol, you must have way more room than I do

Kristine, I just saw this about your eye, so sorry! But glad you are making a good recovery, thank goodness. Sending virtual hugs!

Kristine- so sorry to hear this. Best wishes for controlling this disease.

Sharon

Kristine, I'm glad you caught your MD early. Best wishes for great long term results.

Anyway I fear that Mosses is correct. The majority of the leaf sets should be in groups of five. Mine does have some seven leaf sets but not many. The leaf shape is not correct either. They should give you credit or a new real Bolero.

At my age it really ruffles my tail feathers to get the wrong rose. It always makes me feel uncomfortable having to ask for a replacement.

I just wish it would bloom..it could be something really cool.

The upside is that I needed a place for Winchester Cathedral. It will get the space that Boleo was going to get. See, it all worked out as it was supposed to. Plus, I have a mystery rose. Lol

Yikes! Best wishes for the macular degeneration.

I have 9 Bolero because it is a mass planting in a side yard. Not a big space, but Bolero is small.

Your mystery rose looks like the leaves of my Huntington Rose which is a nice rose for me in its first year. The first flower was unimpressive but the leaves are great.

Nose, thanks for the comparison with other whites.

Nose, I hope you are right about my mystry rose . I looked up Huntington rose and it is gorgeous. I should go to the website and see if that is one they grow.

I sent a picture to Stargazer nursery to see if they can figure out what it is

My guess is a climber of some sort

Kristine for what it's worth White Eden has 7 leaf sets. I'm not aware of wether they sold that one or not.

Patty- I believe that Stargazer/Fresh garden Living does sell What Eden. She did have it listed on Etsy. She also sells the Pretty in Pink Eden too. If this is white Eden maybe that's why there's no buds?

Sharon

This has perfect 5 leaf sets. Not much of a thorn. It sends out long canes .It does not look like any rose that I have ever grown.

I looked at their website to see what they sell and they dont have pictures of the leaves so hard To tell

But they don't seem to have a ton of selection so it shouldn't be too hard to figure it out.

I love a surprise so I can't wait to see what I end up with

Thats what I was thinking when I was looking at the romantica series. Plus they may have been in the same area since they are both romanticas.

Hum? Maybe eden. Beautiful rose, but a Climber. I would have to find a spot

Kristine, did your mystery rose bloom for you?

Nope, not a thing. So the mystery continues lol. I was just going over my order to Regans and I am going to try it again.

Hopefully this year I will find out what mysterious rose is taking up valuable space.

@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw - did you ever discover what your mystery rose was?