Good topic. I have been wondering the same thing myself. I was going to get one last year as several were available at all the local BBS. Then read it grows to be a monster with no blooms. I hope people will update on SR.

It has been great for me. I’m one of the ones raving about it, but I have never ordered from Chamblees and honestly I don’t really care for teeny tiny young plants. I have 4, all own root (but they’re strong enough that they seem grafted) and I got them from Lowe’s of all places. Very fast growers, EXTREMELY floriferous, pretty fast repeat, beautiful and healthy foliage, wonderful fragrance, holds up to insane heat. Nothing but good things here.

Maybe the people unhappy before had younger plants and didn’t give them enough time/sun/heat?

The scent is amazing. The flowers from my first SR have been lovely. The jury is still out on the clearance ines I got from a BBS this past fall. I am waiting to see if they re bloom or just grow like some of the other people have experiemced.

I got one from Chamblees for $2.50 in a 1 gallon in their sale bin. It has super growth, clean leaves, but in the pot, never flowered for me. I pruned it hard - going to plant it in full sun along my fenceline - roses there get good care, water, fertilizer. I have heard the bad reviews too and have been reluctant to plant it. But going to give it a chance, glad there are some positive comments. But if it doesn't flower.....no sense in growing it. Will be interested to hear other remarks about it and hopefully some photos.

Judith

There’s lots of photos from last spring/summer in a few other threads from that time.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4844409/wondering-about-summer-romance?n=30

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4265102/new-kordes-roses-summer-romance-and-first-crush?n=47

I’m sure there will be more photos as we get into spring/summer this year. I should have blooms/photos in a few weeks. :-)

The blooms of SR are beautiful and strongly fragrant. It was healthy as well for me. However, I have never seen a rose grow so aggressively at the expense of blooming. I wonder if it is a rose that appreciates less than more. I ended up giving it to a friend because I did not have a place to place a rose with this growth habit. Loved the blooms, though, and miss having it.

Cori Ann, Thanks for posting those links. Your photos of Summer Romance have made me decide I will be getting one. I am impressed by the amount of heat Summer Romance, First Crush and Madame Anisette can take in your garden. I recommended them to my mom who lives just outside of Phx, AZ based on your photos/ reports of heat tolerance. She also has stone walls in her garden. :)

Fantastic! I hope she can find larger plants locally instead of buying smaller ones online. As far as I can tell... that seems to be one of the main differences between the ones at my house and the ones elsewhere. I really love mine and they were a great deal at Lowe’s. :-)

I told her to go to Lowes. Hopefully they still have some container roses. I know the bare root planting winds down by mid Feb if not earlier.

Last year I remember Chris saying Lowe’s on the West Coast wouldn’t even get them until later in the spring... sometime towards Easter. Not sure if it’s the same this year... but that’s when it was last year so there may be no rush for your Mom currently. :-)

It was Summer Romance, Mme Anisette and two other roses that were pulled by Kordes for sale in some areas, that was what was told to me by K&M Nurseries. Chamblees was also stopping sale of them and had them on clearance. I think Chris from NewFlora indicated they may have problems blooming where nights stay very warm, which might explain why Cori Ann (hot days, cool nights) has such nice blooms, while others in the Deep South do not. Chamblees clearance plants were so big , healthy and cheap that I decided to try them anyway...if they bloom only in Spring and Fall, that might be good enough for me.

Cori Ann

Not to Hijack this thread, but....

What is the striped rose in the middle of your bouquet photo here?

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4844409/wondering-about-summer-romance?n=30

Carla in Sac

Thanks Cori Ann.

BenT, Hmmm I saw Summer Romance a month ago at Lowes. Haven't really looked for it since then. Last year Walmart had them.

I got 3 First Crush on clearance here last fall. I haven't seen them again here this spring. I wonder if they pulled those too? I have no problems with them blooming.

Our nights in the summer stay muggy. Right now and late/fall winter the nights are cooler than the days. Most of my plants do like those kinds of temps.

I've never seen Mme Anisette here. I really want to try MA so I will probably have to get it online.

~Sjn

Carla... Raspberry Cream Twirl. :-)

So muggy nights retards the flowering part of the plant. That's so bad because the blooms are so wonderfully fragrant.

I don’t know... nights stay pretty hot here (70s-80s) in the summer and I still had blooms. SJN has humid muggy nights in FL and didn’t have a problem with First Crush blooming.

You sound just like me, Noseo! lol Lisa

Hi SJN and Cori Ann

I don’t think First Crush was not one of the 4 roses pulled by Kordes, the Southern nurseries are still allowed to sell it. Cori Ann, having most my relatives in inland N Cal, I still think your part of the world has far more pleasant summer nights than mine, not only for the roses, but for the humans like me :-)

I agree Ben. I have family in TX too... it’s the humidity that gets me there. :-)

It does stay hot here at night though in the summer, but it’s a dry heat. I think I remember Chris saying the color of the blooms for SR and MA is more prounounced and deep when there are cool nights and hot days... but I don’t remember her saying warm nights diminish blooms. I could be wrong though!

Marcindy,

There has been a pattern of sparse blooming among certain Kordes varieties for years. Some Kordes roses are profuse and quick cycling bloomers, some are not.

I am not convinced that hot days accompanied with cool nights makes Summer Romance pump out the blooms. I think that there is genetic drift, unstable characteristics in certain roses. What do you think is the cause of some rose sports (different colors, different fragrances, different growth habits, etc...), unstable genes.

Summer Romance plants are all vegetatively propagated from one, original parent plant, but not directly from the original parent. The run of the mill Summer Romance most likely is a cutting taken from a cutting grown SR, taken from a different cutting grown SR, taken from a different cutting grown SR, on and on.

Plants with unstable genes mutate very easily.

Assuming each and every Summer Romance will grow identically under identical growing conditions should be the case, but with unstable genetic material this is not necessarily so. There is so much mixed heritage in roses that all sorts of unexpected results occur.

For example there are many vegetatively grown variations, some subtle, some very observable in the famous daylily, Stella d' Oro. Some were spontaneous mutations, and some artificially induced.

I was told years ago that in one acre of a specific, non-hybrid, variety of corn there are 200 mutations present in the corn plants in that one acre.

Just a thought of mine.

Moses

Wasn’t it mentioned by Chris that Madame anisette was still available just not being distrubuted for a couple seasons. I thought it had to do with inventory, I may be wrong though.

Thanks Ben. I am hoping to find a few leftovers in the BBS or nurseries here. If not, I will get them at The Gettin Place (online) lol

No one has told the plants in my garden that mugginess retards blooming. Its a wild zoo out there in the late spring, summer, and early fall and that's when its the muggiest.

We are more humid in general, in NE FL in the summer than in So FL because we get more rain in the summer. They stay warmer in the winter where we get more freezes. We are also hotter in the summer sometimes reaching the 100F. If it doesn't rain for a week or so the temps go up. It is a pretty unique place to garden and I think very similar to central southern Louisiana in climate. Totally different soil though.