Oh, but have you given the blooms a good sniff? I was pleasantly surprised!

Thanks for the photo. The blooms on mine are suffused with deep salmon undertones on an otherwise rich pink rose.

Yes, very potent scent. Dee-Lish's strong selling point is its ADR designation, which proved valid. It is essentially black spot free, and was essentially tip hardy over its first winter, this last winter, unprotected. Everyone knows the first winter in a cold zone for a young rose is its hardest to survive. It has sent up two basals this year, one of which is almost 2' tall. This rose is one robust grower, no wimp.

Moses

Since you asked...my Dee-lish leafed out strongly this year, and has been growing well, producing a lot of buds for the first flush. Fragrance was very light at first, but now stronger. Smelled exactly like Starburst fruit chews when the first buds opened, and now it smells just like grapefruit. The color is a very strong color, which is not typical for my garden, but I like it more than I expected. I'm happy that the flowers don't look typically HT but more like an English rose. I just learned that Graham Thomas is a parent, so I guess that makes sense.

Noseometer,

Thanks for the photo. Boy, do I like cupped outer petals with a ring of reflexed outermost row of petals, then a quartered center. That's my kind of rose. It looks like close kin to Rouge Royale in its flower form, just not an intense red, but pink. I just got another Dee-Lish from Stargazer Perennials. Can't have too much of a good thing! What a relief that when I'm spraying for black spot I can pass by my Dee-Lishes, and don't have to winterize this rose. It is right behind my much beloved Quietness for being a nearly perfect rose for my tastes and under my growing conditions.

Moses

How's my Dee-Lish doing? As usual, surviving my zone 5 winters but only just. It's craning its tiny head to peer at these terrific photos but after 4 years it still hasn't gotten above knee height. Ah the regrettable differences between zone 6 and 5 I guess. I do agree with you on the stability and hardiness of Quietness even in a poor garden spot.

Cynthia

I bought Dee-Lish as an own root rose and had it sent to my mother-in-law in zone 4 in New Hampshire. I figured it would be an annual but she could enjoy it. She said it did not make it through the winter two years ago..... but just got back from my vacation and found that the little bush was growing. I know she had a very cold winter... lots of snow..... Do roses normally grow in colder zones than recommended.... Dee-Lish obviously had dead canes on it from winter kill. I trimmed it off and gave it some rosetone and some nice new compost and a thick layer of pine straw around its base..... to be fair my mother-in-law is in very poor health and was not able to see it from her window.... but I am hoping the rose will give her some blooms still this fall...... and I hope I am giving the little guy helping hand for this winter. I have not seen or smelled this rose in person,

Would love to hear more about this rose.....

I wish, for your in-law's sake, it could be expected to take off growing, but I think zone 4 is really pushing it beyond its limit without heavy winter protection, like an igloo shaped mound of large pine bark mulch, probably all 2 cu. ft. of one bag. Come spring, just spread the mulch around as a nice mulch.

Dee Lish is an ADR winner, but the coldest of the many test gardens in Germany where it was trialed is about a zone 6. Zone 4 is 20 degrees colder for its average minimum winter temperature than zone 6. That's a big difference!

Moses

Thanks Moses..... I was surprised it was still alive after two years..... as I said I thought it would be an annual.... but when I was there I thought if it had lived that long maybe I should at least feed the poor thing..... Probably killed it with kindness..... I know they had an extreme amount of snow these past two years.... all I can guess is that the snow gave some insulation to the real cold.....

I hope to see it ... or another Dee-Lish someday in person.

Sharon,

Does your M-I-L have thaw/freeze cycles for weeks in spring until all late frosts are over? Or, once the spring thaw comes, it's clear sailing?

Heavy snow (strange as it sounds, snow/ice can be no colder than 32°F) is the best winterization there is......but once it melts away, and you get thaws and frosts off and on for weeks in spring after that, that's when the dead black canes show up. It's because of the dips in the AIR temps below 17°F (the damage threshold temp for HT roses), not from all winter long 32°F under shows sleep. The bush was well protected by the snow then. That's where the large pine bark comes in. It protects the bush until all killing spring frosts are past. The large pine bark is best. It does not hold excessive moisture which rots canes. Hardwood, fine pine bark mulch.....too dense and moisture retentive, rots canes.

Moses

Not sure about thawing and refreezing..... I will have to ask her..... I know it can warm up and then have another snow...... but as you said it can't get colder than 32.... that is why I think it was an insulator.... so even when it gets 32 below there is normally a foot or more of snow already covering the plant.

I believe there are definitely weather cycles... so whether there is a cycle of cold without snow before I have a chance to see him one does not know....

I picked up 2 of them today at Home Depot

You give me hope. If I see one here, I'll definitely snag it, although usually the choice at HD is even worse than Lowe's.

That’s so strange because our Lowe’s doesn’t carry bare roots. They did have some potted DAs and Kordes last year though.

They have a few of the old faithfuls, but I doubt they'll have any this year. The manager at my best Lowe's told me they've changed the ordering policy for the individual stores to centralize buying, so they have no say in what roses come in. I'm bummed about it as she had said she'd order me in Quicksilver this year. I also doubt I'll see as many markdowns because she said they will no longer actually buy the plants outright, but receive them on a sort of commission where they don't go down on inventory until actually purchased. HD does carry some of the Morden roses and other hardy Canadians and one year had Beverly, but I didn't get it thinking I'd wait till the next year. Of course, they didn't get in then. : (((

I have it on a southern exposure — front landscape in front of a porch. It does well & the heat from the house doesn’t let it go totally dormant.

Mine is ownroot , planted last summer . it is 2 ft now and healthy but does not bloom much. Maybe needs to grow more roots?

I ended up getting a third, so I have 3 now.

They are not currently flowering, but all putting out new growth.

All between 6-8ft tall.

I think Moses has mentioned that the form is not desirable and I am finding that out the hard way.

I have them planted in a row and they are just very tall and very gangly. I desperately need something to hide and fill in the bare legs.

Unless they fill in with age? Maybe I'll just hard prune in the Spring?

Mine, three now also, JC, were still gangly in 2020, even the oldest one, but so many liner starts take time to settle down, being so small. My expectation is for them to improve in this regard, but hopefully on my schedule, not theirs!

Moses

Oh Flowers!!!! Those are DIVINE!!! Mine had better shape up this summer!

Carol, I hope your posting means you're feeling much better. Nasty stuff, vertigo!

I believe I ordered one Dee-Lish on Huey and one on Multi so I could make a comparison, but I promptly forgot which is which. I will try to figure it out in the spring. One grew a bit taller than the other, but both bloomed more than I ever expected for a new rose, and so healthy!

Yeah, I'm not quite 100%...but I'm good enough. :)

Oh, that sounds EXACTLY like me....I would totally do the same thing..."I'll do this little experiment" then "????" LOL

@Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & warm/humid S z6 - how is your Dee-lish doing this year? Mine has rebounded from last year’s misery.

Nose, those blooms are gorgeous. You got me started a little while ago as a fan of D, ie, Sweet Parfum de Provence. Now I want to grow it, you enabler. Diane

Both of mine survived this very mild winter. There was some dieback on both, but not much. A consistent snow cover would have been better. Both have grown and leafed out and set buds, but too early for blooms. The new growth is distinguishable because it is deep red and shiny. I'll be thrilled if they're as floriferous as last year. I need this deeper pink in my garden. The color is just a little deeper than Leo da Vinci.

Moses' recommendations never fail.

Mr. Moses, if you're reading here, welcome back. You won't know what to do with yourself, having been in pain for so long. I'm praying for the speediest recovery on record, and the best gardening year so far!

Noseometer - BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Your Dee-Lish has that folded, stuffed petal look that is SWOONWORTHY!!!! Love!! :)

I'm loving mine. I got it because Mosses recommend it very strongly:). Big fragrant flowers and not much of blackspot so far. Summer is the real test, but I have high hopes!

Mine is 7th-year own-root. Bought from Roses Unlimited in 2015. More blooms with each year. It gets better as it matures: first year died to the crown in my zone 5a (-20 below zero windchill factor). This past winter it was over 2 feet of green cane. Below pic. was taken last August at near 90 F:

In summer heat above 90, I like it better than Princess Charlene de Monaco, see pic. below how PCM fades to white & less petals, while Dee-lish keeps its many petals.

The most blackspots I saw in its 7 years as own-root was 3 lowest leaves in late fall: