Thank you Carla, what a nice compliment!

Another favorite beauty from today that just started blooming. This is the second season for this one. The blooms are gorgeous, fragrant and the bush is very healthy. One of Meilland’s Romantica roses.

AUGUSTE RENOIR

Both are sooo beautiful Sara Ann! I know you were hoping posiden would bloom nicely and it sure did . Wish it would stay small as I’m wondering if I have room for one or not :(

Thank you Lilyfinch! Poseidon does get really big. Are you familiar with Love Song? It’s a beautiful lavender Floribunda and I would think it would do good in your area, and I wouldn’t think it would get as big as Poseidon.

Sara Ann, what a stunning bouquet. I would make a print of it, and frame it--seriously, it's perfection. Auguste Renoir is a beauty, too. I have to mention that I have two Love Song roses, and they are big in zone 7, especially the more sheltered of the two. In SoCal, I think Love Song might get as large as Poseidon, especially with no winter to knock it back. Love Song is a zone 7 and warmer rose, I think. Poseidon and Love Song are my two favorite lavenders with Angel Face a close second. Diane

I am familiar with love song , violets pride and posiden .. I think I’ll choose one of the three. You gotta have a good purple !! :) they are just so unique and beautiful.

Thank you so much Diane! You are the Queen of Love Song, yours is so beautiful! Seems like my Carruth Roses do stay rather compact, even though they do pretty good for me, although my Grande Dame is really growing right now. My Kordes roses tend to get larger, and Poseidon is the biggest one of all! Lilyfinch, Violet’s Pride would be great too, I remember how lovely Lisa’s is. I imagine which ever one you choose, it will be the right choice.

Your rose sure makes a nice bouquet. Thanks for the look. Unfortunately, my Poseidon, along with a bunch of other roses, did not survive the bad late freezes last year. Don't know if I can replace it yet.

Neither Poseidon nor Love Song have any fragrance, fyi. Which I find rather shocking for a purple. I just sniffed Neptune for the first time however, and it's delicious!
Carla in Sac

Thank you the bustopher. So sorry you lost so many roses, I’m sure that’s been disappointing. Carla, I’ve detected some fragrance with Poseidon, not much if any I can recall with Love Song though. I have lots of fragrant roses, so I can be forgiving of a non fragrant one if it has other attributes. I agree with you, Neptune is very fragrant, and it’s gorgeous too. Two other lavender/purple roses that have great fragrance and beauty too, are Royal Amethyst and Lagerfeld.

Angel Face has a beautiful scent, and if you live in a dry area like I do, she is disease free. I would think this would include most of SoCal. Diane

Diane, Angel Face is lovely and fragrant, I forgot about that one.

This is a great rose! Your bouquet is great! Poseidon is a terrific bloomer, sometimes the blooms get damaged by too much moisture here, they end up looking dingy. But when that doesn't happen they are gorgeous; as your current blooms show. Mine stays compact due to winter dieback, fingers are crossed that it will rebound again. And the disease resistance is amazing here. Mine is planted in morning shade and not a speck of blackspot.

Thanks HalloBlondie, yes I’ve had that problem with Poseidon more than once. I think timing of when it rains must have a lot to do with it, because we’ve had several inches of rain recently. I was keeping my fingers crossed that they would look good. I guess I assumed that Poseidon is hardy for everyone, since it’s so vigorous here. I really wouldn’t mind if it was a little more compact though.

My new Poseidon is sitting in a wheelbarrow with a few other roses waiting to go in the ground. Even in it's tiny band pot, it produced what appears to be a full size bloom, and sitting next to Honey Dijon, also blooming in her little band, the two look made for each other. I couldn't be more pleased. I hope I have a bouquet like yours, Sara Ann, in a year or two. I failed at 3 attempts with Love Song.

Thank you flowers! Hope your Poseidon does good, I wish you the best with it. Honey Dijon is a unique rose and can be lovely at times, From the pictures I’ve seen. Right now I have three Love Song bushes, two that I’ve had since 2013 and die back to ground every year, but come back, right now they both look pretty good. The other one I just planted, it is just now getting ready to bloom and looks great! I love that rose, but I’ve had my own troubles with it!

Thank you, Sara-Ann, fot those beautiful blooms.

Thank you, Ingrida!