Where did you find this rose? I tried ordering it from Roses Unlimited, but what I got is something more like a pink 'Rose du Roi'.

:-)

~Christopher

Hmm. Well, I did get it from Roses Unlimited. And I'll admit I was worried it was not thorny enough, though it looked like someone had stripped off the thorns of the plant I received. The new stalks were still not as thorny as pictures of Omar Khayyám show them to be, and do indeed more closely resemble this picture of Rose du Roi: https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.174184

but the blossom are an almost exact match for the pictures under Omar Khayyám on helpmefind. I thought maybe it needed to grow a bit before developing its legendary thorns, but now I'm not sure I have the right plant...

The one I got from RU I eventually tossed, being as I was trying to collect old things for the cemetery. While I knew it was old, I didn't know what it was, so I didn't keep it -- there was no more room in my own yard for it. As it turns out, the rose garden where I work also has a rose labeled 'Omar Khayyam', and I recognized it right away as being the same as what I got. And they also got theirs from RU.

I don't find that the blooms look like 'Omar Khayyam' except perhaps in color. The form is different -- the one from RU is more globular, and the bloom doesn't break into a sort of shaggy pinwheel-ish shape like the real thing, which that does because it lacks guard petals to hold the bloom together. And the plant from RU is not nearly as prickly and gawky -- I'd say that the false one is actually a better garden plant. But I wanted something that would be something to talk about if I ever gave a tour, so only the real thing would do.

Anyway, it is an interesting rose -- very upright and narrow, arching a bit at the tips. The blooms are fragrant, and it wasn't very disease-prone. As I said, it does remind me of my 'Rose du Roi', which I got from Vintage Gardens, which they obtained as a reversion from 'Panachee de Lyon', one of its sports. It's not the same thing going around as 'Rose du Roi' from other US nurseries. There are actually two at my job, and I can't tell if two were planted or if the original suckered -- but it seems odd if it was the latter, and there was just one sucker, and it popped up a foot away.

But as far as I know, only Greenmantle has the real thing. Ordering from them seems to be a bit of a process, and I was hoping someone found the real thing elsewhere. I suppose if I really want it someday, I'll just have to put together a short list of things I'd want that only they have, and just do it all at once. I've heard great things about the quality of their plants, but I've gotten spoiled by being able to just do a few clicks on the computer and have things arrive at my door.

Anyway, if you have the space, enjoy the plant. I really don't want to disparage it. As I said above, it's actually a better garden plant than the real thing.

:-)

~Christopher

Somewhere among the old threads is a post with a mention of this same issue -- how what RU sells as this is some unnamed Portland. I'll search.

:-)

~Christopher

Sorry, I can't find it, and I'm nodding off. I know it's in here somewhere, but maybe it's just not appearing when I search for 'Omar Khayyam'.......or maybe it's so old that it was purged.

:-/

~Christopher