Such a pretty color. both the buds and the blooms.

Absolutely beautiful. Oh, Jeri, i bet you will be eyeing on that rose when it blooms. Wish, i cam see it too :)

Very charming.

This is beautiful! By the way, when did Houzz start making us click on "Read More" if we want to see pictures? GEEZ. Its almost like they are trying to kill their forums on purpose.

Jeri, that is a lovely rose! The bees love it, too. I don't see BD very often now, but it should be more widely grown. I have whittled down my Hybrid Musks to 3: Buff Beauty, Penelope and Daphne, but I'd grow them all if I had the space, time and energy. In my opinion, no remontant modern can beat a well grown Hybrid Musk! They are like Easter eggs, most with deeply colored buds and then watercolor kaleidoscopes of unfurling petals. A whole pastel rainbow (except crimson Nur Mahal, etc.) in every bloom. Thank you for posting photos of your rose, pruned late for extra anticipation. Forum photos are the only way I can enjoy BD these days. Carol

The one thing was -- we didn't know when we planted him, how BIG he would get to be. I need to take a photo of the whole plant, with something in it for scale. I suspect you could keep it smaller, but since we don't HAVE to ... we don't.

Those "tunnels" are breathtaking! This seems like a marvelous way to grow Buff Beauty, which is a beauty that tends to hang its head because the flowers are rather heavy with all those petals. That last photo is positively scrumptious.

Thank you, Ingrid!

I adore the Hybrid Musks, but mine are gnomes compared to the ones here. Still, I have my own huge and wonderful roses so can't reasonable complain. I've done the "put the rose on a pergola so I can walk under it" thing myself. In fact, quite a bit.

I'm with you on the rant, Comtesse.

You are correct. B.D. doesn't have the wide-draping/arching habit you think of, with H.M.'s. It was bred by Captain George C, Thomas (an interesting man, btw -- something of a polymath) and it's a very different critter. Hugely upright.

I think it could be kept smaller than ours is, but not SMALL, IYKWIM.

I'll have photos for you shortly.

Well, here are a couple, but I'll have more.

The main body of the plant is about 8-ft. tall ... but some of the growth on the far right is more like 10-ft.

Good lord, this is an incredible! Between the BB and BD pics my head is exploding!!!

WOW, Jeri! Your BD is spectacular!! I love that Hybrid Musks are such a varied group, including quite a number of "spreaders" but also a few outliers that grow upright or make shrubbier specimens. I also love the way your plant makes a large rounded shrub and then shoots off along the fence so that it has an opportunity to do that "romantic through-the-wrought-iron spillage thing." Seeing roses frothing over and between railings just makes me swoon! Off topic: Is that a red China glowing in front of your BD? Carol

To the right? To the right is 'Lady Ann Kidwell' Directly in front of BD is a "Hot Lips" salvia.

Thank you, Jeri. I must have been looking at Lady Ann. Carol

The pictures I've seen of Bishop Darlington in various rose books have never looked like THIS! I had no idea that the blooms are so large and spectacular. Thank you, Jeri, for this thread and these gorgeous and eye-opening photos.

Tell the truth, Ingrid -- Neither had I!

If we'd known what it would become, we'd have put it in quite a different place.

What zone are you in? I'd love something like this for the front of my house trained around the picture window, do you think it's too wild for that?

RebG -- 'Bishop Darlington ' isn't a lax rose that can be "trained around" anything. It is stiff-caned, upright, and spreading.

We have two. We finally gave up pruning the older one, because no matter what we did, it knew what it wanted to be. It is about 12-ft. tall X about 14-ft. wide, and I suspect it would obliterate your window. The younger one is narrower, but way, WAY over my head. Stiffly straight up.

Sounds perfect for covering my ugly fence in the back though!