I got this plant from a rose sale - Fred Boutin, one of the original "discoverer's" of what is thought to be the correct BA (with Judy Dean) donated it. (hybridized by Thomas, 1920). It had some trouble originally, because of where I planted it. It got overwhelmed and buried by a lot of very large & rambunctious Four O'Clocks. So, when my DH built me a new fenced in garden which gets a lot of full sun, we dug it up and moved it. Very hot/dry/sunny Summer. I thought BA had some sort of crud or other fungal disease - all of the leaves sort of curled up and got horrible looking. However, happy to say that after about 4 months in the ground, and cooler temps, it started putting out large, clean leaves, and blooming a lot.

As most of you know, the original of this rose was evidently confused with a type of Cecile Brunner in commerce a LONG time ago. In England, Spray Cecile Brunner has been grown and sold under the name Bloomfield Abundance for generations. This has been confirmed by DNA analysis, but Spray Cecile Brunner is still being sold under BA's name. One famous English rose hybridizer said on a comment I read that it HAD to be Bloomfield Abundance, because his father grew it (SCB) under that name. This implies that the confusion happened almost from the start. BA was hybridized in the US, and shipped to England shortly thereafter. Perhaps the wrong rose was shipped? However the error occurred, it was argued about for decades, because of course Spray Cecile Brunner (a sport of the bush form) LOOKS like a Cecile Brunner! Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, .....

Anyway, what is now thought to be the actual BA is a gorgeous plant. Mine is in full bloom now, and later today I will take more pics of it. There are very good ones on HMF. Here are some of min

The blooms open a dark pink, sometimes with darker edges, and then get bigger and paler.

Jackie