I'm not sure if I ever posted about this rose or not-I know I did on HMF. My plant is own-root, from Becky and John Hook back when they still had their nursery in France. It's growing in a pot still; I have learned the hard way that in my situation it's definitely best to grow own-roots up in pots until they are very big.

Recently I re-potted it, and though it's grown a lot in height,it's root system is still small.

Now, here's my predicament: most of the photos on HMF show a lusciously dark ,purplish red flower (similar in tone and colour to Munstead Wood or Souvenir du Dr Jamain,to give the idea https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.304816). My plant, however, only has produced rather "mid-red" flowers https://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=21.304816. Note that this photo was posted by John Hook himself. Note also that,in the Comments section on this rose,there is some discussion about identity; one poster states that most of the photos shown on HMF are not Souv. d'Alphonse, but instead are Erinnerung an Brod, and that the true Souv d'Alphonse is very rare, and usually is in reality Souv. du Dr J.

I actually don't care whether or not I have the "real" Souv, d'Alphonse ; I think I must, because I consider Becky and John Hook as authorities. The thing is that I wanted instead the dark, dark flowers, not the colour of the ones which my plant produces! I discussed the issue of colour on HMF with Margaret Furness,who confirmed that Souv. D'Alphonse really DOES have those very dark flowers. So now I wonder. All cameras simply do NOT capture the colours and tones of "red" very easily, and lighting can change the effect of a colour, too, not to mention the differences in computer screens. So, is my rose just producing this colour of flower simply because it is immature? Or are there really several different varieties that go under the name of Souv d'Alphonse? BTW, I do have Souv. du Dr. J, so I know that my Sd'AL is NOT Sdu DJ. Also, my Sd'AL did repeat, so it's not Ean Brod...

Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated!