Yeah Kim, sadly, it does. :-(

I just now caught up with all the comments on this thread. I wish I could remember for sure where I got my Mel’s Heritage several years ago. Maybe it was RVR? I am not the only one who is having trouble with it being a once bloomer in my garden… or maybe I’m not the only one with a mislabeled MH! Either way, when I visited Anita, former curator of SHC, she said the same thing about her MH. I will send several pictures of mine and let you decide.

Here are photos from today. It’s very vigorous with flexible, thorny canes.

And here is one from this spring in bloom. I wish I had a close-up of the blooms, but I can’t find any. However, I remember thinking they looked just like the photos I’ve see except mine were bleached by the sun. They were nicely fragrant. My one daughter declared it her favorite of all my roses.

The form and color of the blooms in that last picture don't look right for 'Mel's Heritage' to me. Looks like some other Wichurana Rambler.

It would be useful to have close-up pics of the bloom, but the more I look at that photo, the more I'm sure that is not 'Mel's Heritage'.

@jerijen now you should post some of your Mel's foliage shots so judijunebugarizonazn8 can compare them with hers.

I looked at lots of pics of MH by googling it, and also of course the ones on HMF. Definitely IMO not Mel's Heritage, but it is a perfectly lovely once blooming rambler. Enjoy it as that - many of my favorite roses in my garden are old once bloomers. Then you can get the real MH's also, and grow them near each other, which would be fun.

Jackie

I am so sad that I have the wrong one! I need to check through my record of orders and see if I can find who I ordered this rambler from. I will have to figure out where to put the real Mel now.

It would be good to know who sold you this, so we know who's selling the wrong plant. I wonder if Anita got hers from the same place?

I'll look for foliage shots, because they are distinctive-- OK here are some that show buds, blooms, foliage, and -- also important -- variation in bloom color.

The detail that makes me think Judi's plant is incorrect is the apparent bloom form in her last photo: the blooms stay cupped, which 'Mel's Heritage' do not do. The moment they are halfway open, the whole bloom reflexes back into a more-or-less ball shape. I have never, ever seen a bloom open into a cupped form.

Nope!

Thanks, Judi. I knew that wasn't the right rose.

Congrats, judi! Now you will get the real one (for free, I presume?).

Jackie

@judijunebugarizonazn8 "Anita, former curator of SHC, she said the same thing about her MH."

I suggest you mention your experience to Anita, as she may have obtained hers from RVR also, in which case she should pursue a replacement.

Anyone who has bought 'Mel's Heritage' from RVR and discovered that they have a once-blooming Rambler should pursue getting a replacement, IMO.

Yes, Paul, I’m relieved to know the truth. I am disappointed to have waited several years on a plant that wasn’t what I was hoping for, but it’s a pretty enough rose in its own right. Funny, but since it drapes over the wall so nicely on the outside, lots of customers who come to my husband’s shop see it and comment on it even when it’s not in bloom, so I guess I should let it there. I feel like they would miss it. My heart was set on having MH in that spot, but this rambler is a big thorny beast now and wouldn’t be fun to move, so I might put MH further down on the same wall.
Yes, Jackie, they won’t be charging me anything for my real MH they are sending me since it was their mistake.

I agree the rose you planted is very pretty, Judi, and I would leave it too.

It is too, too, bad about the quality control of the propagators, Paul.

Well, I hope all of the folks that got the wrong rose get it made right.

Yes, Jeri. Now I’m wondering if Anita also got her rose from RVR. I distinctly remember her showing me her MH growing on her privacy fence in her back yard and telling me how she is surprised at the reports from others of how floriferous it is, when for her it is pretty much a once bloomer. I hope she sees this conversation and joins in.

I'm betting Anita has the same erroneous variety as you, Judi

I think she does. I'll drop her a note, and make sure she knows.

Thank you, Jeri. I’m so happy to think that it isn’t a problem with the rose itself behaving very differently in different climates, as Anita was thinking. I’m so grateful to think of getting the real MH and seeing consistent bloom. I hope Anita can discover whether or not she may also have the wrong one.

My Mel's Heritage is also a once bloomer. I forget where I got it. It certainly has the right growth habit.

It appears someone (likely RVR) has distributed a number of mislabeled plants of 'Mel's Heritage'. There's no way you have the right rose if it's behaving as a once bloomer - no way. This rose starts early in the year and finishes late, or in Jeri's situation, it goes year round. My main plant of it flowers from May through November.

I’m getting one in Nov from RVR, is this rose thorny?

Oh yes!!!!

Thanks @outseelers, i know where to put this rose then.

I told Anita the had the wrong rose -- but she won't listen.

@jerijen That's odd. I wonder why she doesn't want to know??

Even here in Cincinnati this rose is a non-stop bloomer from early in the Fall Spring to well into the all. Its still i bloom. Last wintr it experienced some die-back with sub zero _7F with windchill MUCH colder, but it came back strong.

Jeri, does Anita feel that her MH is just badly placed perhaps? If I recall correctly, hers may have have gotten a good bit of shade and she might feel that is the problem… that is certainly NOT the problem in my case as my rose gets full, all day sun. Rosefolly, I hope you can get a replacement for yours. I kept telling myself that mine just needed to settle in and get established and then it would start looking like all the amazing plants of MH I see on these forums. But when I saw absolutely not one bud or bloom on my beautiful huge plant this summer after the spring flush, I started getting concerned and was very relieved to have Paul and Jeri and others confirm that mine is not MH at all. So now I’m really looking forward to the real Mel’s Heritage arriving this week and turning into the beautiful blooming beauty I’ve seen so many of y’all posting on here. I am really curious as to the identity of my mislabeled MH now… I looked at the ramblers on RVR and none of them seemed to quite match, but I didn’t spend a lot of time researching.

@judijunebugarizonazn8 If RVR is farming out production to some other propagator (which they are) then the sloppy propagator could be providing any number of possible roses, not all of which are represented by Rogue Valley. You can be pretty sure that this propagator is doing work for multiple nurseries, so you could be getting anything.

Judi -- Anita really didn't expand greatly -- so I can't make a guess on her surety. Thing is -- I know what I've got, but that's all I can swear to.

I also wanted to add the all of mine hae started to bloom evena as small cuttings and had to be nipp.

@Vaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley When I propagate it (seems like I'm going to have to start another batch), the young plants often flower the moment they have roots, and just keep going. There's no way that the correct plant behaves as a once-bloomer. Those are all mislabeled plants and should be replaced by the vendor.

That’s a thought I hadn’t considered, Paul. I presumed they were referring to one of their own in-house propagators, but then I don’t know much about how nurseries operate. If this is so, I might as well quit hunting through their list of ramblers and trying to make a match.
Jeri, your photo of MH is beautiful as always. I look forward to seeing that in my garden. My little band of (hopefully) the real MH arrived last evening. Vaporvac, I will be watching in the spring to see if mine tries to bloom as a tiny plant. It’s in a band pot now, just one long stem. I will be potting it up to a gallon size immediately and hope it blooms soon to let me know if I really do have the real deal. My imposter surely was in no hurry to bloom and show its identity.

Like Paul said, RVRs had/has outside propagators in California.

I'm not sure there is ANY propagation happening on site at RVR anymore

Now here is a question for those of you who grow and know Mel’s Heritage well: how much space does this beautiful beast need? I’m thinking of a spot in my new garden area, but am a bit unsure if it will work. It’s a section of rock wall almost 6 feet tall and 25 feet long. At one end in the corner is Renae, which will be trained around the tower next to it, so it won’t use up much wall space. At the other end where the wall turns the corner, I’m putting Bubble Bath, in hopes that it forms a mounding shrub that sprawls over the wall. So I’m wondering if it will work to put Mel’s Heritage smack dab in the middle of the 25’ section or will I someday be sorry?

Well, as long as you are okay pruning a good amount and all of them mingling still, it should be okay.

I don’t have Bubble Bath but I have both Renae and Mel and they are WIDE. Renae is about 20 feet wide and going up and over a cedar fence. One Mel is also on that fence, about ten feet wide and going up and over. I have another Mel in a different spot and is probably closer to 15 feet but topping out around 6 feet and cascading into my neighbor’s yard

Now you are just bragging, our Steelers ! LOL!😉

Oh, that sounds perfect, oursteelers! I love to let roses mingle and cascade over things. Contrary to some folks opinions, it does not seem to bother the roses at all. If your roses are happy in the PNW, judijunebugarizona's much drier climate should work for that too, and you are both zone 8.

Jackie

I have to say I think Renae is just about a perfect rose and everyone should have her!

Well then, I just might do that. I love the mingling look and I know that both of these roses, Renae and MH, are highly rated. Why not have two stars next to each other? I don’t mind pruning and training either as I’m rather fond of fussing over my roses. I only got a bit scared when I was looking back over some of the threads on Mel’s Heritage and saw the photos of Lisa Adam’s gorgeous monster. It looks like it wants to be the one and only rose. :)

Renae is the same but I have enough fenceline that it isn’t a problem. Although Renae and Florence Bowers Pink Tea are starting to get awfully chummy😬

I have Florence Bowers Pink Tea on another fence apposite where MH will go. It’s been in the ground only for three months and already getting excited about covering that fence, which is just what I want it to do.

SIso Somany of us would love to grow Renae! This will all be beautiful growing together!

I have Bubble Bath too, and that will also be large and fit right into your plan, Judi. It is mounding and large and graceful. This will all be wonderful together, like Jackie says.

Thank you, Sheila and Jackie. It means a lot to me to hear confirmations from other rose gardeners who have more experience than I and whose gardens I admire so much!