Wow. An intriguing rose in a mysterious color. Gray Pearl certainly did explode. What set off the explosion? So beautiful. Diane

@Diane Brakefield COPIOUS water and warmth.

Beautiful! Why is this rose never in stock? High maintenance?

@Z10Socal it's catalog name should be "suicidal, cocaine addicted French mistress". It MUST be budded, PERIOD. It will root, but it won't thrive and won't live long own root. This photo I took decades ago at Sequoia Nursery. Both plants were propagated from the same mother plant, at the same time, in the same soil and grown side by side. Burling propagated them. The wonderful plant in the rear is budded. The yellowish weed in front is own root. To keep it alive, you MUST disbud it and force it to grow, otherwise it will bloom itself to death. Literally. Roses of Yesterday and Today was the last commercial nursery to attempt to offer it budded and they had to deny sales for years because they simply couldn't produce it most years. Getting it to produce suitable bud wood requires voodoo.

Then you are lucky to have one 😍, I'm happy for you. I had my name on a list for years. Now, at least I know why it's never in stock.

Thank you. I budded two of them from my final remaining budded plant I obtained years ago, back in 2014, just before moving from LA to north Santa Barbara County. I had two then and tried planting one in the ground, only to have it nearly immediately turn olive green and die. The other produced those two buds then died. I've pushed and disbudded them religiously until they are two LARGE plants, but they still refuse to produce much usable bud wood. I sent the last good stuff to Burling last year. This is the better of the two in its fifteen gallon can, and it still demands frequent attention. Ironically, the one on Pink Clouds out performs the one on Fortuniana regularly.

Really unique color of blooms. There is a stark difference between the grafted and own root roses. Interesting. :)

It is so wonderful to see these real photographs of real flowers; I am so tired of looking at photoshopped/AI type pictures!!! And I absolutely LOVE : " it's catalog name should be "suicidal, cocaine addicted French mistress". Long live true rose lovers!

Thank you, @bart bart. There really ARE "cocaine addicted French mistress" roses. Grey Pearl is a difficult, demanding type, but there WERE worse. Try finding Fantan or Church Mouse. I maintain that there are OFTEN very valid reasons why something is no longer around. Sometimes it was because of limited distribution but more often it's likely because it DEMANDED too much.

OK, you've told us COPIOUS water and warmth.

But what about humidity (to keep the petals from resembling tissue paper) and even more how concentrated was your (and the roses' ) sunlight/ Hazy or Bright blue skies, or half day sun? Or half way between solstice and equinox getting just the right light through Pacific Ocean atmosphere?

Love those pictures. Thanks for sharing.

@stillanntn6b we have tremendous over night humidity and moisture due to the ocean proximity but daily humidity is really rather low. Thankfully, we don't have SoCal or desert "heat" until late August and into September when "summer" really hits "the beach". When that kind of "heat" arrives, it looks crappy, just as everything else does. The two plants in their pots do benefit from afternoon filtered light from the worst of the sun at that time. While the air isn't really "hot", that sunlight IS. Between the sun intensity and the constant breeze, pots dry out quickly. For things in the endless sand, they do, also.

I wouldn't suggest trying this on two divas, but have you tried mixing some water retaining granules (totally hydrated before adding0a to your soil mix? a friend in Nashville was shocked to find part of her yard was sand. She added the granules and grew roses and other plants there, somewhat artificially, but nonetheless they didn't croak from dehydration. I use them in some of my potted plants including some Mexican herbs that can dehydrate overnight. piper auritium.

It's not a rose that I would tackle, but I admire your dedication and devotion to working with it.

@bellegallica9a thank you. I do it because I do like the flowers. I've found how to make it comply and once it's gone, it's gone and I'm not ready to let it beat me.

Roseseek - that's one heck of a story!!! My goodness. lol I've got to read this one to my husband. Holy cow! lol