Ingrid, strangely the rose that came immediately to mind out of the dim dark past was Mrs Wakefield Christie Miller. I hadn't thought about her for years. I had her here for a little while and many years ago in another garden. She didn't do well here. No doubt my fault, not hers. The contrast of the vermilion reverse with the pale, slightly salmon pink upper and the loose openness of the bloom, like an open hand reaching out, was heartbreakingly beautiful. I just looked on HMF but didn't see a photo that comes anywhere near to doing her justice. I'm so glad you're growing roses again. It worried me! Trish

When I saw your title I went with the first rose that came to my mind, since that impulse is probably from the heart rather than the head. My heart rose would be Edgar Degas. It's almost everything I want in a rose - variegated, mutable, wildly prolific, huge, hardy, and intriguing. It doesn't have the fat blooms that I usually like, and it's not a cutting rose, but I rarely cut blooms for myself anyway. No scent either, but I can't smell 90% of roses so that's not an issue for me. I just find myself staring at the ever-changing mix of colors on the blooms and it satisfies some deep-seated visual craving.

It's also a heart rose because of its history with me. I got mine from Ashdown in my early rose growing days so it settled into my rose identity quickly. It helps that Edgar grew to the size of a Volkswagon with little to no care, and bloomed his heart out after only a year or so. I sent cuttings to Linda at Long Ago Roses (out of patent of course), and she sent them to Roses Unlimited, so all the Edgar Degas roses I know about in US circulation are children or grandchildren from my original rose. That warms my heart that I've been able to share my heart rose with others, and it came back full circle to me when I needed to replace my Edgar Degas after RRD wiped everything out.

When I think about what rose I'd plant if I were in a retirement home and only had a small plot to garden in, Edgar is usually the first one that comes to mind. I have a top 10 list that fluctuates that I'd be hard to part with, and speaking of 'heart" my Heart and Soul is one of that top 10 I grieve over that someone is working on helping me replace.

Thanks for this topic - I'm intrigued to see what others say!

Cynthia

Mine would have to be the rambler 'Glenn Dale'. It's not for everyone, since it's a Godzilla-sized (not everyone has the space I do), thorny, once-blooming, barely fragrant (of green apples), cream colored rose. But if you ever see it in its Spring glory, beware. You will be smitten. It is absolutely impervious to disease, blooms its head off (but only once!), is super easy to propagate, and makes a wonderful trellis for multiple clematis. My original GD is nearly 50 years old now, and I have three more. Mine is especially close to my heart because it's the last rose I still have that came directly from my grandmother's garden. As most of you know, I lost the other rose I had from her home place, 'City of York', to rosette disease, and I've never had the heart to replace it.

I'm anxious to see everyone's "heart rose".

John

Hmmmm, I think I would go with St Cecelia (I have not idea why Austin cancelled this rose) and an honorable mention to Madame Plantier.

My heart rose is Quietness. It does extremely well in my garden. Quick to establish, vigor, almost black spot proof (some on the lowest old leaves on a bush starting to spot no earlier than September....of little concern), and abundant blooms make it a winner with me.

When I switched my rose bed from OGRs + hybrid rugosas to modern roses some 15 yrs. ago, Quietness was one of the first roses I planted. Two of the original five, now 15+ yrs old are going strong, plus three youngsters coming along nicely, makes 5 Quietness bushes still.

Its only fault is having a short lived bloom, but the replacements come quickly, and the petals drop cleanly. Since I deadhead earnestly, I have not given Quietness much of an opportunity to set hips, but my guess is that it is at least female sterile, and possibly male sterile, too.

Moses.

I’ve tried three or four times to post here and it won’t go through, probably because I included photos. My heart rose is Blessed Child. It’s not necessarily my best, but it’s a wonderful rose and one I always watch closely for its first blooms. Now, see if this goes through without photos. I’ll try them separately.

See if this posts. Blessed Child last spring.

Judi,

That's a beautiful rose. and its name is endearing.

Moses.

A tough question indeed. Off the top of my head, the first one that popped into mind was Climbing Old Blush. It is full of defects : basically once blooming, and always goes through a phase of "being ghastly" in ,my climate. After it's big spring bloom, it drops all of it's leaves (it does not go dormant in fall/winter here), and takes a while to leaf out again. But the cascade of flowers during it's spring flush makes me forgive everything.

But then, I started thinking. Perhaps Purple Skyliner would be a better candidate. Or else, The Mannington Mauve rambler...It's impossible to say just one!!!!!!!!!

I have two "heart" roses. roses that instantly caught my heart and never let go.

The first is Eden. I first saw it at the Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris, and I was immediately smitten, even though I didn't know its name. I wasn't even interested in roses at the time. I began seeing it all about Paris: on balconies, at a florist outside our hotel, then at a nursery in Paris, where I discovered its name was Pierre de Ronsard. When I started a rose garden six years later, I knew I had to have one and found that it is called Eden here.

Here was my first glimpse of Pierre de Ronsard at the Jardin de Luxembourg. Sadly, when I returned in 2012, it had been removed.

At the florist outside our hotel where I stopped every time to look at the potted Pierre de Ronsard.

At a nursery in Paris, where there was a sign that said "no photos" but I took one anyway because I had to have a record of it.

In my garden:

The second is Abraham Darby. I first saw a photo of it in the book 100 English Roses for the American Garden (Smith & Hawken), and something about it stuck in my heart. I returned to that photo many times. Years later, in the public garden, there was a rose that was unlabelled that was drooping, the flowers were fading and yet something about it called to me. It didn't look like any of the photos in my books to my uneducated eye, least of all Abraham Darby. I returned to the garden for several years to see it in bloom, and knew I had to have one, if only I knew what it was. On Gardenweb, someone told me that it was Abraham Darby, and I didn't believe it. I grew my own Abe, and indeed the rose in the public garden was Abe. Abe has been a bit finicky in my garden, and I struggled to grow him, but I finally learned what he likes. He has big thorns that have caused me to swear at him on more than one occasion.

In the public garden, a year or two after it first caught my eye:

In my garden:

Of course I have realized that there is some similarity between the two.

Roses hold so many memories. The first rose I bought for my OH, some Austin roses I got early on in my rose journey that I still cherish, those that broke my heart with their beauty but hated my climate, my first OGRs, the dozen or so that I would’t be without for a whole host of reasons..

However, my heart rose has to be Soul, a shrub rose by Tantau. It’s healthy, vigorous and has gorgeous, multi-petalled blooms with an intoxicating fragrance that draws me every time. I can’t help but bury my nose in all that lusciousness. It can be a heart-breaker too, because it suffers somewhat in my spring and summer monsoon-like rains, so I obsessively watch the forecast and check the progress of each bud as it’s coming into flush - like an anxious father pacing outside the maternity ward!

What an incredibly beautiful rose, Nollie! I can see why you love this one so much, especially if it has such a fragrance. The fragrance of a flower is its “Soul”, in many ways, so it has a fitting name, don’t you think?

Soul and Blessed Child ate both gorgeous roses with great names. I love a rose with a meaningful name. My heart Rose is Ingrid Bergman because it was the first rose that I ever grew and It was a Valentines gift from my husband. If he only knew what he was starting.

Oh I heartily agree Judi! I have a few roses of little fragrance that I love for their bloom form or for being constantly in bloom, but a rose with gorgeous fragrance is a rose of the soul and the soul of a rose.

Love this question! Mine is Amiga Mia. I love the wafting scent that perfumes the whole garden. It grows right to the height of my nose so is easy to smell. If we moved I would want to take this one with me. Everything else I would just plant from a band.

Your answers and photos have made this thread a thing of beauty. I'm so glad I asked this question.

It rained last night and in this climate there's nothing the roses like better. Don't know how I'll last till the end of April when the roses usually begin to bloom.

Two for me (for different but somewhat related reasons) - Madame Gregoire Staechelin...I have been loyal to this lovely rose since I first acquired one (my very first purchase), despite rust, ungainly growth habits and fleeting blooms. But truly, the early wild Chinese yellows have always (in my eyes)been the epitome of rosy beauty and none speak more clearly than my adopted hometown's very own - rosa cantabridgiensis. Bred by Graham Thomas at my local botanics, it sits perfectly in the flat vastness and silvery spring skies of the eastern landscape (genius loci). That 5 petalled simplicity and charm mirrors the common primroses which gather beneath it's feet. Truly, the ur-rose for this lover of wildlings... which also speaks eloquently of home and belonging for this displaced and orphaned northerner.

What a beautiful post, suzy jackson!!!!!!!!!!