Kordes list 14 new roses, or ’novelties’ on their Europesn website, but that covers 2023-2025. Only one, Europa Donna, seems a bona fide 2025 release: https://www.rosen.de/en/new-roses

Some of these may well be coming stateside soon, who knows? They do release other roses outside of Europe that aren’t available IN Europe, such as much of the Sunbelt range, so it’s certainly possible there are other new releases I’m not aware of.

I have sworn off trying any more Kordes roses for a variety of reasons, but Here Comes the Sun, with it’s alleged non-fading, heat-tolerant lemon yellow blooms sounds promising.

Nollie, "I have sworn off trying any more Kordes roses for a variety of reasons...". Me too. Diane

Nollie, what are your reasons for not trying any more Kordes roses?

Moses.

Moses, the ones I have tried have all been failures here. Either aesthetically, because they are coarse and thorny beasts, they fry in sun or ball in rain (sometimes both), the bloom colour is often garish but then fade badly and fragrance is lacking. Healthy, disease-resistant roses are great, but it’s just not enough imo.

I have only tried a small sample of their range, but plenty of others I see on this forum just don’t set my heart alight in the way that roses from plenty of other breeders can. I recently tried Raspberry Cupcake because that did tickle my fancy, but it balled and fried. It was then I decided to just give up on them!

Diane, any of the above chime with you?!

I’m also not a fan of Kordes roses in general. I call them Koarse, as Nollie said coarse and thorny beasts. For many of them plant size is out of whack with the bloom production and the repeat is often poor. Earth Angel should be renamed as ’Fry in the Sun, Ball in the Rain’, lol.

But there are exceptions. Parfuma Sunrise is new in USA for 25/26 and has so far been excellent bloomer with fantastic rich fruit perfume. (also known as Sespe Sunrise, Grossherzogin Luise, Grand Duchesse Luise, Spicy Parfuma).

Moses, Tantaus are much better roses, hope we will have them from AA soon!

I agree, .... but, I did order Raspberry Cupcake (this year) and First Crush (last year). Any opinions on those?

Thank you all!

They are my sentiments also concerning Kordes' roses having poor/slow rebloom and bad bloom habits like balling up or frying, but because of my heavy black spot pressure, I appreciate Kordes trialing so many of their roses, from which quite a few ADR winners appear. If I make my selections from these ADR winners having at least good black spot resistance, this issue is not a worry most times.

I am finding Fiji and Oh Happy Day, 2nd yr. from tiny starts, to be good growers and repeaters....thus far. Bliss, and I have three bushes (2 in the same hole), cannot seem to grow a bush of uniform growth habit for me.

Ben, my Earth Angel is gone, and good riddance. It was a poor repeater here, balled up, and wanted to be 7' by season's end, which is ridiculous seeing its listed dimensions are 30" x20"! I can just imagine how big it can get in California. No Earth Angel there, more like Goliath. I'm waiting to see Parfuma Sunrise, about which you expressed good words, become available for me to perhaps try.

Moses.

Elena, I'm anxious to give Tantau roses a try. April & Ashley may turn out to be the 'Go To,' nursery in the future. Are Harkness roses promoted as being black spot fighters, or are they like the Austin roses, with Olivia Rose being just about the only black spot fighter among the lot? I've tried many Austin's over the years, starting with Graham Thomas. Black spot victims the lot of them.

Moses.

Oh wow it is reassuring to hear that it’s not just me! My Earth Angel, which I was so excited about, has bloomed once for me in the past year and the blooms somehow managed to both ball AND fry. I’m giving it one more season. Raspberry cupcake too, delicious fragrance but balled and fried. I live in Oakland, I do not have extreme weather but we do have some coastal influence. Good performers for me have been: Savannah, Madame Anisette, Summer Romance, Kosmos Fairy Tale, Pompon Veranda, Meine Rose, and Romantic Antike. I really love dark desire, but it fried so quickly. I just got my hands on a baby Parfuma Sunrise and its given me one perfect bloom so far and the fragrance was amazing.

Moses - I agree, if the roses fix a problem, then they're the right roses for you.

SD Shine - balling and frying...not the roses for you. Sounds like a colossal mess. Blech. Raspberry Cupcake, for me in a much cooler zone, doesn't ball or fry...and I agree about the fragrance...wow!! So far, the blooms aren't that impressive...but it's young. Parfuma Sunrise is a rose I tried to get from Palatine, but missed out on. I'll try to get it for next year.

I will give a shout out to South Africa, about the only Sunbelt released in Europe under the name ’Golden Beauty’. I ruthlessly pruned into shape from the start and it did get the message that I wanted a shrubby habit. It was healthy and floriferous with good repeat, but I was just not loving the brassy bloom colour. The thorns were so numerous and vicious they got me every time, even just deadheading!

First pic is Caramel Antike.

Hey Moses, the only 2026 Kordes new release that I see on Star Roses website is Parfuma Sunrise. Even though Palatine sold it this year, it’ll be officially released in the US next year. I wonder if Ruby Kiss will be one of those early limited releases that Edmunds often does.

https://starrosesandplants.com/plants/parfuma-sunrise/

Diane - Orange Dude is a very good replacement for your beautiful Caramel Antike. Both are so beautiful!!

Since Elena mentioned Tantau earlier, below is a link to their novelties. Like Kordes, they span 2023-25, have the same confusing habit of reusing names (Deep Secret, Creme Brûlée to name two) and often release ’new’ roses to the US market that have been hanging around Europe for quite some time.

However, they are so much more appealing to me than the Kordes offerings, plus they give what I’ve found to be honest accounts of fragrance and disease resistance. Beware of some of their high petal count roses if you live in a humid climate though, they can have poor resistance to humidity and rain. Shame they don’t give a rating for that..

https://www.rosen-tantau.com/en/buy-online/novelties/?p=1&o=5&n=12

Ben, thank you for mentioning all the different names of Sespe Sunrise. I have heard good things about it but i looked at the Star promo photos and the second and third photos on the website are truly awful. HMf is not much better. yikes.

I have always heard that Kordes roses were supposed to be ”so healthy.” I think the only ones I grow are Bliss and Earth Angel. I agree with poor bloom frequency on Earth Angel.

Yes, Tantau has multiple names for some of its roses. Augusta Luise, also Augusta Louise, is Rachel in England, and has at least one more name. I love AL, but she does have changeable color in heat. Ashley, a Tantau, keeps her pale pink color perfectly in heat. That rose is so tough. Like Nollie, I think Tantau's offerings are so much more appealing, intriguing and unique than Kordes' roses. I discovered Tantau roses about 2010 by observing the beautiful roses of The Dark Lady, Marina, who showed photos of her massive collection on HMF and the pre-Houzz Rose Forum. At that time she gardened in Virginia, and I always thought she had diplomatic connections to obtain all those European roses that were not available in the US. So, I started hunting on Canadian rose sellers websites. First, was Hortico and soon after, I found Palatine. Then Pickering. And I'm so glad I found them. Diane

Augusta Luise 2025

@Diane Brakefield It is you who convinced me to try orange dude this year and, so far, I’m in love. I picked it up from J&P:

@Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6 I’m also hoping that A&A graces us with some interesting Tantau varieties. I got Pacific Blue from them this year and it has been fantastic.

Diane - oooooh...your Augusta Luise blooms (especially the 2nd one...SWOOOOON!!!) are sublime!!

SD - wow!! Your Dude is exceptional!! Those blooms...mmwha (kissing hands) SWOOOON!!!!