Wonderful photos, SD.

Shine,

those pics are wonderful.

Four of my very best new roses last year are Living the Dream, Miyabi, Victorian Secret and Loves Me Loves Me Not.

I saw somewhere else that you commented on Fashoin Forward at San Jose Gardens. What did you think of it? Did it have those white edges , and was it strongly scented? I’ve not visited the SJ gardens yet, must go next spring!

You've got roses nailed down, Shine!

My most impressive mature bushes this past year were Dee-Lish. I have three of them and they finally exceeded my expectations. Being smallish own root bushes at first, they took a while to put on size, but now, at 5-6 yrs. since first planted, they have finally shown what they have. Extreme fragrance, big dark salmon/pink blooms, and equally excellent disease resistance make them a joy to have.

My most impressive newer bushes, second year own root, were the new Ping Lim True Bloom series roses: True Passion and True Sincerity. They surprised me with the high end look (to me), their blooms had....not mundane shrub roses like the Knock Outs, but roses of heart

The big dud is Orange Glow Knock Out. It is vigorous and disease free, but its bloom is small, 2.5", almost sparsely produced, and out of balance with the largish bush size. I have two OGKO bushes andI think it's time to say,"so long," to the two.

Moses.

@Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6 Oooh I’ve got a dee-lish entering her second year for me and, knowing your experience, I will make a note in my logs to give her some patience (yes I’m a certified nerd and have a master excel spreadsheet of my roses). And thank you for the compliment, I am an absolute novice relative to the rest of you. I’ve really become fascinated with all the diversity and nuances between the varieties and species, and the rich history! I’ve learned so much from you all, lurking over the past several years and this the first year I felt ’qualified’ enough to comment.

@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14) Umm I’ll totally go with you. We can swing by Helen’s and drag her along with us :D Honestly, I can’t remember what it looked like but I also have it ordered from Regan’s this year and am stoked for it.

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR You are lovely, I’ve learned so much from you over the years.

Rose recap for 2025. I actually had a very good year with just about every rose I grow. Even the new ones. Most outstanding;

Louise Estes. This HT is the whole package in one plant. Big upright bush covered in rich, lush foliage from the top of the bush all the way to the bottom. The soft pink blend blooms are very large and smell great. They make a great cut flower that last at least 7+ days.

Hot Princess is also a huge upright bush covered in good foliage from top to bottom. The deep pink blooms don't carry much scent, but it is beautiful and makes a great cut flower.

Ring of Fire is another great HT for me, year in, year out. Nice, full bush with long cutting stems and foliage that covers the bush. The bright orange blooms have a nice scent, and it makes a great cut flower. It also makes a great fully open bloom.

Munstead Wood is another bush I can count on to give me beautiful blooms all season long. It makes a fantastic cut flower (watch out for the thorns) with a fantastic scent that will fill you house for at least a weak.

Scepter d' Isle is always there for a quick bouquet. It only lasts for 3/4 days but is a beauty with a beautiful scent.

Marchesa Boccella is by far the very best OGR in my garden. Big, round full bush covered in foliage and topped with beautiful pink blooms that have a fantastic scent.

Whirlaway is a beautiful pure white miniflora I've been growing for years. Beautiful blooms cover the large bush. The blooms have a very light scent and makes a great cut rose. Year after year.

I could go on with about 7 or 8 more roses but I'll spot here. My only real disappointment this year was another miniflora I grow. Strawberry Kiss's. For some reason over half the bush just up and died. What was left struggled almost all season. This fall it produced 2 new thick canes from the bottom of the bush, so I see hope for next year. I know what this bush is capable of so I will definitely keep it.

New roses, Sweet Delight was my unexpected favorite. Amorosa (grew great and healthy, lack of blooms from mid season on) and Charles de Gaulle (lack of blooms snd growth mid season on) were my 2 disappointments.

Old roses, South Africa, Plum Perfect, Grande Amore, PJPII, Olivia Rose, Rose’, and Beverly were favorites.

Late summer and fall, I had bad aphids problem, second year in a row. I need to figure this out cause it ruined a lot of rose blooms and damaged my bushes.

@BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

Yes! Field trip!

Hot damn, is your Juliet in the ground? Mine's in a pot and it's been slooooow as molasses. I slipped on an opportunity to get Rosomane but now I'm not mad about it. Your sweet delight is fab, I'm waiting for a restock notification from A&A to get it. Between you and @kentucky_rose zone 6, I'm convinced. Edited to add: is your Bolero grafted or own-root? I have one from Heirloom that's two years old and it has barely eked out a few blooms for me so far.

@kentucky_rose zone 6 how old is your CdG? It's been on my list but I could never snag it from Palatine.

@Ken Wilkinson your Marchesa blooms are stunning. I'd like to get more into the OGRs and this one is at the top of my list. How does it repeat for you?

SD Shine, my CdG was purchased 2025 from Palatine. I am hoping it takes off growing and blooming this year.

Shine,

Juliet grows big and dense for me, flowers all the time, she’s one of my very best roses. But she doesn’t get along with her sisters Beatrice and Carey, she wants to block their sun and take over their space.. Yes, planted in a bed.

Bolero stays small but has impressive flower power. Always under 3 ft, but loaded with good sized , full petaled blooms. Here she’s only half the height of Miss AAB. Bolero is own root from Star.

Other good performers:

Augusta Luise

Julia Child

Emma Ham

Versigny

Scented Jewel is one I’m very happy I tried. Mini-sized, totally unique purple stripe, very fragrant, good repeat.

BenT, love your Augusta Luise! Do you know where it can be purchased?

Ben, I am once again amazed and impressed with the sheer volume of blooms on your well- shaped bushes.

SD Shine----MB repeats very quickly all season. Before the petals drop, it is pushing new growth. During the first 2 years, it needs to be staked to support the new canes. Once it settles in good, you will be in for a treat.

Bennett, where did you find Scented Jewel? I love it!

Ben, not Bennett. Blame Apple.

Living the Dream is one of my very favorite intros of recent years. Petal packed, super fragrant, long lasting, unique colors and great garden performance

Sylvia,

Scented Jewel came from Etsy, I think seller is Olivia Rose Mart

Kentucky,

Augusta is available on Etsy. Mine came from Palatine, of course they’re not shipping anymore.

Judi

Thanks for the kind words, I love looking at your gardens, too!

You make me doubly glad I have Living the Dream on order for this spring. Thank you, Ben. We all enjoy seeing other’s gardens and getting inspiration from them.

I splurged on fifteen new roses in 2024, three of which were more of Versigny (my outstanding new rose of 2023, hence getting more) plus another Gertrude Jeykll, so eleven new to me.

Roses have a high turnover rate in my subtropical, mountainous part of Northern Spain, with each new batch undergoing continuous assessment to ascertain whether they can withstand the intense summer heat, tropical downpours and rampant black spot. It was an exceptionally hot summer and many roses struggled, so a rather tough trial for the new arrivals.

Of the newbies, the most impressive in their first year were..

Jacques Cartier. Quickly formed a nicely branched, elegant shrub, beautiful foliage with good disease resistance and the most delightful blooms. Fragrance was good, but not outstanding for it’s class. Hopefully that will improve with time, as will the repeat.

Château de Vaumarcus. This was a surprise extra included in my order and I knew nothing about it, but it turned out to be a star. Vigorous, healthy, glossy foliage and near continuous blooming.

Chippendale (tree rose). Despite the fact repeat blooming wasn’t stellar, I totally fell in love. It rapidly formed a large, shapely head on a strong trunk, with attractive, super healthy foliage and some wonderful blooms. Colours ranged from deep coral to orange/apricot then mostly mostly pink in summer.

The above three are definitely keepers. Ones that scraped through their first year trial to get another year or two include Abraham Darby, Emma Bridgewater, Just Joey, Jelena Frayla and Twilight Zone.

So bad they’ve gone already were Purple Breeze, Chantal Ladesou and Raspberry Cupcake.

I scrolled through my camera roll to refresh my memory. I shovel pruned a number of roses this fall including Reminiscent Coral, True Sincerity, Alfred Sisley, and At Last.

True Sincerity can be beautiful and was mostly healthy, but… this year it got stingy with the rebloom, the blooms were small, and after the first flush, they weren’t particularly pretty.

I also got rid of True Spirit for lack of rebloom.

Reminiscent Coral is beautiful with huge blooms that last a long time on the bush, but… it defoliated completely from BS.

Some of the standouts from this year were my once blooming rambler Albertine. It has pretty good blackspot resistance here and it is 5 years in and stunning!

Another climber that is impressing me as it matures is Raspberry Cream Twirl. It is griwing on the gazebo to the left.

Plum Perfect did extremely well this year and is becoming a favorite.

Some other favorites with good black spot resistance include Crazy Love.

Cathedral Bells has black spot issues, but it is a heavy bloomer with large, extremely fragrant blooms. I love this rose.

Yellow Submarine is always at the top of my list, year after year. It has excellent blackspot resistance and blooms nonstop. Just look at all the buds on it!

My Austin’s were mostly disappointing this year. Boscobel, Lady of Shalott, and Tottering Gently By are all on the list for possible shovel prune. Olivia Rose Austin and Roald Dahl are both healthy though.

Little White Pet was also an outstanding rose this year.

Ghislaine de Feligonde was amazing for a first year rose and I can’t wait to see how it does in the coming year.

SD Shine, great thread. So useful to read of other's experiences. Your photos are outstanding. I love them all. You even have me considering Firefighter - it looks a much nicer red in your photos.

Ken, your photo of Scepter'd Isle is exquisite.

Markay, Albertine is such a lovely rose. I'm glad it's still being grown. dianela had a superb Raspberry Cream Twirl at a previous home, so I hope it will be stellar for you. Yellow Submarine is such a cheerful yellow, and my, what a number of buds.

Many of the roses praised on here aren't yet available here, and may never be. Of the roses that are, I planted Plum Perfect this year and am astounded at the number of blooms, though I'm not crazy about the colour. My other best performers aren't available in the US. They are The Opportunity Rose - in its second year and never stops flowering, though the blooms are a bit messy, Madame Delbard, also in its second year and I am in love with the bloom form. Quite a while between flushes though and it's heading to the sky. Tallulah - first year, growing and blooming well, and blooms are lovely.

SD Shine, I love your rose arrangement!

SD Shine, that rose arrangement is perfection in color, quality of roses, and the lovely vase. All your roses are gorgeous. Diane