Moses, I only had it one year, a body bag from Walmart. I was surprised to see such a new rose there. But I lost it in its second summer to RRD. I really liked it, and it was pretty black spot resistant. It did lose some lower leaves, but never became unsightly. The blooms are somewhat sensitive to heat, in that they blew fairly quickly in our scorching summer heat. In Spring and Fall the blooms were lovely, and held their shape well. In summer, they went from bud to blah pretty quickly. But the thing that made the biggest impression is the scent. On HMF it's described as "strong, anise, rose, spice". To ME, and some of those who left comments, it was more herbal than spice, lol. I might even call it earthy. Positively odd. But then, I can't detect "anise" in most roses with that scent, so I guess I'm getting mostly the undertones.

Hi Moses. I just received one from HD online a couple weeks ago. It arrived in good condition, the soil was still wet and packed with damp paper after 3 days traveling. I have high hopes for it after reading a lot of raves from people in the Carolinas and Texas. I hope yours arrives in great shape too and performs well for you.

I never heard of the JA rose before, so I went to hmf. There, GardenGlimpses’ comments on it were quite negative. But I dismissed them as injudicious when I read this:

“As for the ’Grande Rose du Siecle’ award she won, I see several other modern roses have won it too, so there must be other roses those Lyonnaise liked this century, not just Julie. Still, I’m baffled that Julie won anything at all, just like I was when Marisa Tomei took home an Oscar. Perhaps all the other roses had been accidentally doused with Round-Up, leaving Julie the sole survivor to win. I don’t know and can only imagine.”

as I recently reviewed My Cousin Vinny; her (MT’s) award was well deserved.

Rifis,

I've never grown an A.D.R awarded rose that didn't give the dreaded black spot a, 'Knock Out,' punch, pun intended.

Marisa Tomei gave a stellar performance in My Cousin Vinny.

Lyon is a tough place to grow roses from a black spot perspective which is severe there. However, with its zone 8b climate, winters are not hard on roses. You can grow any class of roses there with the expectation of it reaching generous proportions, with no winter kill, but with severe black spot pressure, roses with excellent resistance thrive. Others benefit from fungicide applications. Rainfall of ~40"/year, dispensed evenly all year means that the 3.33"/month during the summer will require supplementation. They've been having oppressively hot weather in Lyon, highs around 100°F. this week. They could use our prayers.

I just wanted to write something edifying but factual about Lyon.

Moses.

Not that it matters, but GardenGlimpses on HMF is our own BenT.

Claudia, we can compare notes. My expectations are pretty high, but I have to receive the rose first! It's due Wednesday, the 19th.

Moses.

I saw a bunch of Julie Andrews with blooms in pots at HomeDepot. It was mid 80's F, and the bloom was big, much less petals. I was very disappointed with the look of the bloom in dry heat , and not much scent. A zone 5 person stated that Julie Andrews didn't survive her winter, so I'm glad that I did NOT buy Julie Andrews after seeing its blooms. Leaves were healthy and glossy.

In contrast, Sweet Mademoiselle was glorious in a pot at the store & many petals and fantastic scent. I bought Sweet Mademoiselles in 2020 as own root, and it shot up to 7' x 3' in late 2nd year with perfect health & low thorn. Sweet M. is perfection for its MORE petals and looking good in dry heat or in rain:

Julie Andrews won the coveted A.D.R award which is the gold standard for disease resistance. This and winter hardiness are the two most important traits a rose can possess for me, because of my severe black spot pressure and cold winters (-5°F.). If Julie Andrews lives up to these two criteria and has an acceptable bloom that's fragrant, I'll be a happy man.

Moses.

Thanks for your encouraging input, Cynthia.

Moses.

I bought a 'Julie Andrews' standard at Home Depot this spring and planted it in my neighbour's garden for her. She loves hybrid teas. We have both been so impressed with the beauty of this rose!

Her garden is west facing and extremely hot and dry (although in the PNW, so still relatively temperate). So far, 'Julie Andrews' has been very healthy and floriferous. We planted it with horse manure and starter feltilzer. The rose is on drip irrigation. It has also been fertilized with Maxsea twice. We do not spray for fungal issues or insects.

I love the way the color of the blooms fade a bit as they age...it makes a beautiful overall display. The flowers relatively long lasting considering what a hot spot they are in.

Roselady,

What a nice gift to give a neighbor.....a gift that keeps on giving. It's blooming beautifully. Mine is due in tomorrow. Lots of anticipation here!

Moses.

What a beautiful rose you’ve chosen, Moses! The ruffled petals are gorgeous and if it has a good fragrance, that’s doubly worth it! Please keep us posted on the progress.

Yes, Ben T had a clever variation on "so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, gooood night..." when he tried Julie Andrews. I loved her blooms so much I planted a second, but that plant inexplicably died, and my current one is kind of small. There may be something going on in my soil, however, as my Double Easy Orange is also looking small and stooopid. Plus, the deer have been relentless. I moved DEO/Dude into a pot for the time being, and just fertilized everything a week ago. Also fixed my irrigation. Could be that my roses were not getting enough water. I already know they should get just a wee bit more sun. Plus, as I say, the !#$# deer. Anyway -- when Julie is good, she is very, very good. BUT -- I've never had anything more than the barest whiff of fragrance. So don't know where the fragrance claims come from!

Lovely plant and blooms, Deborah. I also say !@#$ deer, too. They ate the entire latest flushes on Rouge Royale and Love Song. So far this season, I haven't had a single good bloom on RR due to heat and deer. That rose doesn't even have buds now.......Oh, I like the idea of a clever variation of So Long, etc. Good luck with your roses and the deer. I haven't fertilized my roses since early March. But that's what I do every year. I'm surprised they don't march off my property and plant themselves in a neighbor's yard. Diane

I love these ruffly blooms. The color reminds me of Disneyland And makes such a great contrast to the dark shiny leaves.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, my Julie Andrews is due in through Home Depot online. Cooler weather in a couple days will help make planting JA a snap. She's going one bush in from the front edge of Drifts, so I can stand on the pavement in front of the Drifts and plant away. No walking into the bed is necessary.

Moses.

Julie Andrews got planted today. She, True Serenity, True Sincerity, and Brindabella Dawn are also just planted as of today. The four Apricot Candys that they replaced are on the compost pile. Hoping for the best. This year, black spot has been epic in its severity.....like never before. Removing the spotty Apricot Candys has grieved me quite a bit. They had a strong drive to bloom. Looking to the future.

True Gratitude, True Passion, True Sincerity (older bush), True Inspiration, and True Love are spotless. True Spirit (red) has some black spot as does True Devotion. These two may be keepers, though. I'm inclined to give true Devotion the boot because the blooms are short lived and turn to mush with temps only in the low 80s F. No guts!

Moses.