Has anyone grown this floribunda rose? Is it available in Australia? I am interested in any comments in regards to growth habit, vigor, disease resistance...& comparison with Blue Moon.

Thanks!

Apparently this was bred in England (1971) by Harkness. There is a photo on HelpMeFind but not much else.

Any takers???

Feel for the grower who is confronted by some wide-eyed would-be purchasers who asks for roses that they saw in an English magazine, and which are unavailable in Australia.

Or asks for roses so rarely enquired about that the grower has dropped them from production (why waste stock growing plants that waste away for lack of enquiry?).

Or if the grower has a stock plant somewhere, and offers to be able to provide a plant in 2 years (you all know that's how long it takes to grow a decent plant), and is met with "Oh, I can't wait that long."

Frustrating? Yes. I know for example, that Reliable Roses carries 600-700 cultivars and species. Not enough? Nurseries are interested in your business, and try to help. Look around you.

My first purchases were probably not wise choices, but now I like to research first (hence my question here). I am a rose newbie but having a backgound in genetics and biology I am facinated by the breeding and heritage of roses and would like to learn more. I was not aware that Harkness was an english breeder.

I have but bought a couple of Westerland roses...do you think this would be a better choice for my area? (Ie around Hornsby shire)

Jack Harkness was a breeder of roses. He died in 1994. His two sons Phillip and Robert are still running the nursery. Gerry Froy was their hybridiser in 1996, but I suspect Robert may have taken on that role now. He (Jack) wrote a great book published by Dent in 1978, and called "Roses". An excellent starter. Out of print, but you'll get a copy from Alibris or Amazon. Google will help you find them.

Roses and rose-growing have changed a lot since 1978, for the worse I think. With the arrival of David Austin's roses came a huge marketing machine pushing hard. Then came the so-called but misnamed "groundcover roses" and their huge promotion and marketing push. Pink pots, remember? And suddenly new introductions needed a tag-line - "Patio Roses", "Meidilland, or Meillandinas", "Romanticas", "The Painters", "Deldard Roses".

Today, very few people know what defines a "good" rose. They are seduced by images and spiel about a collection of roses thrust upon us ad nauseum. The humble home-grown rose breeder has no answer. Maureen Ross I believe is attempting to compete with "True Blue Roses", appealing to the Aussie in all of us. But it's the same recipe, and it costs, and we pay those costs. The race to buy the latest, regardless of quality, because it must be better than we have ever had, and on the basis that the man with the megaphone must be telling the truth, is in my opinion, ludicrous.

I've been around long enough to see roses pushed in grower's catalogues disappear in 5 years. The blaring promotion of today by comparison will also be followed by the disappearance of latest releases as new cultivars flood into the market. Novelty is good. Stripes, blotches, wait for the corks on strings festooned thereon. The rose business today reminds me of the car industry. A merchandising structure is established, a hybridiser here and there is instructed what to produce, and they change models every now and then to maintain the market fascination with change. Aren't we all queued up to have the first "Blue Rose"?

This is reality today. I was recently at a rose convention where a speaker to "Roses of the Future", suggested that garden designers should dictate to breeders the types of roses to create, roses better suited to their needs. We have moved from a time when breeders, the people who know roses, attempted to breed better roses for the public, to one where we are told what is quality by those who do not know. Mass production of inferior roses is with us today.

I hope there are more people like you Phoebe (sic), who have an interest in a deeper relationship with the rose, and who rise above the dross of the market place to see the rose as a thing of beauty in nature. There is fascination in researching the rose, and which enables us leap from the merry-go-round of lifeto seek refuge in contemplating the beauty, and the earlier development of the rose. This gives a vastly truer appreciation of its qualities, such as ---

I will keep your link as it is helpful to see a nursery that offers a different selection. The pictures look fantastic. When I am down in Melbourne I will be sure to visit, and check out your gardens.

I am facinated by the "blue roses", although I am aware that biochemically speaking it is probably impossible for a rose to be truly blue, even with the right genes introduced.