I was given this rose about 10 years ago and would love to know what it is. It may be a short climber - we have it growing up an obelisk and it reaches about 7 ft tall. It flowers reliably from late spring to the frosts; in mid summer the blooms are slightly fuller than those in the pics (taken yesterday). The color is closer to the first photo. Thank you for your suggestions!

This could be a nearly impossible puzzle for us to solve, not only because of the great number of red roses available to gardeners, but also because of regional differences. Where are you growing this rose? England? France? Some of the most popular roses in those countries are virtually unknown to us here.

Now that those provisos have been stated, I guess it's time for a wild guess. My wild guess is Don Juan, although the blooms on your rose appear to be cupped rather than high centered.

Rose (Rosa 'Don Juan')

It is a lovely rose! To bad it has no name.

Guinee is another nice dark-red climber, and its blooms are more cupped.

Rose (Rosa 'Guinee')

I did fear it was going to be a needle in a haystack sort of thing! But thank you so much; the first suggestion, Don Juan, does look very similar. And yes, it's growing in England - I have seen many English roses on ATP so thought it worth a try. Thanks also to Porkpal for the kind comment. Perhaps it's a case of 'a rose by no name smelling as sweet'!

The Austin roses are always available here, but lots of Fryer, Dickson, and Harkness roses are curiously elusive. Sweet Dream was the most popular rose in England for years, for instance, but it has always been difficult to find here.

"Might" that rose be Dublin Bay ???
The blooms in the photo look like mine when I had it.

You may be right, Mike; as Zuzu said the blooms of Don Juan look more high centred than my plant. Thank you!

Here is my Dublin Bay. Photo taken just now in full sun.




Sorry I don't have any buds on it right now. We've had 2 freezes already, the the wind has been blowing ferociously all week. Dublin Bay is one tough rose!
I don't think your roses is Dublin Bay, though. The color is darker on yours, and the form is more formal.

Thanks, Cindi, lovely rose you have and amazing resilience still to be flowering after the bad weather you describe. But the color does indeed seem different; mine is a very saturated red that is darker than your Dublin Bay. We just arrived at our place in France having travelled here from England today; we're a long way from the troubles in Paris but things are still subdued, people in a state of shock.

my heart aches for all of France today.

cliftoncat stated: "We just arrived at our place in France having travelled here from England today; we're a long way from the troubles in Paris but things are still subdued, people in a state of shock."

Sending my condolences to the people of France.



Does the rose in question look like this?

Margie, that's a beautiful rose, but judging by the photos, I think the blooms on Cliftoncat's rose have fewer petals, are more cupped, and are darker red.

Morning, everyone. Thank you all for the kind thoughts.
I think Margie's rose is the closest of all and is perhaps even spot on - the color in the first of Margie's photos looks right (the top of my two photos is the most accurate in terms of color), and if you enlarge Margie's second photo, there are two blooms in the top right hand corner that look the right shape. The flowers in my photos were not fully open (sadly I can't take another photo today as we're now in France) but I'll keep Margie's photos and compare them either when we get back, if there are still any flowers, or next summer. Can we know the name of your lovely rose, Margie?

"Blaze" - Kallay 1932
Bloom shape: cupped
Growth habit: climber
Parentage: Paul's Scarlet Climber x Gruss an Teplitz

Brilliant, thank you - I'll regard it as a 'possibly' Blaze.