In my first timid foray beyond Knock Out and Drift roses, to find fragrant disease-resistant roses, I have ordered the following Kordes roses for delivery in early April:
2 Dark Desire: Palatine Roses
1 Beverly: PalatineRoses
2 Wedding Bells: Palatine Roses
3 Savannah: Chamblee Rose Nursery
A rose expert from ATP first told me about Kordes roses, which have been bred in Germany for disease resistance. Then I read an excellent book called "Roses without chemicals: 150 disease-free varieties that will change the way you grow roses" by Peter E. Kukielski. My Kukielski trialed these roses as curator of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden from 2006 to 2013. He is now the executive director of the new American Rose Trials for Sustainability (A.R.T.S), launched in 2014.
In this book, the roses are scored on disease resistance (0-60), flowering (0-30), and fragrance (0-10), with a maximum total of 100. Here are the ones I considered (* = Kordes):
Cultivar Type Color Dis. Resist. Flowering Fragrance Total
'Beverly'* Hyb. Tea Pink 54 21 10 85
'Dark Desire'* Hyb. Tea Red/Purple 55 28 10 93
'First Crush'* Floribunda Creamy Pink 50 25 10 85
'Maris-Luise Marjan Hyb. Tea Creamy White 54 25 9 88
'Poseidon'* Floribunda Lavender 57 26 9 92
'Savannah'* Hyb. Tea Apricot-Pink 60 25 9 94
'Summer Romance'* Floribunda Dark Pink 52 28 10 90
'WeddingBells'* Hyb. Tea Pink Blend 60 28 6 94
Do my choices look OK to you more experienced Rotarians?
