HELPMEFIND PLANTS COMMERCIAL NON-COMMERCIAL RESOURCES EVENTS PEOPLE RATINGS
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Initial post
11 MAY 23 by
Aravis
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Hi all. I’m new to HMF, so might be missing something….
This rose does not appear to have a very good rating….. but there are numerous photos from multiple people, in which the plants appear really healthy and covered in rather abundant blooms. I know different climates may account for some of this, but…. Could anyone help me make sense of it? Trying to work out some good options to buy. Cheers. (Sydney Australia)
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#1 of 8 posted
11 MAY 23 by
 Johno
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Rarely look at ratings and in my opinion they do lack credibility with roses that are extinct getting favourite votes. Leonardo score of 115 is not bad compared with the better-known Iceberg 194 and Mr Lincoln 230. It received excellent or good scores in all areas except only a fair result for fragrance and shade tolerance. The signs are there that this is a good rose.
Leonardo has been in the garden for well over a decade. In its youth it presented more as a shrub rose sending out long shoots which had to be tied down to the boundary fence. Like all good puppies it calmed down as it aged. I don’t spray for black spot as it doesn’t become evident until winter. Rose does not ball, but I don’t live in the subtropical climate of Sydney. Alana’s excellent photo of 13/11/22 shows the rose at its best. When reading comments or looking at photos click on HMF members’ names to check their location as there are distinct differences between say the USA and Oz.
Leonardo is a reliable, robust pink rose
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#5 of 8 posted
11 MAY 23 by
Aravis
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Thanks Johno. Good to know from an Australian perspective even if not exactly the same… I am south west Sydney… bit further out. I think I’ll give it a shot.
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#2 of 8 posted
11 MAY 23 by
Plazbo
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One factor with photo's in general, most people will take photo's when things look good. Fewer will take them when things look bad. Kind of like how most pictures are of the flower close up, most people do that, fewer take pictures of the plant from a distance, the foliage, the canes, etc.
GOOD+ isn't a bad rating, it's effectively the third highest rating (Excellent and Excellent- being the only two above it).
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#6 of 8 posted
11 MAY 23 by
Aravis
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Thanks Plazbo… I figured people would take photos at the plants best, and also that Good+ sounds good…. But just comparing with other rose photos and ratings like for like… The photos on this seemed very consistently healthy, leaves looked healthy, great blooms compared to many other rose photo collections (possibly just in my own personal opinion… but I do acknowledge my fave rose in my garden with unhealthy leaves… has a similar bunch of healthy looking flower photos so… good point)
…. And with the ratings…. I guess I didn’t consider good + to be very good, because I haven’t really come across many at all with an average rating any lower than that…. So by default it kinda seemed close to the bottom but maybe sellers don’t tend to sell roses with lower ratings so I’m not looking them up so much, and searches are biased towards good ratings…..
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
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#3 of 8 posted
11 MAY 23 by
Lee H.
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…and it depends so much on what actually gratifies you as a rose grower. In general, I think modern ratings are skewed toward low / no-spray maintenance, disease and drought resistance, cold hardiness, and continual blooming. And that is what many modern breeders are targeting. On the other hand, I and many others may value the unsurpassed beauty of a huge mid 20th century, high-centered, long stemmed hybrid tea, even if it means lavishing an inordinate amount of time spraying, fertilizing and watering. Or even spending 50 weeks of the year maintaining a plot of ground just to enjoy 2 weeks of joy from Madame Hardy. I say if it looks interesting to you, plant it. If it doesn’t work out, give it away (I still can’t bring myself to actually shovel pruning an otherwise good rose).
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#7 of 8 posted
11 MAY 23 by
Aravis
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Ah yes… Could well be skewed. I agree, it totally comes down to what people value…I do understand why people like yourself would be happy to work the ground for a year for two weeks of glory.. and if I lived in different circumstances would probably do the same … but I find in my suburban yard (with a large new two storey house on my eastern boundary, blocking much morning sun) that I am scrounging to find new sunny spots and have just built new gardens to have more plants…. So in terms of my space economy… it would want to be a very amazingly special rose to take up plant real estate for minimal bloom time…. Cause that is then space I can’t have other roses that provide me with much longer colour and more cut flowers I love to take to work. (Mental health nurse…. Patients and staff alike value them)
I confess I also spend a lot of time avoiding toxic chemicals in most areas of my life so tend to have a natural aversion to spraying in general even if I’ve sought out the less toxic options. Having said that though, my favourite rose (of 4 favourites from which I can’t decide so depends on which is blooming) is probably also the one with the least disease resistant leaves that needs the most spraying…. So I do totally understand your point. Thanks for replying Lee.
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Most likely it is a good rose in climates which are similar to the South of France. Meilland has had success with some of its' landscape offerings being fairly cold hardy and disease resistant. I still think the Medilland series is best of the landscape roses, overall, with 'Pink' 'White' and 'Alba' being particular stand outs.
However, I suspect their breeding lines for HTs and floribundas are a bit more climate specific. Meilland was just one of the nurseries who sought to capitalize on the success of the early David Ausen roses, and the market for many petalled roses of old fashioned form became a bit saturated. Another rather nice rose--I have not grown it--from the Meilland breeding program of the 1990s was 'Renoir', I think was the name, a lovely saturated pink color.
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#8 of 8 posted
11 MAY 23 by
Aravis
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Thanks so much Nastarana. I was unaware of all these details. I have very little knowledge of France and still trying to get my head around the different categories, breeders, lines, origins and therefore appropriate climates for the different roses… so that was helpful insight. Cheers.
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