Striped roses have been around forever, but finally here we have one that can compare to the top tier of hybrid teas. The blooms are large and durable enough that they can hold their own with Mister Lincoln or Maria Callas...no fleeting little weak novelty here. The bloom is well spiraled symmetrical modern hybrid tea for the first half of it life, then changes to a full pillowy confection like an old school English Rose...you sort of get the best of both worlds, and it does both forms quite well and is attractive in all stages. There fair amount of variation in the pinkish-red to white proportions, the mutability of both color and form makes it ever fascinating. The fragrance is truly extraordinary, by that I mean NOT like its relative Scentimental ('good, nice') but like Fragrant Cloud ('WOW! Really?!') It is one of those deep, powerful scents rushes through your nose and perfumes head and makes you a bit dizzy (think Double Delight, Mme Isaac, and again , Fragrant Cloud). It's a pure damask nothing-but-true-rose scent, almost unbelievably strong, like there's a liquid perfume center hiding under all those crazy striped petals.
The plant is generous, tall and vigorous, a bit too bolt upright, might get a little blackspot, but the faults are really negligible for all that it offers..It reminds me a bit of Double Delight, a unique yet high-quality changeling with excellent garden performance and exceptional scent.

So why did Weeks drop it like a turkey carcass onto the rose buying public? It was introduced with very little fanfare. Does anyone really buy a rose because it was named after a 70's era monotone crooner? I understand that it is third in a line of similarly colored striped roses after Scentimental and Rock n Roll, but this one takes it to another level. I blame poor marketing if this rose doesn't become a mainstay! It could stand on its scent alone like a Perfume Delight or Fragrant Cloud, I would have named this one 'Wild Perfume'.

Available from - J.W. Jung Seed Co.
www.jungseed.com