This is my fourth year with dark desire. I bought it from Palatine, vigorous with clean leaves. But this is what I get from 90% of the blooms. Not worth growing in the PNW.

Bummer!

I'm sorry. . and here I thought I was the only one to have problems with this rose. I also get this early and late in the season. It seems very susceptible to botrytis. Mine is fine once it warms up, but also gets BS, although that has improved markedly this year.

wendit,,, .its a bit disappointing when that happens. I gave up growing hybrid teas after struggling with diseases one after another. It rains to much and we get snow and ice storms up in the PNW. However ...Look on the bright side I grow many other types of roses consider the 16 Other types of other roses that are disease resistant and withstand freezing winter temps.

I got rid of JFK because, although it had beautiful long white buds, it NEVER opened here. Humidity was always too high and they just wouldn't open. So I know how you feell.

seilMi.. next time a rose becomes stubborn and will not open, try cutting the stem early in the am. Before they begin to wilt place in water immediately.

Then bring the cut flower inside fill a vase with fresh water add a few drops of bleach for disinfectant fungus build up in water and a ice cube. Keep in indirect light in a cool place. Cut bottom of stem at 45 degrees to fresh green stem every couple of days. Preparing cut flowers properly is the nitty gritty of the floral industry and can add several days if not weeks to cut flower arrangements.

Even PJPII had minimal balling this spring for me. My other Kordes roses are my best performers. That's why this one is such a disappointment. Who wants a giant bare root this fall?

PJPII?

Pope John Paul ll

O-o-o-oh!

Thanks bumpl but even inside they didn't open.

Oh.. Bummer...sometimes we have to ditch a few plants ....

Yeah, I , too, am beginning to come to the point of just giving up on some roses. I always assume that they can't produce decent flowers because I didn't do adequate soil preparation, etc, but there ARE others that, instead, are glorious,that have exatly the same conditions.The two that I'm thinking of dumping are both Bourbons: Hommage à Soupert et Notting and Charles XII. Both are very vigorous plants,grow quickly and well, but neither seems able to produce quality flowers. All are either balled, proliferated, or bull-heads. I put both into pots, only giving them another chance because Florence Ducher (which I think of as a sort of "sister" of H à S et N) actually DID finally give a wonderful flush this year,after I improved the soil a lot. O, wait: there's anothe on the list: Durance. That's not, I think, a Bourbon, but all it's flowers balled...

Dark Desire is the one newer Kordes rose I'm glad I didn't like the smell of (makes me think of old lady soap from the 80's, you know when pot purri was the in thing) and so never got it. So often you hear about issues with it, balling, burning, weird crazy growth.

It seems to be a rose that loves the heat, but detests cool wet weather.

It seems to be a common problem in PNW. My Mademoiselle de Sombreuil did the same thing this spring. She had a dozen of flower buds, but none of them was open, and moreover, Francis Meilland's buds were all bullnosing. They are both in full sun location, yet the rain and temperature waves cause the disformations. At last I had to cut all of them off and now am waiting for their second flush.

Speaking of PJPII, I bought one bareroot in Feb, but it didn't make it. I would like to get another one. Maybe this fall.

O how I hate bull-nosing!

What is bull nosing? I googled it but am still foggy.

Maybe this video from Fraser Valley Rose Farm will help.

https://youtu.be/p_kf-mpeQDo

Thank for the link. Very informative. Definitely answers a lot of questions with some of my roses.