Wow! Sharlene- I just drooled on my keyboard, all your fault Schöne Koblenzerin is really interesting and beautiful!

Thanks Neal - hope you managed to clean up your keyboard

Schöne Koblenzerin (aka Ruby Ice) is a very healthy Kordes rose which is not surprising since it was awarded ADR status in 2009

I hope my favorite rose vendor offers Ruby Ice! I checked and found that a good own root vendor, Chamblee's, is offering it, so one way or the other that beauty is going to live here next spring! I added it to my wish list on their site and noticed I already have a similar bicolor on my list called Mandarin Ice. I've always loved those with a lighter colored reverse.

I've been observing Japanese beetle activity closely this summer, and thankfully the populations of them aren't out of control. Even some of the blooms they seem most attracted to have been able to open and develop and beautify the garden for a day or so before being eaten, and they haven't covered blooms completely like I've seen in years past.

Apparently there is something about reds that they don't like- red blooms haven't been touched. None of my reds are very fragrant though, and they do seem drawn to fragrant varieties. I had wondered if the beetles would "see" Twilight Zone and Ebb Tide as red or mauve (they tend to be attracted to mauve and lavender roses), and they did indeed devour those plum colored blooms. I'm unsure if its more about fragrance or color, but it does seem they devour white and yellows regardless of scent. Dark Desire has been left alone, and the current blooms have no scent.

That's great Neal. HMF doesn't list any vendors in the US.
They would go together perfectly! Both beautiful little roses - the only thing that would make them better is if they were fragrant!

Cross-posted - maybe it is a good thing that they aren't fragrant - if it is indeed the fragrance that attracts the beetles.

Those bright ones with no fragrance are my "middle of the bed" roses- where I rarely get close enough to smell them anyway
Modern Kordes roses grow like weeds for me- love them!

As to beetle resistance, its a toss of the dice. Come to think of it, Grimm Brothers has no scent, but the beetles are liking them.

I wonder what about the reds discourages them?

Maybe they don't taste so good

The Department of Plant Sciences at Cambridge (the English one!) did a study on insects and colour blindness - they concluded that most insects, with the exception of some butterflies, do not see red well.

I should try one and see!

I was just out in the garden and Zaide, that I got from Chamblee's this spring has 3 nice blooms. It has a light, but sweet fragrance. Only 1 beetle, which is great, especially for a pink with fragrance!


Another thing I'm noticing about the beetles is they go for the uppermost blooms, and often miss those lower on the plant or obscured by foliage.

That is very interesting Mika!

Forgot we were on a new thread, so just caught up. No blooms to show here, although Caldwell's Pink is still churning them out. Enjoying all of yours!

Some of my roses during past week......


Alan Titchmarsh is doing well in heat. Low petal count and mild fragrance but still going great. Bush is healthy.
Pat Austin is in part shade. Nice fragrance but blooms fry out soon in full sun.

I have two bushes in pots and one in ground. All are healthy and producing nice fairly large size mildly scented blooms in heat over 100*F. The last two pics are of the bush in ground and seem like a case of rose proliferation. It quite hot in my area and I do not use any nitrogen heavy synthetic fertilizer. Use only home made compost which is low in nitrogen comparatively and slow release. I wonder what caused the blooms to look like this?


CPM is perhaps the best performer in my house in hot summers. Blooms do not fry out even at 110*F and last for 2-3 days which is very impressive. Moderate tea scent.


Chartreuse de Parme is also doing well. Nice moderately fragrant blooms nowadays.
William Morris has small sized blooms nowadays with mild fragrance. Keeps blooming though
Winchester Cathedral has turned completely pink nowadays. Had white blooms up till few days back. Smells like crushed almonds.


Doris Tysterman had single petaled insignificant blooms in summer with no fragrance up till now. First good bunch this summer. A wonderful rose during cooler months but quite ordinary when it crosses 100*F
Ebb Tide is blooming continuously without break. Bloom size is small, nice moderate clove fragrance.
La France is doing well. Nice sweet fragrance. A good performer during heat.
PAOK bloom are small and fry out within two to three hours. Fragrance is noticeable only early morning.


Liv Tyler is quite a mediocre performer in temps over 100*F. These are two best blooms, there were plenty of worst looking ones.
Rose de Rescht blooms continuously in my climate. Sweet fragrance and lots of small to medium sized blooms.
Oklahoma blooms are medium sized with mild fragrance nowadays. Another mediocre performer in high heat.
Maria Shriver is another ordinary performer. Mild scent and one odd bloom every week.

best regards

@kbw664, Winchester Cathedral is a sport of Mary Rose so it looks like it's reverted. Those blooms are no longer Winchester Cathedral.

Wonderful photos Khalid! Casino is doing something I've never seen before, but it is interesting and pretty in a unique way.

Calif_Sue said:@kbw664, Winchester Cathedral is a sport of Mary Rose so it looks like it's reverted. Those blooms are no longer Winchester Cathedral.

Suzzane: You are right and it is not unusual for WC to revert to Mary Rose but I am still hoping that the next flush would be white (though it doesn't seem likely). However, till the time I see the next bunch of blooms, I have decided to call it WC. I am praying that the next blooms be white because I already have Mary Rose

gemini_sage said:Wonderful photos Khalid! Casino is doing something I've never seen before, but it is interesting and pretty in a unique way.

Thanks Neal. I suspect that this Casino bush is showing rose proliferation traits. Any views on that? The other two bushes, as you see in the photos, have standard Casino blooms but this one is weird.

best regards

I just looked at a few articles on proliferation of rose blooms, something I don't recall seeing here. That Casino does look similar to some of the photos I saw. It looks like all the blooms on that plant are effected- is that the case?

Neal: Thanks for your comments. Here are the latest pics taken today that might give you a better idea.


The symptoms of rose proliferation are not very pronounced per se but there is a visible green colouration in the center which was not there earlier. As I mentioned earlier, this bush is in the ground whereas there are two more Casino bushes in the pot. Bushes in pot are ok with standard Casino blooms. This bush was also ok earlier and this is the first time it is having these weird blooms. But they still look nice to me.
best regards

Suzanne: Here is a photo taken this morning. One branch has white bloom, though a small one. The other two branches have clusters of pink blooms. Does it mean that few canes will revert to Mary Rose and few will keep giving white WC blooms? If that happens it would be nice to have a rose with pink and white blooms on the same bush? Or may be the whole bush ultimately reverts to Mary Rose with time..... not sure.