Three citrus-y friends to finish out the twelve days of Christmas.

Pope John Paul II.

Perhaps Dr. Keith W. Zary’s best cultivar it was introduced by Jackson and Perkins in 2004. It has giant blossoms, nearly six inches. Its mother is also famous, Gamble Medal winner Secret. My favorite part about Pope John Paul II is he isn’t prone to thrips as much as other white roses.

Its fragrance is rosa centifolia with a heap of citrus.

Olivia Austin.

This stunner was hybridized in 2000 by the late David Austin. Its shape and color remind me of Queen of Sweden, but with better fragrance. It is a classic centifolia, so think fruity. 

Sugar Moon.

This cultivar has such a perfect shape. It’s the offspring of Baby Love and exhibition winner Moonstone. It was hybridized by Christian Bedard in 2008, and was introduced ten years ago by Weeks. It has that great citrus and centifolia fragrance, and is very disease resistant.

Firefighter.

Originally called Hacienda in France, Firefighter was named in honor of those first responders who gave their lives during 9/11. This classic red was hybridized by the Orard brothers in 1998, and came to the states via Edmund's in 2005. The fragrance is beautifully complex. One part rosa centifolia, one part damask, it finishes with a sugar sweet note. Toy 2 Bubble Gum by Moschino captures that sweet final note.

Neil Diamond.

While not the most floriferous bush, it sure is a star. It smells like fruity floral, has a perfect shape, and incredible color. It was bred by Tom Carruth when he worked at Week’s Roses in 2001. Lush Rose Jam Body Spray smells just like it.

These Gamble winners were awarded in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and is innovative in fragrance hybridizing. The cultivars today, all have a note that is unique.

Wild Blue Yonder.

I bought Wild Blue Yonder because I heard it smelled like raspberries and it did not disappoint. This beauty is hybridized by the talented, now retired Tom Carruth. Like nearly all roses with blue in their name, Wild Blue is not actually blue but a magenta. It’s also heat tolerant. I can attest to this, the blossoms don’t really shrivel in direct sun.

The fragrance has many descriptions, but I’ll say it’s zesty raspberry with gallica. Its complex scent makes it hard to place, probably floral oriental. Love Chopard, is fairly similar, but doesn’t really have that raspberry note. That is unique.

Scentimental.

Green. Green. Green. That’s what makes Scentimental so fabulous. If picked at the right time. It totally smells like fresh cut grass. I would go so far to say that Scentimental is also the first true green rose fragrance. Infusion de Rose by Prada has that same rose freshness.

The color isn’t half bad either, a red and white swirl that doesn’t change during the hot hot summer. It’s always red and white. Scentimental is another winner from Tom Carruth.

Melody Parfumée.

I have been trying to get my fat little hands on this one for quite some time. It comes from an independent French breeder, Francois Dorieux II. I wish the fragrance for this one could be bottled. It’s rose gallica, with a pinch of lemon candy, and ends with the deepest chocolate-y damask. It is marvelous. I would place it in the floral category but with a clean asterisk. It’s a grandiflora and blooms in sprays which makes the purple, magenta flowers even more magnificent.  There is a soap, Castebel wild rose botanical, that smells similar.

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love sent to me some perfectly pink roses. Isn’t that better than nine ladies dancing?! Smells better. Lol. Less sweat.

Louise Estes.
Louise was hybrdized by the late Joseph F. Winchel in 1991. Joseph Winchel really deserves a shout out. He bred several exhibition winners, including Dolly Parton and Ninety-Niner, and Louise Estes has that predilection for perfect shape as well. It’s a pink flush, that gets darker as the bloom ages, and very disease resistant.

It smells like rosa centifolia in the floral fruity family. Tiffany & Co Rose Gold has a similar olfactory structure.

Elle.

Jacques Mouchotte is a hybridizer at the House of Meilland and Elle is one of his most iconic cultivars. It’s shaped like a pink OGR, but with excellence disease resistance. I’m crossing my fingers that my Elle weathers its first winter well. Fingers crossed.

Elle is in two families sweet floral and citrus. It also has the slightest hint of baby powder. Rose Cherie by Guerlain smells just like this Gamble medal winner.  

Falling in Love.

Tom Carruth! It’s time for one of the best hybridizers of our time. Carruth pumped out the hits for Weeks for several decades, before retiring in 2012.  

Surprise! This cultivar is also pink, but with a cream reverse.

It has a rosa centifolia fragrance and is in the fruity floral family. Nahema by Guerlain is a more complex fragrance for lovers of Falling.

It’s time for the first and only miniature! The only miniature rose that has won a Gamble award is here!

Well almost. First, let’s talk about the winner from 2007.

Fragrant Plum.
This is the same story as Chrysler Imperial. Remember how I’m an idiot. Yea. I got rid of this rose a few years ago, because it just wasn’t perfect I replaced it with Plum Perfect. I want my Fragrant Plum back.

Hybridized by Jack E. Christensen it’s a mauve rose with pink petals and a classic shape. The fragrance is classic centifolia with a bit of grape. So once again the fruity floral family. Loubidoo by Christian Louboutin smells similar.

Sweet Chariot.

The miniature king Ralph S. Moore finally makes the list. Sweet Chariot is a purple cutie. With a max height of eighteen inches, it’s just right for a container.

The fragrance is a heavenly damask, a solid entry into floral family.  Stella by Stella McCartney is a great pair.

When rosarians think red, they tend to think of this one.

Mr. Lincoln.

The reddest of the reddest. Mr. Lincoln is thought by many to be the iconic red rose. Another Gamble Medal Winner from the partnership between Herbert C. Swim and Weeks Roses, hybridized in 1964.

The aroma is decadent, a heavy, dark damask with the slightest note of oud to finish. I would place it firmly in the floral family. Amber Nuit by Dior comes the closest in capturing its essence. Truly lovely.

Sheila’s Perfume.

Ka-pow! Sheila’s Perfume is a shock of color. It was the result of a complex cross by John Sheridan in 1985. It turns on and off throughout the season, taking it’s time to recharge and emerge more electric. If you like yellow this rose is perfect. The hot summer temperatures in Utah make it lemon with magenta trim.

The fragrance family for Sheila’s Perfume is a tug of war between floral and green. Three quarters centifolia, one quarter damask, with an entrancing note of hyacinth.

The start of the new millennium! Starting with 2001.

Angel Face.

Heat tolerant, mauve, and fabulous fragrance? Yes, Please! I use Angel Face all the time in my designs as a landscaper. I suggest this gal for any beginning rosarian, and there always seems to be one lurking at a nursery along the Wasatch Front. It was patented by Swim and Weeks in 1968.

It smells delicate, citrus-y, with a little bit of parsley. Firmly in the citrus fragrance family with a subtle note of centifolia.  I would argue that its fragrance is the purest citrus note in all of rosedom. COCO Mademoiselle L’eau Privée by Chanel is a good match.

Secret.

When I pick a blossom from Secret, I almost feel like I have the world’s most perfect hand-sized soap. The large multicolored petals are reminiscent of porcelain. Created by independent hybridizer Daniel Tracy in 1992, I like it best when it’s a little warm and the whites pop.

The fragrance is a combo of centifolia and multiflora, with the smallest pinch of pepper at the end. It fits in the soft floral family and Idôle by Lancôme is very similar.

The roses behind today's little cardboard punch hole are the only Gamble Medal recipients of the 80s and 90s.

Double Delight.

If there is one rose that personifies the 80s, it would have to be double delight. It looks like it came right out of Benneton. The bold colors smack of Aquanet-ed hair, high pigment eye shadow, and Vacation by the Gos-Gos. playing on your Walkman. The great Herbert C. Swim hybridized this icon, and only Gamble Medal Winner in the 1980s.

The fragrance is peppery with a bit of anise, nutmeg, and rosa gallica. Miss Dior is the perfect perfume to compliment.

Fragrant Hour.

This one is rarer in the United States. It comes from the Irish New Zealand hybridizer Samuel Darragh McGredy IV. McGredy deserves a shout-out. He hybridized an impressive 830 cultivars in his lifetime, including New Zealand, Marriotta, Olympiad and Sexy Rexy.

The color of fragrant hour is unusual, a bronze pink. While the fragrance is a clean, classic damask fragrance. Firmly in the floral fragrance family just like the perfume Turkish Rose by Nest.

It's finally time for the first non-hybrid tea. Okay, but first let's do one more. The 1974 winner.

Papa Meilland.

Papa is a Beauty and the Beast style rose and a perennially contender for “Best of Show”. Of course, any rose bearing the Meilland name is bound to be impressive. Hybridized in 1963 by Alain Meilland, papa’s mama is also a Gamble medal winner, Chrysler Imperial. Not only does it make a great cut flower but it’s also a whopper with the average bloom size being 5.5”.

Damask to the core. The fragrance is pure and perfect. Essence No. 1 by Elie Saab makes a great pair for Papa.

Sunsprite.

It’s the first floribunda to win the Gamble Award! Up to this point all the roses have belonged to the same class, hybrid tea. But this little baby is a gatecrasher. It’s a compact cultivar rarely growing over three feet. It was hybridized in 1973 by Reimer Kordes, the son of Wilhelm Kordes II. The happy yellow blossoms never stop throughout the season, and it does pretty well in part shade. It is number #3 in my top ten favorite roses.

The fragrance is a mixture of centifolia and honey. Eglantine by Fragonard is a complimentary scent.