Joe, I’ve had various others at various times, but my favorites are Martha Gonzales, Katy Road Pink, and two very fragrant varieties in our front yard whose names are lost to the ages. One is a deep red, and the other is a very double pink rose. I think it’s a cabbage rose.

Katy Road Pink has since been renamed; they ran the genetics and found out that it and one other variety were actually the same as a third, which they had recognized by its true name. They rounded up roses surviving on abandoned homesites, roadsides, and other neglected places.

So they first named them by where they were found or other features. When you buy their roses, you can be confident that it will thrive without being kept on advanced life support.

Laura, I ought to look into their purples. One might work beautifully in front of our house! Thanks for the idea.

I only buy the ones that are extremely fragrant. I love one called Angel Face, another called Neptune, and if you want dark and rich purple, look at Ebb Tide or Night Owl. The first two are a bush, the other two are climbers. There are about a dozen or so purples. Glorious.

Hmmm… I’d need bush roses. They don’t list Angel Face or Neptune. 😕 I found out that Katy Road Pink is now available by its actual name, Carefree Beauty. And it is both carefree and a beauty. antiqueroseemporium.com/prod…

I must have a half dozen different purple varieties myself, so if you have any questions about what they do have, I might be able to tell you whether or not they are worth getting.

Thanks! I’ll check them again later tonight.

Very interesting info. Do roses do well in your areas? They do very well here. The climbing rose in my front yard is very old but still blooming.

They do great for all but the hottest days of the year. At some point, the heat is just too much for everything, and it burns my roses to a crisp. My yard looks as though I’m growing potato chip plants. Everything is dry, burnt, brown, and crispy. But they come back.