I had a friend who would walk through his garden with a pot of Chick-a-Dee under his nose. He said that way when asked if something was fragrant, he could always respond, "Yes, VERY!" The rose has a very sweet, strong fragrance, particularly for a mini.
What Mr. Moore found attractive about the rose were the results from such a breeding line. Stripes, fragrance, ease of rooting, perpetual flowering, attractive color, bushy plant all from Dortmund, Ferdinand Pichard, Little Darling, Fairy Moss and Mlle. Cecile Brunner. Not being able to smell it is personal and climatic, but to many who can smell it, there is a very sweet, lasting scent. I'm happy it's one I can smell, but my climate is far more conducive to scent than the hot, dry, lower desert where Robert lives. The plant is quite desirable from this line of breeding. Most often, the striped line resulted in floppy, elongated canes. This one has much less of that than other stripes such as Stars'n'Stripes and the McGredy line...Whistle Stop, Hurdy Gurdy, etc.
Kim, I understand what you're saying. It's parentage is fascinating and the growth habit is desirable. Other than that I find it rather ordinary looking pink. It get an odd stripe here or there but nothing spectacular. It also can become huge as I'm sure you're well aware.
It will likely take considerable judicious pruning to keep it in bounds as a mini tree.
It was the most striped seedling with the best plant of the bunch. I wonder if the striping is heat influenced? Yes, it can get large, but so can the vast majority of minis if they're "happy" and remain relatively lightly pruned. It's that vigor that makes it as good a plant as it is. You know how frustrating it is to have a plant that requires tremendous resources and time to build a framework, only to have the "whackers" devastate it when pruning, then complain "it doesn't grow".
Hmm -- no Robert, I don't have to prune it much at all. I got it as a triple-budded standard on Pink Clouds at the Palm Springs ARS event in Nov 2009, and all three buds have thrived, but I've never really had to cut off much at all at pruning time. It's stayed about a foot wide, but grown vigorously. It and Gourmet Popcorn are my favorite minis for standards, because they both have a tendency toward "dense" growth and both have no disease issues.
That makes sense. There is a tremendous difference in heat and "push" between Rancho Mirage and San Juan Capistrano! Lynne Gold grew to three feet by three feet in Newhall, though classed as a "micro", as did Blue Mist. Mr. Moore was quite surprised to see both of them as he'd never seen them get that large. He stood before Lynne Gold shaking his head and grinning.
Kim, as you know, the original plant of 'Chick-a dee' was probably 8' tall and 6' wide at Sequoia?
Roses do funny things when budded. Most of the time it gives them extra vigor. For some reason it sounds as if things are working in reverse in this scenario. It could be the triple budding.
I have to say it is interesting.
I never grew 'Chick a dee' here. I never cared for it enough to give it space.
No, I've seen the climbing sport as well. The 8' plant I observed was the original seedling. Keep in mind that roses grow exceptionally well in Visalia, CA.
