One thing that I have learned through years of living with the aftereffects of typos, mistakes and misquotes, is that just because something is printed in a newspaper, magazine or book doesn't guarantee accuracy. As a result, I am always skeptical of the printed word and recommendations of others. That doesn’t mean that I am pessimistic, it means that I am cautious.

The original plant of my Tahitian Treasure is ownroot and generally doesn't exceed 30" in height, however it is competing with other roses.

Of the four grafted plants that I have, each plant has one cane that is 52 inches tall, nevertheless, I would say that the realistic height of the plants is in the range of 3 to 4 feet tall for landscaping purposes in my area when giving the plant reasonable care. By the way, I am a Landscape Architect by training. The plant breeding is a hobby that took off.

Own root plants, that are genetically predisposed to good branching, will always try to achieve a well rounded plant habit before they exhibit their maximum potential height. If your plant is a young ownroot plant, that would explain why it blooms a lot but is only 16 inches tall.

If your plant is a weak grafted plant, it will also exhibit the characteristics of an ownroot plant before it reaches its stage in life of normal potential vigor of a grafted plant.

Then there are the subjects of care, maintenance and environmental influences which complicate plant growth results even more.

I expect with good care and unforeseen negative factors, your plant of Tahitian Treasure will gain additional stature next year. All perennial plants always do better in subsequent years.

I will contact the Star Rose people about the height that is listed in Star Roses promotional material at 5 to 5 1/2 feet. I will also let them know that they left out fragrance for my rose Apricot Nectar. While I can barely denote the fragrance, most people that I've contacted say that Apricot Nectar is noticeably fragrant.

The subject of people being able to denote fragrance is a another subject for a different time but I can say that plant fragrance perception is greatly influenced by personal differences, much like colorblindness influences vision.