New Releases for 2008

As we look forward to Spring, most of us are thinking about our rose purchases for the new season. Many of us were fortunate enough to pick up some of the 2008 new releases at last Spring’s Yankee District Convention. Some of us were able to get new releases to test in our gardens. We’d like to give you our reflections on these roses to help you plan for the upcoming season.

We had the opportunity to plant this year’s AARS winner, Dream Come True. This is a lovely Grandiflora hybridized by an amateur rose grower named Dr. John Pottschmidt. Its coloring is striking, a deep yellow edged in ruby red. It has good disease resistance and a sweet fragrance. It started out slow, but by the end of the season it bloomed profusely and achieved a nice size. The blooms are a large 5” across and the long stems make it a good exhibition rose.

Our favorite new Hybrid Tea has to be Falling in Love. This is truly a rose you will fall in love with. It’s a lovely warm pink with a cream reverse. It has a good strong rose and fruity fragrance. It’s large, full blooms and long stems make it perfect for cutting and exhibiting. In fact, it took Princess at the Yankee District Fall Rose Show.

Another new Hybrid Tea that we had the opportunity to observe is Apricot Candy. The color of this rose is a soft apricot that doesn’t fade in the heat. It has good disease resistance and a nice look with its ruffled petals.

If you love Colette, you will love her sport, Lunar Mist. We received it from our Star sales rep last spring and while we never got around to planting it, the blooms were beautiful and abundant. It has old fashioned blooms, with 50 plus petals and a lovely, soft cream color.

Candy Land is a new climber from Tom Curruth.  This pink and cream striped rose, while similar to Berries ‘n’ Cream, has a classical Hybrid Tea form. It produces nice clusters and grows fairly quickly.

‘Watercolors’ is a spectacular shrub rose also from Tom Carruth at Weeks. We were really impressed by this beauty. Its single petaled blooms change color daily. The colors are brilliant pinks and yellows against deep green foliage. This rose bush will knock knock out out of the garden centers.

Wing-Ding is being hailed by the critics as a great exhibition Polyantha. If you’ve never had any experience with Polyanthas (ancestors to the Floribunda), give this one a try. The color is a vibrant scarlet red. These non-stop bloomers continue late into the fall. The blooms, like most Polyanthas are small, but in numerous clusters.

With these new releases it appears that 2008 will be another winning season for rose lovers.

Irwin & Cindy Ehrenreich