No breeder since Pernet-Ducher has given rosedom quite so many warm-colored roses. Gold Medal is the yellow by which most other yellow hybrid tea roses are measured today. It is kissed with just enough pink to take the metallic edge off its strong yellow color. Not so with Midas Touch. It is a straight-ahead chrome yellow. It may not go with a lot of other roses, but where this strong color is required to bring a vast area of dark green to life, it is indispensible. Voodoo manages so many magical color and shape transformations that it quickly obliterates questions about the origin of its name. Sometimes it is the embers, sometimes the flame.
If one can think of pink as flaming, then the very color would be Camelot. But I think Christensen's most distinctive rose is Brass Band. In it one can find a veritable fruit salad of colors: cantaloupe, orange, banana, lemon, hints of cherries, strawberry ice cream, or watermelon.The plant, grown under ideal conditions can create a wall of blossom so impenetrable that it completely obscures the foliage underneath. The faded blooms, though, remind one that if one is to become much too intoxicated in the orgiastic fun, there is frequently hell to pay the next day.
Roses in these colors are difficult to do well. Roses seem happiest when they are producing white or pink blooms. Lazy garderns such as myself may avoid Christensens's roses. But those who coddle roses or those who live in Mediterranean climates may find a vast amount of pleasure in the warmly colored blooms.
Connected to database: rosefile_roses
| Cultivar | Class | Color | Fragrance | Breeder | Hardiness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brass Band | Floribunda | Apricot | Moderate | Christensen | Zone 4 |
Catherine McCauley | Floribunda | Gold | Moderate | Christensen | Zone 6 |
Dream Cloud | Polyantha | Apricot | Christensen | ||
Fragrant Plum | Grandiflora | Mauve | Strong | Christensen | Zone 6 |
Givenchy | Floribunda | Red / White | Moderate | Christensen | Zone 8 |
Holy Toledo | Miniature | Gold | None | Christensen | Zone 5 |
Love Potion | Floribunda | Mauve | Strong | Christensen | Zone 7 |
Midas Touch | Hybrid Tea | Chrome Yellow | Moderate | Christensen | Zone 5 |
Paul Gaugin | Floribunda | Vermilion | Slight | Christensen | Zone 5 |
Purple Tiger | Floribunda | Purple | Slight | Christensen | Zone 5 |
Voodoo | Hybrid Tea | Orange | Moderate | Christensen | Zone 5 |