I have planted Mountbatten, Savoy Hotel, and Margaret Merril in terrible soil and they perished promptly. This is the limit of my personal experience in growing his roses. I have seen Livin' Easy and was impressed by its luminous color when being lit by the clear San Jose sun, but I did not like the rose much. Elizabeth Harkness I saw also in San Jose and liked it much. It reminded me of Catherine Mermet. It had ever so slightly more color and was ever so slightly smaller in size. Rose gardeners who would like to grow the Tea rose but who live in zones too cold to do so might find Harkness' introduction a reasonable substitute. I saw Paul Shirville once and it was a great disappointment, bearing only a cursory resemblance to the trio of flowers in the single good photo I have ever seen depicting the cultvar in every trade offering.
The magic of Jack Harkness has gone on to infect the aura of his roses: many of his roses have very special and unique sets of qualities yet I would be hard pressed to identify a single rose that has convincingly impressed me in my own garden or in someone elses. The images, several of them, wow conistently. Savoy Hotel may not be a big rose, but it is one of a dozen or so roses that seems never to take a bad picture. In the garden that may not be worth much. In the business of promoting roses it is everything. When one reads awards lists for some of his more prominent roses that have since sunk into obscurity, one wonders whether - as good as he was at rose breeding - maybe Jack Harkness Maybe Harkness was even better at promotion. Who can say?
Plant some of his roses and tell me the results; Compassion and Jacqueline du Pre seem promising.
Connected to database: rosefile_roses
| Cultivar | Class | Color | Fragrance | Breeder | Hardiness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alexander | Hybrid Tea | Vermilion | None | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Amber Queen | Floribunda | Gold | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Anna Zinkeisen | Modern Shrub | Primrose | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Anne Harkness | Floribunda | Pale Apricot | None | Harkness | Zone 6 |
Armada | Modern Shrub | Pink | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Basildon Bond | Hybrid Tea | Apricot | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Betty Harkness | Floribunda | Orange | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Cardinal Hume | Modern Shrub | Purple | Strong | Harkness | Zone 4 |
City of London | Floribunda | Pale Pink | Strong | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Compassion | Large Flower Climber | Pink/Orange Blend | Strong | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Conqueror?s Gold | Floribunda | Red/Yellow Blend | None | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Easy Going | Floribunda | Apricot | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Elizabeth Harkness | Hybrid Tea | Buff | Strong | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Escapade | Floribunda | White/Pink Blend | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Fragrant Surprise | Hybrid Tea | Apricot | Strong | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Harold MacMillan | Floribunda | Vermilion | Slight | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Jacqueline du Pre | Modern Shrub | White | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Julie Y | Hybrid Tea | Scarlet | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 |
L? Aimant | Floribunda | Shell Pink | Powerful | Harkness | Zone 4 |
L?Oreal Trophy | Hybrid Tea | Orange | None | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Livin? Easy | Floribunda | Orange | None | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Margaret Merril | Floribunda | White | Strong | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Marjorie Fair | Modern Shrub | White/Pink Blend | Strong | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Mountbatten | Floribunda | Yellow | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Octavia Hill | Floribunda | Shell Pink | Moderate | Harkness | 5 |
Paul Shirville | Hybrid Tea | Pink/Orange Blend | Powerful | Harkness | Zone 5 |
Peacekeeper | Floribunda | Coral/Gold Blend | Slight | Harkness | Zone 4Re |
Poetry in Motion | Hybrid Tea | Apricot | Strong | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Pride of Maldon | Floribunda | Copper | None | Harkness | Zone 4 |
Princess Alice | Floribunda | Yellow | Slight | Harkness | Zone 5 |