Harkness tends to breed roses for a combination of heavy flower production, good health, and extraordinarily pretty and well-formed flowers. Not all their introductions are a full expression of this trio of qualities, but most of their popular roses hit at least two of three pretty well. 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. I grew it once and it was a miserable failure, but some portion of that owed to my rather inattentive care.
Rosemary Harkness, Radox Bouquet, Ann Harkness, Mountbatten, and Victoria Spice are distributed by several suppliers. The Harkness firm has introduced a number of roses that can be found only in the Heirloom Roses catalogue, that may not yet be posted here.
Because of their heritage, many of these roses will probably do best in cool or dry summer climates. Easy Going and its sport Livin' Easy as well as Compassion and its sport Dixieland Linda do well further abroad.
| Cultivar | Class | Color | Fragrance | Breeder | Hardiness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Floribunda | Pink | Powerful | Harkness | Zone 5 | |
Hybrid Tea | Apricot | Powerful | Harkness | Zone 5 | |
Hybrid Tea | White | Strong | Harkness | Zone 5 | |
Hybrid Tea | Pale Pink | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 4 | |
Hybrid Rugosa | Mauve | Strong | Harkness | Zone 4 | |
Floribunda | Apricot | Strong | Harkness | Zone 5 | |
Hybrid Tea | Vermilion | None | Harkness | Zone 5 | |
Floribunda | Orange | Moderate | Harkness | Zone 5 | |
Floribunda | Shell Pink | Powerful | Harkness | Zone 4 | |
Polyantha | Pink | None | Harkness | Zone 5 | |