The story is that Alec's Red got entered for years in competitions by a guy named Alec. The rose had no name but it had garnered quite a lot of awards and so it finally became known as Alec' s red. Not being a very good journalist, I have failed to check the validity of the story, but even if we imagine it was invented to increase the cache of the rose, it manages to do just that. And the rose, I am led to believe is a good one.
I grow Playboy in my own garden and have been surprised by how well branched the plant is and by how well it does in poor soil and spotty light. Silver Jubilee is one of a tiny number of hybrid tea roses with some Rosa kordsii ancestry. Interestingly, it shows in the glossy foliage and in the rose's ability to resist disease. My plant has been relocated every year and is now barely hanging on, living in dry shade where it does not bloom. Even the Alba beside it is not getting the light it needs, so I must forgive it for lackluster performance.
Frilly Dilly is one of perhaps a dozen or so roses that have conspicuously narrow petals and cup shaped flowers that remind one a curved spear head or of the petals of waterlilies. Curiosity is one of two roses that I can think of with variegated foliage. The other is a wichurana. The idea of a variegated rose strikes me as a good one since all the roses in my own garden spend most of the gardening season without flowers. This is a collection that strikes me as being serious and fun. We can be glad that some of Cocker's best work has washed up on our shores and stuck.
| Name | Color | Class | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alec’s Red | Crimson | Large Flowered | 7.8 |
| Bonnie Hamilton | Copper | Cluster Flowered | |
| Curiosity | Cerise | Large Flowered | |
| Frilly Dilly | Pale Apricot | Miniature | |
| Fyvie Castle | Pink/Orange Blend | Large Flowered | |
| Northern Lights | Primrose | Large Flowered | |
| Playboy | Red/Yellow Blend | Cluster Flowered | 8.4 |
| Remember Me | Orange | Large Flowered | 6.6 |
| Rob Roy | Scarlet | Cluster Flowered | 8.0 |
| Silver Jubilee | Shell Pink | Large Flowered | 8.8 |
| Toprose | Chrome Yellow | Cluster Flowered | |
| White Cockade | White | Large Flower Climber |