"Shiva" wrote:

[snip stuff about Knockout, which is in all the strip shopping
centers and office complexes here in Raleigh and looks pretty icky
to me, regardless of hoopla]

The more I learn about this rose, the less impressed I am. It's
SHORT and the flowers are "lightly fragrant" and aren't really
anything special to look at. Okay, okay, some people don't have
much room, and there are some roses I like that don't have any
smell at all (e.g., Handel), but now I feel silly for having
bothered to buy a "Knock Out." The doggerel verse in the ARS
article should have served to warn me off.

It's interesting to me that very often I agree with ARS ratings
(except those inflated ones for miniature roses; I avoid minis
unless they are major climbers or sprawlers. I suppose that
the old-style ramblers with itty-bitty flowers on them could be
called "miniatures" as an insult, as well): for instance, "Sir
Thomas Lipton" never grows well for me and it has a low ARS
rating, and "John F. Kennedy" has nothing going for it except a
good scent (and, I suppose, wide availability, perhaps due to its
name) and is also rated low.

Mark., plotting a breeding program with R. bracteata and other
species roses with assorted recent introductions I bought cheap