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'About Face ™' rose Description
'About Face ™' rose photo
Photo courtesy of Sarah's North Texas Garden
Availability:
Commercially available
Synonyms:
HMF Ratings:
97 favorite votes.  
Average rating: EXCELLENT-.  
ARS:
Orange blend Grandiflora.
Registration name: WEKosupalz
Exhibition name: About Face ™
Origin:
Bred by Tom Carruth (United States, before 2002).
Introduced in United States by Jackson & Perkins (Wholesale) in 2005 as 'About Face'.
Introduced in United States by Weeks Wholesale Rose Grower, Inc. in 2005 as 'About Face'.
Class:
Grandiflora.  
Bloom:
Orange, darker reverse.  Flowers: Orange blend, deep orange-gold upper, burnished red reverse..  Mild to strong, apple, fruity fragrance.  26 to 30 petals.  Average diameter 4.5".  Very large, full (26-40 petals), borne mostly solitary, in small clusters, cupped, globular, old-fashioned bloom form.  Blooms in flushes throughout the season.  Pointed, ovoid buds.  
Habit:
Tall, armed with thorns / prickles, upright, well-branched.  Large, semi-glossy, dark green foliage.  3 to 7 leaflets.  

Height: 5' to 6' (150 to 185cm).  Width: 3' to 42" (90 to 110cm).
Growing:
USDA zone 6b through 9b (default).  Can be used for cut flower or garden.  Very vigorous.  Remove spent blooms to encourage re-bloom.  Spring Pruning: Remove old canes and dead or diseased wood and cut back canes that cross. In warmer climates, cut back the remaining canes by about one-third. In colder areas, you'll probably find you'll have to prune a little more than that.  
Breeder's notes:
Very strong vigor, good color at all stages of bloom, lots of flower, very upright habit.
Patents:
Australia - Patent No: AU3680P  on  18 Dec 2008
Application No: 2007/084  on  9 Mar 2007   VIEW PBR PATENT
Controlled pollination: unnamed seedling x ‘Hot Cocoa’.
First sold in USA in Dec 2004. First Australian sale Jun 2006
 
United Kingdom - Application  on  2006
 
United States - Patent No: PP 17,305  on  26 Dec 2006   VIEW USPTO PATENT
Application No: 11/230,960  on  19 Sep 2005
Inventors: Carruth; Thomas F. (Altadena, CA)
....seed parent an undisseminated seedling of my creation with the following genetic origin [`O Sole Mio`.times.(`Katherine Loker`.times.`Gingersnap` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,330))]. X unknown and as its pollen parent the variety known as `WEKpaltlez` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,155)..... description is of 3 to 4 year-old rose plants of the new variety grown outdoors in Upland, Calif. in the month of April.
Ploidy:
Tetraploid
Notes:
Parentage registered with the American Rose Society and documented in the plant patent differ. If the "unnamed" seedling is 'Katherine Loker x Gingersnap', it could be 'Lady Glencora'.