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'Blue Skies' rose Reviews & Comments
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A little update: this guy really likes to grow. Great pointed HT flower form that is just a little blousy and a decent lavender color that falls on the pink side so far. The stems are long and the foliage is deep green, glossy, and resilient. I am very happy with this one. Lavender colors can be variable so I will wait to see if I get any really good "lobelia" blue shades. Growing indoors right now and sending up lots of single cutting quality flowers. When it warms up in a month or so it will go outside and then the true test will start.
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Good luck! When I first read the registration of this rose, I HAD to have it. A group of Texas nurserymen offered it the year before its official introduction as a $25 bare root! That was something like 1983, so you know how expensive that was. Of course, having to have everything "blue" there was, I bit. First, the plant had severe Rose Mosaic Virus. It contracted every fungal issue known to man in my Zone 9b So Cal garden. The color was far from "Ageratum Blue" and it went straight down hill from there. It's probably very much like Silver Shadows in that it requires less severe temperature and sun issues than it received here.
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This rose grows reasonably well, if you start with a large plant. The color is not much of anything different than other blue roses. Blue girl is still my favorite for a climate like San Diego. Moonlight Magic is doing great for my zone 6 garden. No health problems, and it has bloomed even past the first frost, albeit sparsely. I haven't seen any problems due to winter yet. Time will tell.
Anyway, blue skies is not so bad. The lobelia blue business is not very accurate though.
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Is this rose disease resistant in the humid south? Charleston SC here.
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I bought Blue Skies from a consortium of Texas growers the year before it was officially introduced. It was, including the British import Hulthemias I bought at that time, the most expensive rose I've ever purchased. I HAD to have it because it was supposedly "Ageratum Blue" and was one of Dr. Buck's wonderful roses. Well, it was a Buck rose, but that is where it all stopped. At least in Southern California, where disease has never been that much of a problem, it proved one of the most spectacular disappointments of my rose growing years. I fell for the hype and found a rose which had crown gall; rusted like an old piece of iron; black spotted with a vengence but I never remember it mildewing much. The stems were nonexistant; buds and blooms rather small and the color was nothing to write home about. There are many far better mauve modern roses. My Blue Skies finally died, and will NOT be replaced.
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Thank you for your input on this rose. If it has BS there, it surely will have BS here. Again, thanks.
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Reply
#3 of 4 posted
4 SEP 15 by
styrax
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It is interesting to note that Silver Shadows, and Blue Skies are siblings.
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And differs only in petal color. Otherwise, just as weak and diseased a "dawg" in my old climate as the sibling. Imagining either of them in my new "rust and mildew belt" coastal environs, sends extreme shudders through me!
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I live in New Orleans: VERY humid and pretty hot, with frequent rain. Blue Skies definitely blackspots here, but I can say with a regular spray program (I use Bayer Disease Control and occasionally Banner Max), it has stayed 99% free of blackspot, our #1 disease here.
Positive about this rose: Lovely shade of soft violet, occasionally with a bluish tinge if the weather is just right. Nice hybrid tea bloom form.
Negatives: I'm rushing things abit by commenting, as I've only had this rose 1 year, but this poor thing is awfully spindly. Mine has grown lanky with few branches. Definitely NOT a specimen plant, so far. Also, not very prolific--which goes along with not being very vigorous.
I know, I haven't yet given this rose the recommended 3 years probation period, but compared to my other roses of similar age, it's quite a disappointment. Its occasional but beautiful blooms are the only reason I haven't chucked it already.
If you're thinking of giving this one a try, consider Lagerfeld instead.
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