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'Firefighter ®' rose Reviews & Comments
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Half of the nurseries bought like 20-30 Mister Lincolns each, and none of this rose. Holy crap. Why? Mister Lincoln is like 10' here, lol. A few nurseries ordered in 5 or so Lasting Love, which is okay, but completely defoliates here. I will never understand the nursery business mindset.
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Mr. Lincoln is a sparse bloomer, so it doesn't use up the calcium/potassium in a pot, esp. for a high-rain climate, which leaches out those nutrients. Mr. Lincoln always look good in a pot at local store.
Firefighter is a heavy bloomer, which depletes calcium/potassium, and it breaks out in blackspot AFTER blooming, unless those minerals are abundant, as in alkaline clay. My Firefighter improved after I moved from acidic potting soil to heavy alkaline clay. So the stingy roses like Mr. Lincoln look really healthy in a pot, but the heavy bloomers: Firefighter, Buxom Beauty can be blackspot-fest after done with blooming.
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For this area (NW Oregon), Firefighter is healthy enough. Just the lower 1/3rd was affected. 'Velvet Fragrance' was by far the healthiest fragrant red HT I have grown here, but the blooms turn to rice crispies if the sun even looks at it sideways. lol
Mister Lincoln can get up to 2-3" diameter wood here. It is a literal monster. 'Oklahoma's is the same way. The modern garden just cannot accommodate here. My question/rant was more-so local nursery owners not realizing that or reaching out to the local societies for updated information, like they used to do.
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HMF is the best source for info., but I wish folks would specify their soil & climate & planting zone & what region of the country. Like nearby rose park, I was shocked to see them dumping sulfur in the spring... they burnt Tamora (prefers alkaline), also induced RRD (rose rosette disease) on Pink Traviata (Meilland rose) which also prefers alkaline. Gypsum is acidic, I killed lots of earthworms using that stuff, and it burns my finger. Gypsum has calcium plus sulfur.
I made the same mistake years ago: dumping sulfur plus high nitrogen chemical fertilizer on a Grandma' Blessing rose, changing my soil pH to acidic. It immediately came down with RRD five years ago. That's the ONLY rose with RRD in my 30+ years of growing roses, among 100+ varieties. I planted Radio Times in the exact spot, but I raised the pH with more alkaline clay, and no RRD ever since.
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Rice crispies....got a nice laugh from that lol
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#4 of 7 posted
3 FEB 18 by
ac91z6
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Replying because I want to archive all the information in this post for future reference about Mr. Lincoln and Firefighter. Good information here!
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I would put Claret and Firefighter as the best deep red sniffers sold in North America at the moment, although I know more are coming in the future. I would rate Heart Song behind, although the plant is superior, the scent is only half of the other sniffers.
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Have you tried asking nursery owners how they go about their selections?
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I would suggest this rose is the best fragrant red Hybrid Tea to come along in a very long time. The combination of vigor, floriferousness, health, and intense fragrance are rare, especially in a large red hybrid tea. I've been growing 6 of these for about 7 years and every year it amazes me with its abundant bloom. Repeat is amazingly quick. Grow over 2600 roses and this, by far, is my favorite red hybrid tea. Highly recommend.
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I'd grow this one but one report says it's more prone to PM than Mr. Lincoln. That I don't need.
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Even if one compared the ins and outs of Firefighter and Mr. Lincoln, Firefighter wins alone on plant habit. Mr. Lincoln is one of those older HT's with a really nasty, rangey habit where stems go for miles and the bottom and middle of the plant are bare. Firefighter is more compact, has a better branching habit and has appropriately-sized stems. Also, the leaf size and spacing between the leaves is more appropriate on Firefighter. Overall, the plant itself looks more aesthetic in a garden.
However, in my experience, the scent of both have similar strength but different flavor. Disease resistance was about normal for an HT for Firefighter. Both roses HATE intense heat. Most fragrant reds in most classes have always seemed to hate heat and become sensitive to intense UV days. I think that is one of the draws to extremely double fragrant reds -- their doubleness covers for this negative trait. Both roses seem to be about average in hardiness for their class.
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Agree with what Michael wrote: " Both roses HATE intense heat. Most fragrant reds in most classes have always seemed to hate heat and become sensitive to intense UV days." My last Firefighter was in full-sun, and the petal-counts was reduced in the heat over 90 F. After a few years, it died in that full-sun spot, due to a dry & warm spring, with no winter snow. When I dug the root up, it was completely dried out. As French roses, Firefighter's own-root is shallow, and need to be mulched heavily.
This year I bought Firefighter as own-root again, this time I'll put it in partial shade, plus heavy mulch, since I had seen how shallow the root of Firefighter, it never go past 1 foot deep like own-root Austin roses.
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#3 of 5 posted
16 APR 11 by
Hardy
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In the San Jose area, where almost everything with China ancestry gets PM, my unsprayed Firefighter is perfectly clean, even though it gets no sun until about 1 PM. It's 3 feet away from my designated Plague Rose, which has severe BS and PM problems, so it's very definitely been exposed! I don't know where Firefighter was said to have PM problems, but I'd keep an open mind (or personally investigate) until we have more studies to go on.
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Zero mildew on my Firefighter as own-root, despite growing next to a large spruce .. but it died after 3 years thanks to a DRY spring. When I dug that up, roots were completely dry-out (the tree's root was invading that hole). Bought Firefighter again as own-root & plant in a wetter spot.
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Initial post
20 JUN 12 by
 goncmg
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For me, this one is 1/2 MODERN and 1/2 a throw back. The blooms are gorgeous and the fragrance is not an issue: amazing, we all agree. The REPEAT cycle, in my experience, is astounding for a red rose, very quick. But oh, the blackspot!! It is a demon in 6a for blackspot. But, flip side, the basals! This rose reinvents itself every six weeks...............because it also has, drum roll, weird and excessive die back! I LIKE this rose. I am scared to LOVE it. We have been together for 2 years now and for sure it has a personality! A lot of bad but also a lot of good................it does, for me,. stand out as a "notable" fragrant red..............
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In the San Francisco Bay area it tolerates shade and has no disease, as well as almost always being in bloom. People walking by comment on how nice it is.
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Thank you for the info. Good to know that it can take partial shade. My last Firefighter was in full-sun, but it died in its 3rd winter. I ordered Firefighter again as own-root, but only have partial-shade locations left.
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Blooms like mad all year and is always healthy. This is one of the healthiest and productive roses in Southern California. It grows tall and is pretty low in thorns.. The fragrance is an old rose fragrance which isn't my favorite but is still nice. The flowers are large and long lasting, but not velvety and exciting like some of the other fragrant reds like 'Mister Lincoln,' Papa Meilland, rather it is more of a dull red. Worth having for sure if you like fragrant red roses.
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