APL 2011 ~ GARDEN PARTY is on sale for 75% off at OSH in NorCAL for $3.97/plant. It did not have any buds, but then it sadly received no care at the store!

I don't have this rose planted in my garden (I need more space!), but it is planted in my neighbor's garden which I help them with. Their shrub of Garden Party was purchased at Home Depot as a grade 2, non-patent plant in a 3-gallon pot for $4.97. Despite these humble origins and my annual winter pruning, the plant has grown into a wonderfully healthy, four foot shrub which looks like it belongs in a text book showing perfect branch arrangement. It produces four to five flushes of flowers over the season, the spring flowering perhaps being the best. Those early flowers are perfectly formed, like carved ivory tinged with pink and absolutely enormous. If we have a particularly wet July and August, GP tends to get a bit mildewy, but it doesn't effect the blooming, though the quality of the flowers isn't nearly as good. The late season blooms, like so many roses in the fall, don't last very long and seem to have fewer petals. There is fragrance, but it's hardly overwhelming.

Overall, this is a very satisfactory rose and beautiful rose.