Sunsprite bloomed (in its pot) all winter in Fla, the fragrance wafting across the yard - strong, sweet fragrance.  It was so beautiful, I actually carried it home to Maine for the summer, where it continued to bloom all summer.  

It has had no disease or fungus.   The blossoms "blow" quicker in hot weather, but last a week in cooler weather.  Plant is bushy & thick, dark green leaves.   A workhorse, with strong sweet fragrance!  I'd never had Sunsprite before, but now don't want to be without it - I'm carrying it back to Fla this winter.

Quite a few years ago, Candy Craig (Annie Laurie McDowell), brought this rose to me when she and her husband, Dean, returned from spending the summer at her grandfather's cabin in Beulah, Colorado. What she told me was they "discovered" it growing in an alkali flat, in very poor soil. Knowing my interest in unusual roses, they brought me suckers which I potted and began spreading around to keep from losing it. She said she called it Arkansana because they found it near the Arkansas River. The "Peppermint" came from the stippling on the petals.

In my desert climate, the plant blooms heavily in spring with no repeat. Growing it in a coastal climate, where spring weather continues for many months, the rose repeats its bloom much like the Banksia roses do, providing many months of the serendipitously marked flowers.

The plant does sucker quite vigorously if the soil is light. In heavier clay, it is more restrained. It is also deciduous, providing autumn foliage. I've not used it for breeding, yet, as there have been too many other irons in the fire. I hoped it might be a source of stippling much like the stippled roses Griffith Buck obtained from R. laxa.