An extremely vigorous plant with excellent resilience to BS and balling. In my environment, I can easily get up to 3 inches of rain in one day, and Hawkeye Belle is quite a trooper, not giving in to the weather. A very strong, sweet strawberry-like fruity fragrance is refreshing, and loved by those who don't care for the standard 'old rose' fragrance. Similar fragrance as Belinda's Dream but even stronger. Very easy to care for, and holds its bloom for up to 5 days before shattering. Nice burgundy tinted foliage and stems when emerging, changing to a lustrous deep green. Seems to appreciate a lot of water, and gets more vigorous in our wet season. Definitely a floribunda, as it usually has up to 7 buds open at once (see photos).
Several Buck Roses do exceptionally well, like Quietness. We do have similar summers here as Midwest. Humid, warm, and rainy at times. Another surprise is just how vigorous Hawkeye B is. I usually only find this much vigor on OGRs, and it has the “feel” of one.
This has been my first season with this rose, and I'm so disappointed. Almost every flower (and it has produced quite a few) has turned brown and rotted, either before or after opening. And it's not even a particularly damp year. Further, in the very few flowers which were not spoiled I have not been able to detect too much fragrance. I wanted to try Hawkeye Belle because it is supposed to withstand cold winters such as we have, but it seems it would only be suitable in a dry, rainless climate like California.
I have loved the delicate beauty of Hawkeye Belle in my zone 5 (borderline zone 4) garden. I have done very well with Buck roses and Explorers in my area. I would definitely recommend it. I have also found that fragrance can vary from rose to rose on the same plant and during the same season. Hope that helps someone.
This has been a near perfect rose for me. It does get thrips in the first flush which you can either sacrifice the first round of blooms or treat. I have grown it in less than six hours of sun and it still had flushes every six weeks. The flowers are a blush color and last long on the bush and the vase. Even in the shade the plant had no blackspot.
Same experience here in southern Ohio. Almost all the time the blossoms would ball or brown quickly. Probably too humid here. Rarely, one would have decent blooms if they were quickly cut. This one was shovel pruned.
