Iceberg/White Roses
No "work" was done on it. In a ladie's garden in Tasmania, an Iceberg rose
simply threw out one cane that had this color. It was then propagated
asexually for a couple of years in order to get enough stock up to
introduce. That's the only "work" (humanly, anyway) involved. A mutation.
And the slides I saw wouldn't take kindly to the description "stripe-like
dull magenta as it fades". These plants were covered (like the white
Iceberg) in BRILLIANT pink flowers in all stages of bloom. It seems to me
we are talking about different plants - although, it would surely perform
differently in different climates. And the one's we were seeing were from
Week's roses in a drier part of California.
I had a response from someone else informing me that Iceberg did poorly in
other parts of the country. Certainly that would have to be true, still,
for the United States, Iceberg has been the number one seller for several
years now. In Los Angeles, there are more Icebergs by far than any other
rose hands down. In my neighborhood, I'd reckon on an average of 10 per
block and they perform admirably. Even in shade.
Having lavished praise upon the two Icebergs, I need to say, I own neither
and will own neither. I don't fancy having a rose in my garden that is that
ubiquitous. (All of my students learn what disdain I have of ubiquity -
most of them find the word a part of their daily vocabulary after taking my
class.) My preference is for old roses, the Romanticas and I have really
good luck with the Austins - you just have to wait for about 4 years.
Gruss an Aachen is a smallish white rose. Fairly good scent. Good repeat
bloom. Flowers very much like an Iceberg. Is a little more gangly.
(Iceberg, pruned with half an ounce of brains and schooling IS a graceful
shrub compared to the popular hybrid teas. HTs look to me almost always as
a teenager and his cowlick having a VERY "bad hair day".) Another great
white is Fair Bianca, an Austin. Also a smallish bush, better scent, not as
many flowers as Gruss an Aachen. Like the white Iceberg, Gruss an Aachen's
buds start out with that pinkish blush (matter of fact, so does Fair Bianca
as I recall, correct me if I'm wrong), but open with a gorgeous pure white.
A person always needs a few white flowers around, they are so important for
bouquets. (I grow my roses to cut and stick my nose into. They must have
scent and they must be repeat bloomers.)
Others might know more about Gruss an Aachen or other white roses...
david
Carol Moholt wrote:
> David King of <greenman@ucla.edu> writes in part:
>
> .<snip> As it is, I am at my desk on campus and someone recently posted
> >about breaking down and putting in an Iceberg rose stirred these
> >sleeping brain cells into recalling that we saw slides of new roses
> >either being released this year or in coming years. One of this year's
> >introductions: Brilliant Pink Iceberg. A sport of Iceberg, it really
> >is something like an Iceberg crossed with the color form of
> >Regensberg. Which brings me to thinking, why not just plant
> >Regensberg? And now I wonder, why plant Iceberg at all? For my money,
> >Gruss an Aachen is a better rose with the same flower - better scent.
> >
> >However. I wish to God I had stock in the company with Brilliant Pink
> >Iceberg - it's going to be a huge, HUGE success. The slides we saw of
> >it were magnificent - great color. And it has all the other
> >characteristices of Iceberg, floriferous and disease free - even in
> >shady conditions: the next rage in the common rose.
> >
>
> I was given a trial version of Pink Iceberg last year and honestly
> didn't like it.
>
> I have several of the white Iceberg roses and am very familiar with
> their growth and blooming characteristics. If any of you grow them,
> you'll recall that at the end of the season, many of the blossoms
> will either start out with a magenta pink color, or even if they open
> white, soon fade to a magenta pink color. In my mind it is a muddy
> magenta, not a very pretty color. But of course each to his own.
>
> I assumed that they worked on that magenta-like characteristic to
> form the pink form. While it does open to the pretty true and pale
> pink, the blooms all fade to that same kind of stripe-like dull
> magenta as it ages.
>
> I've got mine sitting in a pot to take up to a Western Horn meeting
> for a plant raffle -- I just don't care for it at all.
>
> Carol Moholt
