Hello there.
My guess is "Ramblin' Red"
Mine is very hardy and has a hint of white in the blooms.
My blooms open red and fade to a dark pink/purple.

Here is a link that might be useful: ramblin' red

Ramblin Red is a more recent introduction from 2001, and your rose is older than than 50 years. A different popular oldie, is more likely -- there are so many reds.

Yes, I checked out Ramblin' Red, and aside from the age issue, my rose is never as bright or true of a red as that. Indeed there are so many reds! I have searched and searched through sites like HMF, trying to determine which rose I have, but it's mind boggling. I am hoping someone here will recognize it and put me out of my misery!

i would say paul's scarlet climber. it could be blaze, blaze improved, etc., but blaze was a child of paul's scarlet and i can't tell the difference between them.

Here is a link that might be useful: paul's scarlet climber

I thought of Danse du Feu (1954) which interestingly enough also has Paul's SC as a parent. If I recall correctly, Danse du Feu is more of a deep, brick red that ages to purpleish red. Don't think there was much scent, either.

Hope this helps!

I very much appreciate all of your ideas. However, I'm pretty sure none of the roses you have listed are the rose I have. Did I say something or was there something in the pictures that has made you all guess climbers? This rose isn't a climber; it will shoot a 4' cane straight from the ground and a dozen buds will open on it within weeks - and it stands up straight like a soldier on parade. Occasionally, it gets over ambitious and will form an absolutely enormous single bloom atop a spindly side shoot, and then it somewhat droops.

Is it possible that it's not a hybrid tea? Could it be an OGR? When I look at bourbons or gallicas, I find colours that look much like my rose. When I look at teas, none of the colours look *quite* right.

You asked if you said something that made people guess it was a climber.

You said, "if you cut it to the ground, it is 4' tall and blooming again within weeks." We don't see hybrid teas with that much vigor, as a rule, but this would be something commonly seen with climbers. Not all climbers are lax in habit; many are upright, as you describe your rose to be.

I think those are reasons people have suggested climbers like Paul's Scarlet and Danse du Feu.

I'll put a link to more photos -- some show foliage, stems, thorns, and those are other aspects to compare with your rose for identification:

Here is a link that might be useful: more photos of Paul's Scarlet

OK. Maybe not a climber...

To help ID roses, especially middle age roses, I love the book Random House Book of Roses by Phillips and Rix. I looked for roses w/ the white markings. Ernest Morse (1964) had some white on the guard petals and I seem to recall that my Chrysler imperial (1952) had white on the guard petals.

I think you are right that the white on the guard petals will help to ID this rose. The clusters of flowers would make me look at the Floribunda category first.

Good luck and don't give up if you are interested in the identity. I'm almost certain to finally ID my mystery rose after 9 years - just as soon as my Lady Mary Fitzwilliam plant arrives! Off to pack for vacation.

Hello again,

"Not all climbers are lax in habit; many are upright, as you describe your rose to be."

Thank you for this; I have learned something new. It never occured to me that my rose could be a climber because I didn't know that some climbers were sturdy and upright as my rose is.

"The clusters of flowers would make me look at the Floribunda category first."

I believe you're correct. I posted pictures of a bunch of my flowers in the cottage garden forum gallery, including some of this rose, and a lady there immediately said it was a Eutin (without my having even asked for an ID), like her mother used to grow. I looked up Eutins, and while my specimen looks a bit bedraggled compared to the ones in the pictures I've seen, I do believe that to be my rose. It's certainly the closest I've gotten!

Here is a link that might be useful: Eutin Roses

Are the flowers quite small?. 'Eutin' will get clusters of 30-60 flowers (all in the same cluster!). Flowers are also small (>2").

Incidentally, that white streak can be found on ALL red roses--not every single rose, but sooner or later on every red variety. The source of red in roses came from a single variety, ('Slater's Crimson China', I think) which has that white streak, and that white streak had appeared in every red variety since. Something in their DNA appears linked--no white streak, no red...

No, they're not particularly small. :( I thought I had an ID!! Sometimes it will bloom a single bloom on a stem, and that will get bigger than my palm. If there are 20 or more in a cluster, they will remain somewhat smaller, but still not 'small'.