A 44" basal is not that unusual for QE. If it never blooms again, then it's the Climbing version.

The bottom rose is definitely Peace - same qualifier - if it doesn't bloom again, then it's the climbing version.

The difference is that the climbing version of Peace will bloom again next year, with substantially more blooms every year after that. The Climbing Elizabeth will never bloom again - period. At least that's what everyone says.

The regular QE bush is totally different, and a must have. IMO, it's one of the top 3 or 4 roses everyone should have (so is Peace - bush version).

rosetom wrote: A 44" basal is not that unusual for QE. If it never blooms again, then it's the Climbing version.

At first I thought that was pretty funny, until I went out and took another look at the bush. The canes I deadheaded weeks ago have no signs of new laterals developing, nothing whatsoever. I've never seen that happen on a rose before.

I guess I got lucky with the climbing Peace because that photo was taken on a second flush of blooms. That might only be because it was almost completely defoliated earlier this year, by transplant shock. When the foliage came back, about every other leaflet produced a short stem with a bud on it. That's one of things that made me suspicious about it being climbing Peace.

I have the bush version of Peace too, I agree it's a must have. What are your other top must haves? (That would be a better question for the general Rose forum maybe.)

I had a Queen Elizabeth that had trouble producing more than 3 blooms per year. It wasn't even a climber. I SPed it.

In terms of must-haves, I have a climbing Double Delight which unfortunately doesn't get very big in my zone due to winter dieback, but it is beautiful on a short trellis all summer and blooms a LOT. It's more like a tall narrow bush rose really.

The two you've got there are beautiful and their apparent health probably accounts for the high petal count on Peace. Makes me almost miss the 2 measly QE blooms per year :)

northspruce,
No offense, but in a Zone 2b area, your experience with many roses may differ from the majority of rose growers.

DPallas,
If HelpMeFind lists 43 petals for Peace, I'd say that's wrong. Peace is on the very high end of petal count for Hybrid Teas, and I would guess that a mid-60 petal count is about right.

Even though IMHO, QE should be one of the top 3 or 4 of all roses, you will find many opinions like the one above - same with Peace, and some others. The very best roses with the longest history are also exposed to the most growers. The psychology of a bad experience results in more motivation, so it may seem like the complaints are worse for these roses than others. Not so.

I don't participate much on the roses forum because I am afraid of giving inapplicable cold-zone input but I don't think bloom frequency varies much from zone to zone if a plant is healthy and mature. Seems to me most of my roses bloom about as much as they are expected to.

Queen Elizabeth is a wonderful rose if it blooms for you. People should not avoid it because of my comment but I have heard the same thing from others on the rose forum and not about the climbing version. Sorry.

I found it really strange that anyone would have trouble with the QE climbing rose. I am in zone 7 and maybe that is the difference here but anyway my QE blooms up until the first frost in the fall. In the spring it is so ladened with blooms I have to get pretty creative with ways to tie it up. I planted it 3 years ago and it is now over 7 feet tall.

Marilyn, there are two different varieties, QE and Climbing (Cl.) QE. I don't think you have Climbing QE. At 7' tall, you have the bush form, non-climbing, QE. The non-climbing version of QE is a big one, and 7' tall for some HT/Grandiflora varieties isn't unusual, definitely not unusual for QE. Climbing QE grows well over 10' tall, usually with only spring bloom and no rebloom. QE (non-climbing) is very bushy with frequent rebloom.

Heh. My 'non climbing QE' has been known to top TEN FEET TALL repeatedly during the year; I hack it back about 3-4 times and it just keeps growing.

Has anyone with the QE climber tried bending the caned downward and across as the canes get to about 3' in length? That was the trick on several of my roses (but not QE Cl.,don't have one.)

PA