Hmm ... looks like About Face in bud, but the open flowers do not. I don't think About Face has that many petals. It's hard to tell, though - perhaps the petals are more distorted due to its immaturity, and that's affecting the petal number appearance. I don't have one, though - so I'm just judging by pictures on HelpMeFind.

You should mention the name of the vendor if the performance was that bad.

I was tempted to buy About Face this spring ...and having learned a few days ago that it is a "Ruffled" rose, I'm glad I didn't buy it. But leaving my opinion about ruffles aside, Ginni's mystery-rose sure appears to be one of the Ruffled varieties.

Rosetom is again quite right to point out the importance of the rosebush's "immaturity." Lots of rose-varieties will produce far more petals than normal in the bush's "early" development. For example, during its first bloom-flush my newly-purchased 21st Century rose had about 75 petals per bloom. It had me thinking maybe it was a mis-labeled Gina Lollobrigida. I was quite relieved when its second flush's petal-count was back into 21st Century's normal range of 26-40 petals.

My point is - in concurrence with Rosetom - you may have to wait until the bush gets better-established for its "normal" characteristics to develop. Are the blooms in your photos the bush's first "serious" flush?

Regards,
JohnReb

Yes, it's the bush's first flush. The thing that bothered me is that there is NOTHING close to any traits that would make me think it's Honey Dijon and lots of traits that make me think it's About Face.

Ginni

Oh yeah, your mystery-rose absolutely isn't Honey Dijon. (I bought three of it - they're now doing their 3rd bloom flush - and at no time have their blooms looked anything like your rose. Based on what we've seen so far, there's "a good chance" your rose is About Face.

To console you somewhat, I'll mention that most online rose-sellers will give you either a refund or a future-purchase credit for a mis-labeled rose ...without requiring that you return the rose to them. Therefore, you have gotten a $20 rosebush for free. (Perhaps three $20 rosebushes, since 3 of the 4 varieites you ordered are mislabeled.) That may be "small comfort" to compensate you for your deep disappointment, but at least it's *some* compensation. : )

At its present stage of maturity, how well does your mystery-rose match HelpMeFind dotcom's description-info for About Face?

Class: Grandiflora
aka: WEKosupalz
Breeding: Bred in United States (2003) by Tom Carruth.
Introduced in United States (2005) by Jackson & Perkins (Wholesale). Introduced in United States (2005) by Weeks Wholesale Rose Grower, Inc..
Bloom: Orange & orange blend [ARS ob] blooms.
Fragrance: Mild, Apple fragrance.
Petal-count: 30 to 35 petals.
Bloom Average diameter 4"
Bloom-habit: borne mostly solitary
Bloom-form: medium, full, Old-fashioned, pointed, ovoid
Bush growth-habit: Tall, upright growth habit. Large, semi-glossy, dark green foliage.
Height: 5' to 6' (150 to 185 cm).
Parentage: Seed: [ O Sole Mio® à *Seedling ] à Midas TouchÂ
Pollen: Hot CocoaÂ
Patents: United States PPAF [Plant Patent Applied For]
Notes: Color: Orange blend, deep orange-gold upper, burnished red reverse.
Breeder's Notes: Very strong vigor, good color at all stages of bloom, lots of flowers, very upright habit.

Regards,
JohnReb

I'm very disappointed to find this isn't Honey Dijon, I really wanted that rose. I wrote to the vendor yesterday and as of yet I haven't heard back from them about this rose, I already have credit from the last one.

On reading the info you provided above, I had to laugh. Tom Carruth is somehow affiliated with this vendor! I remember reading about that somewhere in their blurbs. I guess this is one way to get your roses out there. haha I'll pick one of the blooms today and count petals and sniff to see about the apple fragrance. The height isn't anything I can check on just yet, it's only a baby and is about 1' tall.

About Face isn't the worst rose I could have gotten, but I really wanted HD! Maybe I'll get it yet, I will just have them credit my account and may be able to try again next spring. And I should have said it a different way about the number of mislabeled roses I have from this vendor so far. I have 2 that are mislabeled for sure, 1 that's the right rose and 1 I'm not sure of yet because it hasn't bloomed yet. I will say this about these 4 roses...even the extreme heat wave we had for about 2 weeks didn't faze, them a bit because they were coated in this thick wax, and as much as I hated it, it seemed to have saved them from the 95-100° heat and drought conditions we've been experiencing. I lost a few of my other new roses, planted earlier than these,from a much more "acceptable" vendor. They died even with lots of TLC. These 4 were our last planting of new bareroot roses.

I'll report back about the petal count and fragrance.

Thanks for all your help,
Ginni

Well, I picked an open bloom of this rose in question and it definitely has a light scent of apples and it had about 40-45 petals (but it's been so hot here and these are the first blooms, maybe it takes a while for them to adjust to being 'normal'.

I think we have a winner...I'm pretty sure it's About Face!

Thanks,
Ginni

JohnReb, what's wrong with Ruffled roses?