Oldtimer

hybrid tea, introduced in 1969

Increasingly harder to find, Oldtimer, as evident from the above date,  isn't all that old in rose terms. It was also introduced as Coppertone, roughly coinciding with the introduction of the famous suntan lotion.

It has the largest diameter flowers in my garden often stretching itself out to 7 inches and regularly being 5.5 to 6 inches. It's a dark apricot and fades to a lighter color. It's just as pretty when fully opened. It blooms regularly throughout the summer. It's a great candidate for rose-in-a-bowl. I've supplied many of them as the table decoration in a large glass bowl to stunning (and very easy) effect.

There's no doubt about it. I love this rose and it's different from most other ones in the garden. Unfortunately, it's very susceptible to mildew during the summer. A little sulfur dust will keep this to a minimum as will regular feeding and watering. My tolerance has grown over the years knowing that I just have to put up with mildewed leaves throughout foggy June to August.