Applejack was one of Dr. Griffith Buck’s first successes at hybridizing hardy roses at Iowa State University. By the time he retired at 70 in 1986 he had created about 90 hybrids, many of which are still available.  I planted my Applejack in 1981. Other Buck hybrids I planted did die, but I think it was probably improper planting on my part. Last year I planted Carefree Beauty and it has just bloomed.

At first I thought it had quite a different flower form from the old fashioned roses in the Rose Walk.  The opening buds promised a rose much more like the florist’s roses. But then, the rose fully opened –

and the blossom was flatter, like the old fashioneds, but fully  four inches across.  It seems espcially big right now because the bush intself in not even two feet tall.

There should be several blooms by Sunday, June 28, at The Annual  Rose Viewing.