This Life of the Party rose sure loves to party in our Texas heat! This rose was the rose I didn't plan on buying, but couldn't help myself when I saw it in person.
Most importantly, I was SOLD on its fragrance! OMG, it has my favorite fruity scent which I love. Life of the Party rose by far is one of the most fragrant roses in my garden. If you live in a hot and humid zone and love the colors (I have to admit I am not a big fan when it turns pink, but I absolutely love its yellow stage).
Weeks rose, this one is grafted.
What part of Houston?
SE Houston - Zone 9A
How long have you had this rose? What year? Its age?
I bought it as a grafted rose in spring 2021 at Congo Nursery in Pasadena, TX. So it's one year old now in my garden.
How do you grow this rose? Pot or ground? If in the pot, what's its width/depth?
How much sun does it normally get on average? Morning sun? Afternoon sun? All day?
My backyard is south-facing. Life of the Party rose does NOT get early/mid morning sun. It mainly gets late morning and full afternoon sun from Noon - whenever the sun goes down. So it gets hit with harsh sun for a long period of time.
If insecticide and fungicide are being used, what brands and how often do you apply?
None
How is its disease and pest resistance?
In its 1st year, it struggled with blackspots really bad simply because I don't spray with anything. It was very healthy when I first bought it but as soon as it came to my wild wild west baktyard, it went through a long period of adjustments. It bloomed some the rest of the year, but nothing significant.
How cute are these cupped and globular form. I love how Life of the Party has many different looks
However this year in 2022, wow, its heath by far is a different story. A lot healhier (hope I don't jinx it). Summer heat arrived early this year in Texas. All other roses especially David Austin roses struggle to send out nice blooms, NOT Life of the Party.
This is one of the rare roses that do NOT show thrip damages (they do have thrips crawling inside but you won't notice any dark edges like other roses). So I can say it does really well despite being in a high thrip pressure land.
As of August 2022, it is going strong in terms of blooms. Bloom size is smaller but fragrance is intense. It takes a short break then start another flush.
Look how many buds! I already deadhead some spent blooms alerady yet there're plenty more. A very generous rose.
How long do flowers last? How's fragrance? Low or crazy amount of thorns?
What I didn't really like about LotP last year was that flowers shattered so fast. Literally a day or two. However, this year I feel that they last longer on the plant (up to 4 days in heat).
Super strong fruity fragrace. It smells so divine!!
Not many thorns
Does it bloom frequently in our summer months? Any other observation you want to include for this rose?
It's a blooming machine. If you're looking for a rose that are petal packed, super fluffy, love heat/sun that smells amazing. Get this rose as ap. It blooms in cluster (floribunda) and a LOT of them.
This rose has unique colored transition, it starts out mellow yellow that turns to pink. Sometimes depending on temperature, it has yellow/pink blend flowers which look very pretty as well. I tend to cut when they're yellow because that's my favorite stage.
See its growth habit and size in my Youtube Video