Floribunda Rose 'Ebb Tide'

while i can't complain about White Flower Farm's quality of plants, this rose is a huge disappointment to me.

it is NOT an...Read Moreywhere near the beautiful purple colour i see online. it's just an ordinary strong pink. not spectacular a'tall.

i don't know what the people who have posted all those pictures of those beautiful, dusky, dark purple roses are doing to get their blooms to be that colour, but i sure wish i did.

the flowers on all 3 of the plants i have are small, weak, and last one day before drooping and fading. the stems are weak, too, frequently bending over from really what i wouldn't consider much weight.

i have many roses and this one isn't one of my favourites. it smells ok, but you have to put your nose right up to it.

all in all, not worth the money i spent on the plants.

I have now 5 Ebb Tide roses from Michigan Bulb. Their plants often start out small but with MILES of roots.

My three from ...Read Morelast year came, were chewed on by my silly cat, but took off fast! All three bloomed nicely that first season. BEAUTIFUL rose, delicious smell.

I'm in zone 6b in mid-michigan, and all three of them did very well over the winter. Very little die-back, and all three are growing leaves so beautifully this spring. I can hardly wait for the blooms!

I got two more Ebb Tides to put with the first three in the same area at the front of my house, so pictures are forthcoming for how they grow and bloom! :)

I planted my Ebb Tide rose in a blend of Kellogg mulch and homemade compost and fed with high potassium fertilizer in January of 2012. T...Read Morehe first blooms in Spring were more crimson in color. The plant is hardy and receives afternoon shade. This December I was rewarded with beautiful full deep purple blooms. I have read that this roses need a few years to really come into its full color. (Mesa/Phoenix Arizona : zone 9B)

Not the Dark Royal Purple color I saw in the catolog when I ordered it but...the color is unique, I do like it and am glad I bought it. S...Read Morepr 2014 Update: It does seem to get more purple with seasons. However, for me, it is a Maroon Purple not the Purple I had seen in some pictures. But the Maroon leans more towards Purple than Red. Also, my son, who has never looked at any rose catalogues referred to it as a Purple rose, so Purple it is.

Odd some have troubles and some don't .

The blooms last a good 4 or 5 days for me.
About as long as they do on any...Read More of my other varieties (not all Floribunda).
Ebb Tide smells exceptional as well.

Personally i don't think any rose looks good as at fades ... the worst would be white if i had to pick one.

Unfortunately, I had the same problem that has been commonly reported about this variety - the blooms last about a day before the edges o...Read Moref the petals blacken and wither. I wanted to like it but it was just unsightly. First rose I ever returned for a refund.

Is there a way to find out who created this cultivar so I can contact them directly?

This rose is a cluster-flowered floribunda. As with cluster-flowered roses in general, not all of the cluster opens at the same time. T...Read Morehis is not a major problem for most cultivars, but when the blooms of Ebb Tide fade, they become ugly, and so the whole cluster looks ugly, and so the whole bush looks ugly, in my opinion.

Also, the rebloom was not all that good for me, especially for a floribunda. After two years, I culled this one as a waste of space.

One of two of my first bare-root roses. This one was a Valentine's Day gift to my gf, and she wanted a purple rose. Well, she got it. ...Read MoreNice solid purple color that didn't seem to be affected by sun (no noticeable fading). Also, the plant survived and bounced back from an early deer attack, and is looking fine in it's first winter since being potted. Will hopefully have pics in spring.

I have to agree with scutler. But I do find the heavy clove aroma intoxicating.

My plant had only been in the ground for a few months before blooming. These are my initial impressions. Perhaps in subsequent years as m...Read Morey plant matures my impressions of this rose may be altogether different.

On the one hand I found the color to be truly unique. While the buds were a deceptive, bright, cool red (suggestive of American Beauty), the flowers opened to a very dark, smokey, purple - yes, mine were really very purple, not red.

On the other hand, I found the blooms somewhat disappointing. The color was, as someone else here commented, somewhat "flat"; it was not the dk, rich, velvety purple I had expected. In addition, the blooms were smaller than I had expected (approx 3-3.5"D) - but I realize that they may be larger in subsequent years as the plant gets established. The blooms had fewer petals than I prefer, such that the center was clearly visible when fully open - much like old roses. Moreover, the individual blooms did not last more than a day or two as they quickly opened to reveal their centers and then dropped their petals altogether.

I hesitate to say this but in some ways this rose reminds me of Dr Huey (the root stock rose). I DON'T mean that it looks like Dr Huey! It reminds me of Dr Huey in the sense that people are often intrigued by the dark red blooms of Dr Huey when they 1st encounter them but soon realize that the small, dark blooms with the "flat" color leave something to be desired in the long run.

Again, these are only my initial impressions which may be sugject to change in subsequent seasons.