Originally my husband and I had planted a large tree rose of 'Georgia' in the front of our home. It was between the neighbor's driveway and our front rose bed and was an attractive apricot/peach colored accent plant. This rose is very fragrant in our area and since it was right on the sidewalk, passersby could enjoy a deep sniff during most of the Spring and Summer months as it bloomed all season long. Unfortunately, the neighbor kept running over it with his truck as he tried the tricky manuever of backing his vehicle into his own driveway. Eventually - the rose died. Imagine that!

Wanting an apricot, floriferous rose in that spot, and looking for fragrance - after all, this was the front of the garden! - we started looking in catalogs for the 'perfect rose'. Many of the catalogs were featuring 'Brandy' as the perfect large apricot/orange rose. But I kept noticing that in our local garden centers and nurseries - we never even saw 'Brandy' - but instead they featured a big beautiful rose named 'Just Joey'.

Assured that the rose was fragrant, we bought a tree rose and planted it during late winter. We put 5 large rebar stakes around it - surely they would hold back a pickup truck - and hoped for the best. We were absolutely thrilled when the rose leafed out and set its blooms. The top of the tree was a perfect round ball of dense, large green foliage and the whole tree was covered with big, fat buds.

When the blooms began opening the entire yard was perfumed - wonderful! And the color was a delicious light apricot/melon orange with a darker melon tone when the blooms were just opening. And big - - we measured one of the blooms at 6" across.

I have learned that roses perform differently in different climates - but 'Just Joey' does very well in the San Francisco Bay Area where I live. It loves our climate and thrives during our mild summers. One of our friends liked our rose so much she bought a bush version, and subsequently won Best Fully Open hybrid tea with a magnificent 7" bloom in our Fall show.

'Just Joey' has an interesting name - I am told that the gentleman who hybridized the rose asked his wife - who was called Joey - what she would like to call the rose and she replied "... just Joey". And so it was.

This rose was introduced in 1972 by Cant (in England). It is classed now as an orange-blend. It has about 30 wide ruffled petals on a sturdy 4' x 4' bush. Nicely fragrant, it has excellent substance in the petals and holds exhibition form for awhile when the blooms are freshly opened. Lots of brown prickles. The parents are 'Fragrant Cloud' x 'Dr. A.J. Verhage', both highly fragrant Hybrid Teas. There is a slight tendency to mildew when the bush is still young, but our old girl is now 25 and never bothers with mildew, rust or blackspot - she just keeps on blooming!

If you are looking for a big beauty with lots of fragrance for your landscape - try this one. You'll like it.

Photos of  'Just Joey' courtesy of Jolene Adams.