Dame de Coeur

So who hasn't seen a beautiful, fragrant, hybrid tea rose at the nursery and thought "hey, I'm a novice gardener with no skills and no time - I should buy a persnickety plant that has to be coddled and petted."

In this case, at least, it turned out well. This is a Dame de Coeur rose from 1958. The flowers start out bright red and turn violently crimson as they get older. They smell wonderful. This is the first flower that bloomed after I brought it home, so I consider it grown by me.