Question
i have a friend who uses the American Rose Society website and how they rate roses to decide if a rose is any good for her and says this is what i should do. my question is this. What do you think of the way they rate roses? And what do they do to rate their roses? Is this a good idea?

Answer
the ARS is a good organization that goes through a lot of trouble to rate roses as they are introduced. they are rated with many perameters being used(color, fragrance, # of flowers produced, lasting powers, disease resistance, etc.).  it helps determine who will grow what roses. new rose introductions have patents on them and can be worth millions$$$ to the person who developed them. sounds like a good idea to me, especially if i were the one who came up with the new variety.