When purchased the leaves were a very unlikely dark green and felt very strange, they also repelled water unlike normal leaves. After a week or so the leaves gradually withered and died, but the only change in the flowers was that they darkened slightly.
I had 4 pots, on one of the pots there was a small but "normal" shoot. This grew rapidly as the rest of the plant appeared at first to die. However, very soon more normal shoots were appearing, and though each pot appeared to be 4 cuttings originally they thrived, have been re-potted and are now more than twice the original height ............ and blooming normal sized flowers!
Obviously they had been dosed with restricted growth hormone but what was/is the stuff sprayed on the leaves? The plot deepens.
On holiday I saw roses in several places for sale, and they all had this strange waterproof covering on the leaves. Even the David Austin roses that I bought, but I cannot find out exactly what is covering the leaves. So I am waiting to see what David Austin nursery has to say about it.
On the plus side, I've just bought four more from Tesco, which I shall pot individually and with TLC and a lot of luck, I should have plenty of pretty scented roses for very little outlay.
I suppose the new shoots are growing on the same wood stock and not just new shoots from the parent ‘graft’ ? as many rose varieties are grafted onto a hardier root stock and when these ‘suckers’ flower they have always reverted to type so to speak. But if it is some sort of dwarfing chemical that they are sprayed with it is a bit worrying that they use such chemicals on plants for sale, its the same with some of those gaudy coloured flowers you see for sale, after a few days the water in the vase has changed colour.
