Betty Prior is an outstanding older single floribunda. One can assume that a rose in commerce for over 70 years must have something special going for it. In fact, it does. I have had five plants of Betty Prior. All but one were planted in challenging locations. One finally succumbed to its clay laden spot; the other four are all now big, healthy plants which bloom nonstop. All are six to seven feet tall and about six feet across.

Betty Prior rose bush with clematis and euphorbia.File#D0857

Three of these four are planted back against a fence where I wanted a tall splash of color. Betty Prior is particularly well suited to this sort of application as it does not aggressively crowd out plants placed in front of it. Instead it forms a fairly narrow fan of branches which reaches above the foreground plants and then over or through the fence. My one plant which stands by itself as a large shrub is a well balanced, rounded plant.

Betty Prior rose close-up. File#D8495

The individual blooms on Betty Prior are nice enough, but it is its absolutely constant bloom which so impresses me. It is one of the earliest to look good and, blooms right on through the heat of summer, never faltering. In my garden, it has been a landscape plant I would class with the amazing Iceberg - healthy, dependable, attractive.
Christine 2008