Picked up as a container plant from Home Depot very early in the season, this Jackson and Perkins rose grew at a phenomenal rate. The catalog says it grows to four to five feet with roses on 18" stems, my bush grew well over five feet tall and the stems were as long as 30 inches. It was planted at the beginning of May 1977, a bit early for this area but because of the very cold winter we were forcing an early spring. Luckily, we only had one or two nights of cold weather after it went into the ground, which didn't harm the plant.

The buds start out as red black, looking like they were dead. As they open they go to a velvety covered blood red color.

They smell wonderful, and were a favorite of everybody who received them. It takes a while for the buds to open, some of the other bushes would have five or ten flowers come and go in the time it takes for one of these to open. They are well worth the wait. Each time a stem was cut another two or three stems formed on the cane. It produces all summer long.

The thorns were deadly in the Taboo bush, more than once a brush against it drew blood. They were very sharp and very strong, and there were a lot of them.

Aphids were easy to control on Taboo, and the beetles didn't go near the plant

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