What does an editor do when we are missing a half age? Trying to determine a rose to include in the newsletter became a small challenge. So I closed my eyes and
opened my Handbook for Selecting Roses and flipped the pages for a few seconds. With eyes still closed (no peeking) I stopped and pointed to Mrs. R. M. Finch Polyantha - Literally "many-flowered" roses, from the Greek "poly" (many) and "anthos" (flower). Originally derived from crosses between two East Asian species (Rosa chinensis and Rosa multiflora), polyanthas first appeared in France in the late 19th century alongside the hybrid teas. They featured short plants — some compact, others spreading in habit — with tiny blooms (2.5 cm or 1 inch in diameter on average) carried in large sprays, in the typical rose colours of white, pink and red. Their main claim to fame was their prolific bloom: From spring to fall, a healthy polyantha shrub might be literally covered in flowers, creating a strong colour impact in the landscape. Polyantha roses are still regarded as low-maintenance, disease-resistant garden roses today, and remain popular for that reason.

So I went checking on this rated 8.8 polyantha rose that I had picked out for our newsletter. Currently I have The Fairy and Cecile Brunner in my garden but would like to plant more polyantha's. They are quite hardy and rated high. Below is what I could find about Mrs. R. M. Finch