When I first started planting roses I paid no attention to zones, disease susceptibility or anything else.  If it was pretty I wanted it.  Knowing what I know now I wouldn't have chosen Chicago Peace for my yard.  That would have been a shame. 

Chicago Peace is described as a Hybrid Tea rose with 45 to 60 petals on each bloom.  Depending on where you look it is reported to do well in garden zones 7 and warmer or zones 4 to 9.  The large, 5 to 6 inch, flowers are pink with orange/rust and yellow coloring the inner parts of the petals and have a mild fragrance.  It is supposed to get 4 and 1/2 to 6 feet tall.  It is susceptible to blackspot. 

What I get in my zone 5a garden is a bit different than what is described above.  My Chicago Peace rose has survived 3 Illinois winters without any protection.  It puts up with the severe cold and blowing winds that are part of country living.  But, it is one of the last of my 30 roses to show up in the spring and one of the first to stop blooming in the fall.  It barely reaches a 3' by 3' bush each year.  It has never reached anywhere close to the 4+ feet mentioned by the professionals.  Again, I credit that to the weather it deals with here.

A mild fragrance...maybe, if you bury your nose in a bloom.  I have yet to detect any scent from my Chicago Peace.  Although, I don't put fresh cut roses too close to my face as I've learned that sometimes there are things hiding in the petals, like bees.

Blackspot is definitely a fungal disease I am familiar with thanks to Chicago Peace, and a few other roses I have.  I do not like spraying chemicals in my garden, but if I want Chicago Peace to look like a bush instead of sticks with flowers on them it has to be done.   Blackspot causes ugly black spots, with yellow edges, to appear on leaves.  Eventually the leaves will turn all black and yellow and fall from the bush.  Left untreated it can eventually lead to othe major problems resulting in the death of the plant.

With all of those problems why did I say it would be a shame to not have this rose in my garden?  Because of the blooms.  The large, full petaled flowers on Chicago Peace are the most beautiful blooms in my yard.  In cooler, spring and fall, weather the pink, orange and yellow colors are deep and rich.  In the hotter summer weather they are lighter, sometimes only showing pink.  Whatever the weather the blooms are what I think a rose flower should be like, full of petals, colorful and perfectly formed. 

I'm not the only one that thinks so.  I live along a two lane highway.  While my husband and I were working in the yard a car pulled in our driveway.  An elderly man rolled down his window and pointed at my Chicago Peace rose bush.  He stated, "Now that's a rose."  That was all he said before he rolled up his window and pulled out onto the highway.  I have no idea who he is, but he definitely knows a pretty rose.

Chicago Peace is a rose that needs extra care and chemicals to survive.  If anything happens to mine I probably won't buy another, but I'm glad it has been a part of my rose experience.  If you live in a warmer climate and don't mind spraying for diseases then you definitely want to add this rose to your garden.

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