Honor™ Bare Root Rose Bush

About Honor Bare Root Rose Bush

Rosa ‘JAColite’ — Honor
🧬 Breeder: William A. Warriner, United States
🌹 Introduced: 1980 by Jackson & Perkins
🏆 Award: 1980 All-America Rose Selections Winner
🤍 A classic white Hybrid Tea with beautifully formed blooms, long cutting stems, and timeless elegance.

Honor is the kind of white rose that never goes out of style.

Its large, satiny white flowers open from beautifully formed buds into classic, high-centered Hybrid Tea blooms measuring an impressive 4–5 inches across. The flowers are predominantly crisp white, sometimes showing subtle creamy tones or the softest peachy blush toward the center.

And those flowers were made for cutting.

Honor produces its blooms on long, sturdy stems, giving gardeners the classic florist-style rose they've dreamed about growing in their own backyard. A light Tea fragrance adds another layer of charm without overpowering its beautifully refined appearance.

Introduced by Jackson & Perkins in 1980, Honor was recognized immediately for its outstanding qualities, earning the coveted All-America Rose Selections award the same year.

💐 Plant & Flower Traits

🌹 Rose Type: Hybrid Tea
🎨 Color: Crisp white to creamy white, sometimes showing a delicate peach blush near the center
🌸 Bloom Form: Classic, high-centered Hybrid Tea
🌼 Bloom Size: Approximately 4–5 inches
🌼 Petal Count: Approximately 25–30 petals
🌺 Fragrance: Light Tea fragrance
💐 Flower Presentation: Primarily solitary flowers on long, strong stems, with occasional small clusters
🔁 Flowering Habit: Repeat flowering from late spring into fall
🌿 Foliage: Large, dark green foliage with bronzy-red new growth
✂️ Cut Flower: Excellent — long stems, classic form, and large white flowers make Honor especially well suited to cutting

🏡 Growth & Garden Habits

🌱 Growth Habit: Vigorous, upright and bushy
↕️ Height: Approximately 4–5 feet
↔️ Width: Approximately 3–4 feet
☀️ Light Requirements: Full sun — ideally 6+ hours daily
❄️ Hardiness: USDA Zones 5–9; provide winter protection in colder Zone 5 gardens
🛡️ Disease Resistance: Very good
🔥 Heat Tolerance: Good — blooms are noted for maintaining their white color even in warmer conditions
🪴 Garden Use: Cutting gardens, formal rose beds, mixed borders, specimen plantings, white gardens, memorial gardens, and large containers

🏆 An All-American Classic

Honor was bred in the United States by legendary rose breeder William A. Warriner, whose work produced many important American roses during his career with Jackson & Perkins.

Before its commercial introduction, Honor received the Portland Gold Medal in 1978.

Then, in 1980, it received one of the most recognizable honors in American rose breeding at the time: selection as an All-America Rose Selections winner.

More than four decades later, Honor remains a beautiful example of the classic American Hybrid Tea—large flowers, elegant buds, long stems, repeat bloom, and a strong upright plant.

🤍 Why Grace Rose Farm Loves It

Some roses follow trends. Honor is timeless.

There's something almost bridal about a perfectly formed Honor bloom. The flowers are clean, crisp and beautifully white, but the occasional touch of cream or peach at the heart keeps them from feeling stark.

We especially love this rose for gardeners who want to grow their own cutting roses. Its long stems and 4–5 inch flowers give Honor the classic florist-style silhouette that looks just as beautiful in a vase as it does in the garden.

And then there's the name.

Honor carries meaning without needing an explanation. It makes this an especially thoughtful rose for memorial gardens, remembrance plantings, weddings, anniversaries, or simply honoring someone who matters.

Beautiful in the garden. Beautiful in a vase. Beautiful in meaning.

🌿 Growing & Care Recommendations

Planting Site: Choose a location receiving at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day with fertile, well-drained soil.

Spacing: Allow approximately 3–4 feet between plants for good air circulation and mature growth.

Watering: Water deeply after planting and maintain consistent moisture while your bare-root rose establishes.

Pruning: Prune in late winter or early spring, removing dead, damaged, or weak growth and shaping the plant to encourage strong flowering stems.

Cutting: Honor was made for the vase. Cut flowers when the buds have begun to open but before they're completely unfurled for the longest indoor display.

Winter Protection: Gardeners in Zone 5 should protect the crown with an insulating mound of mulch after the ground begins to freeze.