It’s that time of year again: Game of Thorns 2025, aka your annual Rose Table bloom report. This was a dramatic last year in the garden due to a chili thrips outbreak. I figured out what was wrong far too late and sadly made the decision to rip out several of my beloved roses to stop the spread. Gardening is not for the faint of heart.

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I felt quite sorry for myself last fall, because the yard had never looked better than it had before the chili thrips invasion. Luckily many roses are still standing and I’m quite proud of how the garden has bounced back.

Game of Thorns 2025 Winner: Plum Perfect

This gorgeous gal was the first rose to open this spring! She’s in my front yard down by the street and I always see people taking photos with her. It makes me so proud! She gives me endless purple blooms pretty much until the end of the year and is one of the hardiest roses in my garden. Read more about Plum Perfect here.

Scentimental

Oh, Scentimental. Each bloom looks hand painted and she smells even better than she looks if you can believe it. She may get blackspot every single June but she’s actually quite a tough rose. She’s now survived flood conditions, drought, Snowpocalypse, and a chili thrips outbreak. We love a fighter! Read more about Scentimental here.

Chicago Peace

I shouldn’t play favorites but look at her. Does a more perfect rose exist? This bleeding rose has enormous 5″ blooms. A single bloom fills a vase! If you want a hybrid tea that’s constantly blooming, this rose is for you. Chicago Peace is truly one of the best roses I’ve ever grown. Read more about Chicago Peace here.

Don Juan

I’m probably the most proud of Don Juan considering I thought he was toast. The chili thrips sucked the life out of him. This beautiful red climber is such a fighter! I hacked it down so that the chili thrips had nothing to feed off of. This year much to my surprise, he sent up a bunch of new basal canes that have zero signs of thrips damage. Read more about Don Juan here.

Celestial Night

Celestial Night has been quite slow to get established compared to some of my other roses but wow is she pretty. I love this floribunda’s growth shape and the bloom color is so vibrant! The old-fashioned blooms are also long-lasting in the vase.

Show Your Stripes

My readers always confuse Show Your Stripes and Scentimental. Both striped girlies struggle with black spot but it’s worth it because they’re both stunningly beautiful and smell fantastic. Show Your Stripes is much more pink whereas Scentimental can skew quite red. Show Your Stripes is also the best cut flower in my garden. The blooms easily last a week in the vase. Read more about Show Your Stripes here.

Earth Angel

This old-fashioned rose has a beautiful shrub shape, excellent disease resistance, and gorgeous peony-shaped blooms that smell like heaven on Earth. Read more about Earth Angel here.

Peggy Martin

When Peggy is blooming, there’s almost nothing else I’d rather talk about. I admit, I didn’t finish pruning her this year (I’ve been so busy with projects I can’t yet talk about) so she’s quite unruly but that didn’t stop her from gifting me with a spectacular wall of blooms. Every rose lover needs this spectacular, hardy climber in their garden. Read more about Peggy Martin here.

And there you have it, Game of Thorns 2025! Everyone send me green thumb thoughts. Hopefully it’ll be a lovely year in the garden. Let me know if you’d like to see what else I’m growing besides roses!