My Superiors have been dropping a lot. The birds have been terrible--they seem to know which are the ripest. Have netted and have caught one sparrow who subsequently escaped. About the skin: read that Superiors are easy to peel and found that to be true. So I have peeled the last bunch harvested and mixed them with the few apples ripe at the same time for plum-applesauce. I find the skin of Superior to be too astringent, but it might be better if we could ripen them more. So far, this is my favorite use of Superior. I have dehydrated them in other years, and this works well.

Satsuma is red-fleshed like Methely. It doesn't have as thick a skin as Methely. Once Methely is fully ripe it's really pretty flat tasting where as Satsuma maintains its quality better, even when completely ripe. Methely requires more thinning as it tends to set a crazy amount of fruit in grape-like clusters. If black knot is an issue Methely is the ultimate incubator of this disease. These plums are not really competitors because they ripen at different times, although there is some overlap with Shiro on the early side of Satsuma and late side of Methely. Methely is the earliest plum I grow which is the main reason I still stock it in my nursery but the black-knot issue is a big problem. Shiro tends to crack more than the other two when rain comes close to harvest, has yellow flesh and skin and is somehow not very interesting. When properly thinned and yellow-ripe it is sweet, juicy and quite enjoyable, however. In my own orchard I'm phasing out Shiro and possibly Methely. I prefer the flavor of Erli-majic, which begins ripening just after Methely and will get me through to Santa Rosa. Both of these have superior fruit to Methely and Shiro, IMO, that doesn't tend to crack. I'm tired of fighting Methely's black knot and Shiro's cracking.

Jeri - I don't know if you remember me from earlier years, but my garden is just south of you in LA (inland from Venice Beach), and I generally find your experience (much greater than mine) echoes my own. Here, too, Louis Phillipe seems happier than Cramoisi S. Actually, when we first moved to Mar Vista 15 years ago, the summers were hotter and my garden sunnier, so CS did very well! But, with the increasing cool & grey summers, CS started to mildew reguarly, and I gave up on the bush and sadly removed it. I also grew a CS climber and it was spectacular for about 6 years, then it suddenly declined (I think something attacked the roots) and it couldn't be saved. I planted a 2nd CS bush, but the past couple of summers have been so cool that it almost seems as tho consistent summer weather starts in late August. I've planted a number of Chinas roses the past couple years, but have moved them all to the hottest sunniest spots or they sulk. Since CS is probably my favorite red rose, it's now claiming the hottest, sunniest & least windy spot in the garden -- it looks like it may be growing out of its sulky ways.

Eric, Well, there are too many to name, but some that come to me at once are 'Common Moss'--lanky, derived from 'Centifolia', fragrant, fascinating buds 'Crested Moss' (aka 'Chapeau de Napoleon')--another Centifolia sport, with charming cocked hat buds and all the fragrance, fullness, and old rose color of its parent 'Mme. Zoetmans'--white with slight blush, shortish Gallica habit (forms a thicket of upright stems and suckers), extremely rich fragrance 'Alain Blanchard'--red, shortish Gallica, not as much fragrance as some but it has delightful freckles 'De la Maitre-Ecole' (there are several variants of this name), Gallica, medium height, vigorous, large double fragrant pink-mauve-lilac blooms, gets mildew in summer but is totally untroubled by it 'Belle sans Flatterie'--double pink refined Gallica, low suckering habit, robust, fragrant 'Belle Amour'--thorny lanky plant of uncertain derivation, charming peach-tinted pink semi-double blooms with a boss of golden stamens, myrrh-scented 'Fantin-Latour'--big shrub probably with some China in its ancestry, smallish double light pink very fragrant blooms, smooth stems and few thorns, gets summer mildew but isn't bothered by it; the whole plant is so robust and healthy and RIGHT that it's a pleasure to work with it 'Ypsilante'--big flat pink-mauve-gray fragrant blooms like velvet powderpuffs 'Tuscany Superb'--extremely deep rich wine-red, double flowers, suckering Gallica habit, not too tall, foliage colors in fall 'Capitain John Ingram'--Moss with small fragrant double blooms with a button eye, deep lilac to purple and velvety above, smooth and lighter before, to be studied up close 'Juno'-- beautiful large double pale blooms, fragrant, lax rather thorny growth, tough plant, not too large in my garden Well, I could go on and on, these are just off the top of my head. VERY IMPORTANT: just because a rose isn't on this list doesn't mean it's not as good as, or even better, than the ones I've listed. All the Albas are good. Among Damaks I didn't list 'Leda' and 'Pink Leda', among others. And there many, many wonderful Gallicas, which had a period of glory in the first part of the 19th century that resulted in many fine varieties. And the Mosses are fascinating. Then there are the Scots roses derived from R. spinosissima (=R. pimpinellifolia), which I don't grow because they don't like my conditions, but I would if they did better for me. 'Stanwell Perpetual' that you list is a Spinosissima cross. Have you had a chance to look at once-blooming old roses in a garden? Because the flowers are only a small part of the story. I like the range of habits and variety of growth of the old roses, some making a thicket of upright stems, others sending out lanky long canes; some thorny, some bristly; most with more or less rough-textured growth; many with fragrant, slightly sticky buds; showing a wide variety of hips; many coloring in fall. These roses that I love look, to my eyes, wilder than their Oriental cousins the Teas and Chinas, and they have in bloom an opulence all their own. Melissa