I am not Joe but yes, Agnes is a rugosa. I think it was either Paul or John who posted her here years ago and she was so beautiful, just took my breath away. Oh, to be able to grow rugosas without the associated problems of growing roses in Bugville located only a few feet away from Fungusville.

Sherry, I don't think anyone has mentioned Lobelia. It is a low plant that reseeds itself, about the height of Alyssum. The particular variety we had when I lived in the California Central Valley is a very dark, intense, blue with bronze/green leaves. It's great in a pot with something else, as it will trail over the side, and its color just sets off colors next to it, especially apricots, creamy yellows, etc., but actually lots of other colors as well. It's best (IMHO) as a companion, because just on its own it's low, and the flowers are small, although there are a lot of them. You might like to look at it in a nursery - it also comes in a lighter blue and a pink, but neither of those two did for me what the dark blue did. I don't know how it would do in Florida, but it did fine for me in Merced. Now that I'm in Sacramento, I'm going to plant some in a few pots that I can place among my roses in their bigger pots. I think anything bigger would overpower my potted roses, which are still pretty small. By the way, Mlle. Jeanne Philippe is finally hitting her stride (I remember that we both bought that at the same time, although I think something happened to yours). She has all these little, pale apricot buds all over her. Happy planting... There is just no stopping you!!! Laura

Michigangardener, the flowers on Proteus are really hard to describe. Guess it depends on your color preferences but I tend to describe them as pinkish-lavender with a little more emphasis on the pink side. The lavender color tends to get faded out as the flowers age. Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

Shane-it is 'to each their own'.There are some wonderful people in the forum and I really enjoyed their company and input. I am sure the forum would have been a great success if it had been started by anyone other than the present owner. If you are a male you will probably be okay-blatant misogyny means women are tolerated only to a certain degree. The above statements are my opinion only-take it as you find it. I had all my rose scans in the database there but withdrew them in protest at what I considered an underhanded nasty act by the webmaster. The webmaster then banned me. I had the option of returning if I was a good little girl but I declined. I have records of what transpired but will not make them public. regards sandie