One big change for me over the years has been the love of OGR roses----
Back in the 50's I loved the "Florist" type roses or as some people say " the REAL roses" and still do love some of them-(Tiffany and MacCartney) to name two--I remember going through my rose books years ago and hastily leafing past the single roses -----then as I began to appreciate the beauty in the single roses and the reliability of the older roses my feelings changed---

that is the one major change thanks in part to the GW and the Antique Rose Forum-----although I did plant some old climbers that I still love----Paul's Himalayan Musk and Albertine to name two that caught my eye many years ago---

I have always loved all kinds of plants---even as a child I would bring home plants (and stray dogs---LOL) from neighbors---

I love to read your posts while I'm looking out the windows---at my roses covered in the latest snowfall---it is beautiful

Florence

For me it kind of depends. I never particularly liked roses that much and got more than I ever planed mostly because they do well on clay, while a lot of plants I used to like struggle.
Generally I love trumpet form of bloom the most and roses do not come in those, but globular comes as second best and I definitely prefer it when looking through rose lists, etc. I like wild flowers, but I do not like single roses, somehow those two do not really connect in my head. I grew up with a lot of rugosas and albas around, but somehow do not have fond memories for those, maybe because they flowered more or less after everything else did their glorious spring shows and really do not last in a vase. I also always really disliked formal rose plantings, too much bare ground, too little plants imho, so going through rose gardens was a bore for a long time. :D

My first plant, when I was four or five years old, was a Graptopetalum paraguayense, which forms a perfect symmetrical rosette shape. I've loved perfect, symmetrical rosette shapes ever since, whether they are roses, aloes, echeverias, or whatever.

Are early random experiences the most powerful ones, or is it that we are born knowing what we love, and somehow find it as soon as we are able?

why do we like what we like... and will we always

I often wonder about that when I see people with very obvious tattoos...

I have always liked simple, often single flowers. Never cared for the hybrid teas. When I got married a pushy florist insisted on roses and I went back and changed it to chrysanthemums. (If I could do it again I would pick my own flowers). But when I first saw a picture of a petal-packed, quartered flower, I fell in love. They are my favorites, followed by the singles. "Semi-double" sounds wishy-washy, I prefer one extreme or the other. I doubt this will change, as I am kinda a purist in other ways. I like old houses filled with old things but also appreciate much modern design. Anything described as "transitional" leaves me cold.

I used to hate beer. Now I love a good dark one.
I used to hate tomatoes and would pick them off my sandwiches, I just bought a box of cherry tomatoes to eat raw... and I often grill them very quickly with some cheese or some basil.

I find over time that my appreciation for various things changes.
When I was a child I'd never seen what I knew was an OGR other than wild-like singles. I would painstakingly draw the classic rose shape. My favorite being Tiffany. Who knows if I would have preferred full double, quartered fancy OGRs if I'd seen them? I don't know. I always loved camellias and hydrangeas in their fancy-ness, my love for them is the same now as it was when I was a child.

Some things I love them more due to sentimental reasons. Like camellias and hydrangeas that my grandmother had that I played with as a kid. But... honestly, I think I'd like them anyway even if I didn't have that connection.

When I buy plants, I consideR them for their fragrance first before anything. And I don't know why, but I always believed there must be plants that can provide me with a better fragrance experience than roses. I actually resented roses for a while because they are so commonly planted. Well that changed recently as I found myself getting into roses now in my quest for the trifecta of fragrance, flower form and floriferousness (is that a word?). I see there is more than just Hybrid Teas...

I hold Michelia alba as the epitome of heavenly fragrance. The roses I know smell like Lychees to me, which is nice but not as wonderful as a Michelia alba. I did not get to experience other scents until recently with a DA rose called Windermere and a HT Fragrant Plum (which doesn't have the typical Lychee smell of HTs I'm used to). Now I would be in heaven if I can find a rose that smells like Michelia alba and I have my hopes up because I remember coming across a few posts where some rose scents are described as smelling like Juicy Fruit gum (the scent of Michelia alba). Alas, Michelia alba is not a very showy flower, though there is a simple beauty to it.

The typical Hybrid Tea flower shape is not so appealing as a peony. I tried growing those peonies which I consider among the most beautiful flower forms (especially Tree Peonies). There is no doubt it's beauty transcends many cultures. In classical ornamentation as seen in France, peonies appear on brocades, wallpapers, carving on furniture, etc. And even in the East you can see it in Chinese scroll paintings down to Indochinese motifs.

So in my quest to find the most fragrant plants with the most beautiful flower forms, I find myself looking into Roses recently. Peonies are nearly impossible to grow in So Cal. I did however got one to flower last year, just one flower and the fragrance was not that amazing compared to an average rose. I am going to give peonies a break for now in favor of roses which can flower almost all year round here.

When I saw Windermere, the shape of the flowers were so surreal to me. I could not believe how much more beautiful it was compared to a HT rose. In it's bud state, it has the perfectly round shape much like a peony does. As it unfurls, it displays globular fish-scale appearance (or as hoovb taught me, imbricated petals). Although it doesn't really take on the beauty of a tree peony flower when fully open.... Still searching for a rose with a truly peony-like flower that smells like Juicy Fruit! :D

Great thread idea. I continually ask myself "why am I attracted to this plant and are my tastes changing?" Lately, I've gotten interested in hosta and Siberian Iris. Does this indicate I am losing my love for roses?

Truth is that Harry is a perfect enablee and his list just keeps growing. You guys taught me about OGR's and I had to have some. I still like that HT bloom, but I have fewer now.

As we age, we get smarter. Trying to grow 50 HT's in Pennsylvania is a high maintenance task with spotty (pun intended) returns even then. I'm too old to keep up.

Old Harry still keeps skinning sod and making new beds. However, the planting must first meet the new criterion:
The plant has to stay full and green all season with little or no maintenance. Thus we have more viburnum, azalea, hosta and Siberian Iris.

Last seasons projects:
{{gwi:220376}}

The first Siberian Iris. Have added 10 more exotic types.

{{gwi:220377}}

Considering that my love of old roses began with seeing a gorgeous, huge shrub of Mutabilis, blooming from top to bottom, it seems that now I more often lean toward more double roses. There are honorable exceptions such as Mr. Bluebird and Lavender Dream, and I suspect the color of the single rose has to really appeal to me for me to love it. The floribundas and hybrid teas had never really moved me, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I discovered the old roses. I think it's their softer, more natural look, something you could imagine seeing in an enchanted garden, or among Roman ruins, that captures me. It's a passion that has never waned, and I know with reasonable certainty that it never will. With plants other than roses, I'm most drawn to the colors I love, and more practically whether they will grow in my garden.

Ingrid

Hi Elmire,

I've thought about this some too, and as I've looked through various pictures I've tried to define what I do and don't like. I tend to like flowers, period.

What I like best probably depends on the distance I'm looking at the plant from. Up close, a frilly picotee edge is the greatest thing... but from a distance, a simple single flower probably has the greatest impact. I like big yellow centers and no visible centers, both. I like both singles and doubles, but overall I'd rather have more semi-doubles than anything else, and I like them even better if their petals have some waviness to them.

A rose with a subtle color blend to a darker or lighter color on the edge appeals to me hugely... though if the entire yard were composed of those kinds of flowers, there would be too much competition between them. So just a few Mrs. Dudley Cross roses (or roses of those types), sitting perhaps right next to Duchesse De Brabant to help point out the sublime in Mrs. Dudley Cross.

I have always liked roses, but less so the hybrid tea forms than their smell. The brief amount of time I had Belinda's Dream with the same form, though, I liked it plenty. It looks especially nice with roses of other forms in a vase. I liked the effects of the tiny Rose Rosette to add variety to a vase of flowers, too.

Overall, if I had to name just one favorite flower form, I'd probably go with a rhododendron, especially those with a bit of a frilly and/or picotee edging to the individual flowers within the truss. I love rhododendrons, huge trusses and small ones both. Rhododendrons don't withstand drought well, however, so I wouldn't suggest getting started with them if you can't give them plenty of water during a drought.

Oh, no, maybe I should have said the one favorite was a camellia, all kinds of camellias...

And daffodils! The Ice Follies variety is pretty much a perfect flower.

But peonies (of all kinds) can't be bested by any other flower!

Oh, I forgot to say how wonderful the tiny-leaved karume azaleas look when they are covered in a blanket of tiny flowers. They make for spectacular arrangements in a vase too.

I like flowers, period. In a mood to really look and appreciate, I can get excited with just a single bloom from a native woods violet. And at that moment, it seems that nothing could best the simple woods violet.

I guess the real luxury is in having a good variety of flowering forms, and especially in having them at various times of the year, which roses and camellias are both good at. Though I do have one rhododendron that blooms a bit every fall.

I can't think of any flowers I actually don't like, though irises are probably fairly low on the list.

I have stronger opinions on garden design than on the flowers themselves. (I'm not into geometrical/formal gardens so much as very informal ones.)

Mary

When I reflect on my attempts in garden design, I think that I look for plants, including their flowers, that will work as team players and also be worth close observation in themselves. And I love scent. So I love all kinds of roses--not all roses--but they have to be plants I can integrate into the garden, and I have to be able to enjoy the individual blooms. Hybrid Teas are not easy to integrate, and they also don't do well for me, as my growing style demands thrifty plants. I don't think I outgrow old loves; I just add new ones (possibly I have blind spots here, but I can't think of them). I also love many plants, and am hoping to collect varieties of many of them: box, lilacs, peonies, barberries; I've just become aware of the possibilities of mahonias and epimediums. I'm thinking a lot about the varieties of groundcovers that grow in deciduous woodlands. Naturally my ideas are miles ahead of my deeds, but perhaps I'll realize some of them with time. Oh...I forgot Ceanothus. And more roses, naturally.
Melissa

Voluptuousness. Is there such a word?
That is what I like about roses.
It can be the arching branches of Canary Bird, smothered in blooms so early in the season. Or, the blowsy barmaid look of Mme Isaac Pereire. They both have that look of over the top abundance that I love.
It is the same with scents. The faint fleeting scents of some roses just annoy me. I like overwhelming scents from my roses that I can wallow in!
This has never changed.
Daisy

I'm working my way through all the rose types that will grow in my zone. This forum has opened my eyes to the huge world of roses and I'm so grateful for the knowledge and inspiration to learn how to propogate and spend some money at the wonderful small nurseries where so many great roses can be obtained. And to share the love. Fun!!