I garden in BC too, but in a much colder area than you. I have both 'Rhapsody in Blue' and 'Wild Blue Yonder'. I like both ok, but I'm not crazy about RIB's overly large sprays that must be disbudded to have a clean look to the flower spray. WBY is a very nice rose which is both a strong grower and hardy. It is one of the few that have not been pruned to within inches of the ground this year. A favourite though is 'Ebb Tide,' ET produces large sprays of fragrant blooms. I have never been bothered with BS on any of these roses, but I do spray from time to time, especially early in the season when the rains are persistent. Not so much later in summer. I hope this helps! Rhapsody in Blue Wild Blue Yonder - not a great photo but the best I could find right now. Ebb Tide

Well Molineux, if you haven't figured it by now, Diane is a flower goddess disguised as a regular poster with that magic touch most of us regular mortals do not have. Every pic that Diane has posted looks even better than any botanical garden pictures I've ever seen. (grin). I agree BB is beautiful but since I do not spray, I will not grow it. I will probably grow Poseidon or Novalis if I can find it this year. Fragrance is not my top priority as I grow other fragrant varieties. BS and flower forms is a must for me. Lesmc, your pic is quite misleading. Your Blueberry Hill is so gorgeous that all the pics I have seen in Rose Search website pales in comparison. If I ever grow this rose, it would be because of you. When I look at the pics in rose search, I wasn't convinced because most of them looks too pink or too blowsy. Your rose should be the covergirl for this variety.

There are two kinds of Agapanthus, evergreen leaved and deciduous. The varieties of agapanthus that lose their leaves and go dormant are completely winter hardy in the ground in zone 5. They need full sunshine, fertile well drained soil, and they like to be fertilized on a regular basis. Every once in a while the plants need to be dug up and divided because they tend to get "overgrown" and don't make flowers very well after 10 - 15 years of growing in the same spot. These are some of my agapanthus that have been growing in the ground outside in zone 5 for the last 40 years. They have been divided and replanted many times in that period. The temperature is 2 F outside today and the agapanthus are fine - they don't get mulched at all here but it wouldn't hurt them. It is a plant that is best put into the ground in the early part of the season so it has time to establish before the winter sets in. I wouldn't plant it out in the autumn. This agapanthus was grown from seeds someone gave me a million years ago - the picture is from last summer.

Could be the more mature size, but that has a much more open branching style. These trees were really dense for a deodara. And I would venture to say that 'Sander's Blue' definately doesn't look dwarf. He had two primary sizes in his field....some at 6-8 years which were about 5-6' tall and some that he thought were 8-10 years old that were about 6-7'. And he's had them since young so they should be settled as far as a growth rate. So it fits they are probably dwarf or at least intermediates. I'm really thinking at this point 'Sander's Blue' and 'Blue Velvet' are not the same tree. He only accepts visitors on Saturdays, so I planned another trip out there next Saturday morning to at least look at them again if not buy one of the trees. I'll take some pictures of them to post. In the meantime, if anyone else has experience with deodara 'Blue Velvet', I'd love to hear the info or see some pictures. mark