Thanks Kate--I guess I've been very much on the fence about whether they'll tolerate the cold here, will just have to see I think. The flowers look so gorgeous I think I have to try anyway, so I was going to put in 4-5 and see. I'm essentially zone 6 in the backyard, so maybe I'll have success with them if you have. Do you winter protect? My neighbor did lose some HTs from year to year but he planted the bud union above ground and didn't winter protect. My Austins always seem significantly hardier and I was hoping these, although marketed as HTs, were more mixed lineage and would be hardier too. The beds are a bit elevated, which hurts cold-tolerance but helps keep things well-drained. But I can bury the bud unions and throw on some bark mulch or leaves in the fall, which may help. Okay, Peter is officially on the list, and I think I MUST have Liv and Yves Piaget--the flowers look too wonderful to pass up. Every weekend the ground stays workable I keep fixing up the beds to accommodate more roses...so now I have room for another order from Roses Unlimited!

Hey, cool. We will have to compare notes when they arrive. I've heard good things about their peonies. The only bad stuff I've heard about Gilbert H Wild was about their daylilies. Everything I've heard said about their peonies has been possitive. Are you excited? I know I sure am. The peonies I got at Home Depo were in a bag, bareroot. Yes, those two varieties were packaged as a set, but were not individually labeled, so I don't know which is which. It looked like they were getting low on peonies when I was there, but don't know, that could just be at the one store. I think it was $7 or so for the bag. Home Depo also had a box of 3 peonies for sale for $9.00. But they were not named or labeled in any way. You just got a mixed batch. I probably would have bought a box, except that I am going to have a lot of peonies now and I'd like to try to mostly stick to named ones so I don't repeat on accident. I also bought a pair in a box at Costco... and they WERE individually labeled and in seprate bags so that I knew which ones I had. I think that is where I got Crinkled White and Flame. It seems like a lot of stores have peonies now. I made my seed order from Territorial last weekend... and my topsoil for my veggie beds came today... so I'm in a dandy mood. Now if only my stupid wood shavings would come from the mill (can you believe I'm getting 37 cubic yards?) I could do my mulching too!

I live on the Southern California coast, zone 10a. The climate is very moderate here. It never freezes, but seldom gets above 90 degrees F. I have a number of David Austin roses. All of them are beautiful when in bloom, but my worst performers have been Harlow Carr (gets more disease than the others), Heathcliff (very slow to start growing and blooming again after first bloom) and Crown Princess Margareta (so-so first bloom and repeat bloom). My best performers have been Olivia Rose Austin (immaculately healthy, very good repeat bloom), Tamora (repeats like a floribunda, intense myrrh fragrance), Young Lycidas (very healthy, good repeat, intense old rose fragrance), The Albrighton Rambler (grows along my 10 foot balcony with great vigor and extremely healthy foliage, has well-formed old fashioned rosette flowers, repeats well [unusual for a rambler]) and Teasing Georgia (huge plant that produces hundreds of big, full-petaled flowers each year and repeats well). All-in-all, David Austin roses are by far my favorites. They tend to be very healthy, most are fragrant, I prefer the old rose appearance of the flowers, and I like the plentiful foliage and over-all look of the plants.

Belle Gallica, how do Austins do for you? Paul's 'Marianne' and 'Allegra' are listed as zones 6b-9b and 4b-10b...probably due to Austin parents? 'Marianne' is from 'Abe Darby' and 'Allegra' is from 'St.Swithin'. Also, 'Etienne' (4a and warmer) is from 'Chianti'. I know from experience that they rival the old classics and look every bit OGR/Gallica, although I'd say 'Marianne" looks like 'Gloire de Dijon' and 'Charles de Mills' had productive sex. I grew 'Etienne' but gave it away to dear friends who had never seen such decadent, beetroot blooms. The 'Allegra' growing in Paul's garden is speech-defyingly exquisite and my current obsession. I grow a young 'Marianne' since I kept purchasing her, growing her, digging her up and passing her along to people who fell in love. I'm RVR waitlisted again for the other two and WILL NOT dig up and gift my current 'Marianne.' I hope you have wonderful luck with 'Rosa Mundi'. She's lovely! Lindsey, maybe there should be a thread asking everyone to guesstimate the bloom period of their Gallicas, including Paul Barden's? I know, in general, his do bloom for quite a stretch in my garden, but I've never calculated how long, and mine are all rather young because I keep giving them away to friends or acquaintances that are both unfamiliar with them and bewitched by their old rose beauty. Since they are easy keepers here in Portland, I know they will flourish in their new homes unlike blackspot-on-a-stick HTs. I tell everyone that they are like camellias and rhododendrons. Who wouldn't grow a camellia just because it only blooms once a year? Sheila, love the Duchesse! Chris and Lindsey, I'll try to find a shot of my Indigo, too. I have one somewhere. To me, 'Indigo' looks and acts like a (moderately spreading) Gallica, smells like a Damask and repeats like a HP/Portland. It's very healthy here. No "damask crud" noted. How's its health for you, Chris? Carol