I love, love this forum - I learn so many interesting things! I have 2 comments: 1) I grew Buff Beauty along a fence. It went up an arch that was supposed to be for Cl. Iceberg, and over to the house, and then started racing Iceberg up the house. The BB got at least 13 feet up the house (before we had to cut it back to paint) - that was about 22 feet in total away from its base. So, I agree that it can, indeed, be grown as a climber (at least here in No Cal). It is now again putting out long canes and aiming to get back onto the house so it can go vertical again! 2) I am intrigued that evidently there is a controversy about the "everblooming" Cl Cecile Brunner - whether it might be the "spray" version. I was so amused that it took DNA testing to confirm that the 3 types of CB (bush, spray, and climber) were indeed sports of each other, instead of the spray one being a completely different rose (which was the "conventional wisdom" of even very expert rose folks for decades). A reconfirmation of the old "if it walks like a duck....."adage. Thanks greybird! I have all three versions of CB in my garden. The climbing one (which repeats only sporadically with scattered bloom) grew 3 stories up my house. The spray one (which is VERY VERY old - 80-90 years, at least) is 8-10 feet wide, and 10-12 feet high. So, does anyone have the "everyblooming" CB "climber" that has actually climbed up 20-35 feet, like the original climber? Just curious. Jackie

'Marachal Niel' is my favorite yellow rose of any class. I had an own root plant that did not grow a good root system (after 3 years it died and I dug it up and the root ball could have filled 1 and 1/2 bread boxes, and so I am learning to graft roses just to own a vigorous M.N. . If I had a second choice I would choose 'Duchess d' Auerstadt' for its' rich fruity fragrance. My Celine Forestier' blooms heavily in the spring, not at all in summer and lightly in the autumn and it's five years old. Nearly everyone who sees 'Reve d'Or' asks "What is that rose?" It grows amongst 180 other rose cultivars. so I love the fact that it stands out among more vividly colored roses. I also like the fact it can be grown as a self supporting "tree rose" shaped own-root plant of c. 5 and 1/2 feet tall, or grown as a climber. I'm planning to propagate 2 for the end of my sidewalk in front of my porch. I also have Lady Hillingdon (which took me awhile to take too as the color kept reminding me of Josephs aspirins for some reason.. and 'Le Pactole' (The Goldmine) which was, I'm told originally sold as a Noisette. It has very dainty and lovely dark green small leaflets that show off the cream blooms with lemony yellow centers, very well. Its a beauty but a slowwwww grower. 'Alister Stella Gray' is a wonderful rose and I wish I had another one instead of choosing Malvern Hills' because of an unrealistic photo of it showing large blooms. I love all the Tea and Tea-Noisettes. Lux.

Thank you everyone! Jeri I love those found roses, especially De la Vina Mystery and Pulich Children--color is amazing! Wish they were cultivated for sale somewhere... Thank you for the encouragement Romogen, Boncrow and Virginia! I have been trying to be selective in the varieties I want to order. Asking questions on this forum and perusing great blogs like Hoovb's (a plus that her garden is near my zone) and other amazing blogs! BUT I do have zone envy. And being a beginner it's hard to gauge how bad all the negatives of a rose not-well-suited to my zone might be. I've never experienced rust, I have seen powdery mildew as tiny white smudges on a few leaves once this whole year, I DO know what black spot looks like on a HT that was planted by a previous owner of the house. But it only occurs on that one rose and doesn't cause defoliation. The roses I have chosen so far based on many positive reviews from this forum (Munstead Wood and Jubilee Celebration) have been great! Firefighter is just now starting to produce flowers that look as they should but the fragrance has been beautiful and last until the petals fall as Hoovb said. I think it's my inexperience that keeps me dreaming and wishing. And gosh darn it those blogs with amazingly beautiful photos of countless roses; especially some from Japan. I remember reading one of Ingrid's posts where she asked about a rose variety and after finding out it was not well-suited for her hot garden, she moved on (reminded me of a scene from Finding Nemo, when Marlin and Dory snap-out of the trance of the Anglerfish). At this point I am timid to try roses that may do poorly or eek out a few flowers annually. Though I am very very curious to try out roses on Romogen's list. I will have to ask at Roger's about Lavender Lady does well here... Thank you everyone for your guidance, advice, sharing and encouragement. It's really a wonderful experience to receive such help. Hopefully one day I can post some photos of my rose garden...and some advice from my own trials!

When I ordered Blush Noisette 10years ago, I had to pot it, as the garden wasn't ready for it straight away. When it started flowering, it's scent was so strong and wonderful, I used to walk backwards and forwards past it all the time just to have that glorious scent wafting at me. Since I have planted it out in the garden, it has grown and flowered really well. It is always healthy, it is nearly always flowering, it is evergreen, BUT, it has lost it's scent. Why I don't know. It has made a lot of difference to how I think about it. If I were to lose it it would not break my heart. If however it were still perfumed, it would break my heart to lose it. Daisy