Great question. I long for more Old Garden Tea roses, and their immediate hybrids. I've often wished I could cross the disease resistant pale yellow Tea roses 'Souvenir de Pierre Notting' or 'Etoille de Lyon' with a Pernetiana such as 'President Herbert Hoover' or 'Etoille de Feu' or 'Duquesa de Penardana.'I never can remember how to spell that name... theres a tilda there somewhere too. all of these roses are disease resistant plants in a local no-spray garden. I'd like to see a flame hued, fragrant ever-blooming Tea-Hybrid that is disease resistant with the rapid re-peat of the Tea class. Locally 'Lady Hillingdon' gets powdery mildew in each of the 4 seasons, but continues to bloom through all, but it is barely fertile. It has been such a popular rose for a hundred and two years, I think another Tea-Hybrid of similar but deeper hues would be a success. A white Tea-Hybrid rose that holds up well as a cut flower would be sublime. I'd like to see a cross between the Tea-Hybrid cl.'Mrs. Herbert Stevens' with the fragrant 'Westside Road Cream Tea' both of which are disease resistant, in my no-spray garden. Or W.R.C.T. X 'Snowbird' or 'White Christmas', which has a sweet fragrance. Alba Semi-Plena for disease resistance, and beautiful foliage, I imagine a white Tea-A.S.P cross through several generations to produce a remontant hybrid. 'Niphetos'X white 'Rose of York'=heaven. I sure do love Tea roses, and Albas. Luxrosa p.s. plan9, look to Groundcover roses from 1990 and onward, many were bred from R. wichurana, and hortico.com sells several of them. I suggest you look for "disease resistant' roses under Groundcovers and then look up their parentage on helpmefind.com I have Ralph Moores 'Simplex' a small remontant wich. hybrid that has apricot buds that open to show white wild- appearing rose blossoms.

Sorry I couldn't repost, my computer crashed within an hour of posting this (I'm on a friend's computer). Sorry about the spelling also, I was never a good at spelling but that is pathetic (I just read the caption in Passion for Roses by Peater Beales where there was a Madame Hardy planted on a wattle fence before I posted this, which is my inspiration). It's even more beautiful in person, the picture is terrible and does not do it justice. To answer Ingrid, Bolero is very promising! I love the simplicity of that semi double flower that I was completely overlooking. Gruss an Aachen seems like a very nice rose and I can visualize it on that fence. Mme. Cornelissen is too susceptible to black spot. Kronprinzessin Viktoria von Preussen is very much like a rose that I want on that fence, I've never heard of that rose before. Rosefolly, I have been debating weather to plant buff beauty there, because it would get hot, full sun where the booms will fade (which I love), but I heard somewhere that the disease susceptibility could be better and I don't know how big it gets... Melissa, I have a Paul's Himalayan Musk Climber in my yard and it drops all its leaves with black spot every summer. It's a show stopper, and grows like there is no tomorrow, but bs really affects it (I wonder if its just Paul's Himalayan Musk). Not 20 feet away I have a lady banks in bloom, although it is small (for a lady banks that is). Littlesmokie, Penelope is very pretty, and the thought of hips hanging off that fence is really growing on me. I like buff beauty much more than Crepuscule. Seil, the fence is extremely sturdy. I was very surprised, when I got finished with it because I could stand on the top of it, rock back and forth and there was no movement. There is something about weaving the wood in between those thick stakes that makes it so strong. In the medieval times people would build their homes out of wattle and mud with thatch roofs. Thank you for all the complements! It's very exciting to get so many. It really wasn't that much work, but I have done this four times before (The first couple of times the stakes would bend and the fence would end up being straight sticks held horizontally by multiple stakes). It takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of it and make sure there isn't too much pressure on one side of the stakes, or fence, than the other. I can write a how to with pictures if enough people ask. -Jason

Hold on. Picket fence? As in "wooden picket fence that needs to be painted every year or two," or "vinyl picket fence that never needs to be painted"? If the former, just think of the fun dealing with rose canes as you try to paint (I'd suggest annuals and/or herbaceous perennials; maybe Peonies if you're in the right climate); if the latter, OK, let the rose-planting begin.

Lisa, you have so many truly gorgeous pictures of your roses, but somehow the photo I wanted to see the most, of you and your daughter (and her precious baby bump) is missing. I'd love it if you could please post it again. The purple clematis and penstemon with the pink roses is wonderful. All your clematis plants are gorgeous. They add a lot to the roses, a perfect contrast. The flowers for the baby shower are also lovely, and I'm so glad you were able to have the shower. Even if done somewhat differently it's the love that counts, always.