Sweetheart, I find cool garden stuff all the time. If I brought it all home, I'm afraid my place would look like Sanford and Son. This particular shop (which IS my favorite, really) always has a great variety of garden stuff. There's a section in the front of the store with pots and ornaments, and there's iron stuff and fabulous vintage metal garden furniture out in the yard in front. The prices are great! Last year, I passed up a cast iron garden arch, with roses on it, and I'm sorry now that I did. I didn't follow my own rule ... if I see it and I love it, I buy it. I worry about where to put it later. (you should see the stuff I have stored in my sheds! I will probably introduce blog readers to the stash, one day. I tend to share a lot of weird stuff on my blog.) Have you thought about going to a salvage yard to see what you can find? We have two down this way (Caravati's and Governor's in Richmond, to be exact) and both have a good selection of stuff that can be repurposed into the garden. How about using mid-century decorative iron porch columns to support a trellis or pergola? Don't forget Craig's List! So many of my garden/building items have come from there. I have a whole shed full of cast-off windows that will we will use to complete my greenhouse later this year (she said, optimistically). The cobblestones that edge the bed on the south side of my house are a CL find, too. (so is my pick-up truck, which I consider to be garden-related.) The idea is to keep an open mind when one shops, and to always consider a "garden purpose" for an item that may not seem, at first, to be garden material ... if that's your style, of course. Connie

All of the love and support I have received over the past couple of days is making me blush. The messages here, on FB, and via email have been wonderful! It shows that my goal of being an informative, uplifting source of rose information is the right choice for me, and I look forward to continuing down this path. There are questions here, so let's get to it: windeaux, I got "Reuter China" by mistake in a rose order years ago. I ordered another R rose, and this one was packaged and sent to me by mistake ... was it really a mistake ... (grinning). For me, it is a stout China/Tea, growing about 5x5 so far, with a habit and flowers a lot like Jean Bach Sisley, which is beside it in the bed. The main difference is flower color ... Reuter China's flowers are a pale fleshy pink. I have traced it to cuttings given to Malcolm Manners in Florida, who cannot remember who gave them to him. Kippy, I can't imagine that I'd be handing out cuttings to most visitors. Those who come and are interested in preserving and growing the rarities are a different case all together. (I've been doing this all along.) I picture this portion of Hartwood Roses continuing in a vein very similar to our own dear Jeri ... seeking out and growing the rare ones, and offering plants at auctions and fundraisers and garden gatherings. With RRD in my part of the country (and occasionally in my garden itself) it is of prime importance to get the really rare roses out into other gardens ... like an off-site back-up. Not operating a retail nursery frees up a lot of my time for travel, especially during rose season. Jeff, I will definitely end up in Atlanta, and you will be on my list of people to see. My first stop, however, will be the cemetery in Sacramento. Yesterday, I ordered my tickets for the October symposium ... now I have to see about airfare, car, and hotel. In order to stop and smell the roses, I first have to unearth them from the weeds. After that .... anyone interested in a propagation workshop? Fall is a great time to take cuttings. The garden is always open for visitors ... even when it looks like crap. There's always something wonderful to see. Right now, the Noisettes are looking really good, and the Chinas (my beloved Chinas) are blooming like crazy. The seven dwarf polyanthas (actually there are only six ... Grumpy died) are covered in flowers ... polyanthas are superb here. I could go on and on. I guess you'll have to come by to see things for yourself. (or read my blog, where I share all the stuff that happens here on the farm. It's not all about gardening ... yesterday's post is about my new short haircut.) It's great to hear that roses that came from here are making people happy. That's what it's all about. Connie

I bought about 10 roses, I think, from Hartwood's fall sale. Price, $10 each, was right and the roses were well packed, promptly shipped and were large plants. Some had BS, not surprising for coming from a SE coast location during an end of season sale. All are now planted, and I am very happy with my purchase.

Catsrose and I did, indeed, have a wonderful Saturday afternoon -- touring the garden, visiting, and just getting to know one another. (We decided that she wasn't a day early, something cosmic must have happened and she was supposed to be here then instead of on Sunday.) I'm up for a trip to her place, whether anyone else is invited or not. Buford, my friend, we missed you. Are your germs all gone now? Robert, I forgot about Aviateur Bleriot. It's not a Barbier, though -- it's from Fauque & Fils. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must add that I have Silver Moon and American Pillar anchoring the very end of the fence where it turns the corner. My handy-guy had his son and his friend out in the rose field yesterday afternoon digging holes with the ground auger. (This speeds up planting like you wouldn't believe, mainly because I don't have to spend time breaking up the soil to refill the hole once I have the rose in it. Digging the hole itself is no big deal, because I have really nice soil.) I had spent the morning running the irrigation lines to the second half of the field. As soon as he finishes the holes this morning, I will start the final push to get the rest of the field planted -- 120 more roses, or so, that I won't have to keep watered in the driveway. This will add 3 rows of hybrid perpetuals, 2 rows of hybrid teas, and a row each shrubs, hybrid bracteatas, and floribundas, and 1 row left over for overflow smaller roses. I still have a few spots left in the first half of the field -- mainly among the once-bloomer rows. Belle Isis, Rosa Mundi, and La Belle Sultane (thanks, Jim) are going there. If you are visiting central Virgiia, and you'd like to come see the garden, let me know. As I said earlier, I love having company. Connie