Linrose, you should try grafted Austins - get them from DA (on Dr Huey). I've grown a ton of Austins over the years and had only one that failed - it never made out of dormancy: Trevor Griffiths. All the others, most of them grafted, some own root, have done extremely well. They all need a good and regular amount of food (and water in hot and dry conditions) to perform at their best. I also always amended the planting holes thoroughly since we had heavy clay soil in NC. The main problem for all roses in the US Southeast, even more so the coastal Southeast, is blackspot. Even my teas and noisettes suffered from it if I didn't spray fairly regularly. Bourbons, HPs, HTs, floribundas, all got it without protection. To the original poster. If you're willing to spray (and amend the soil, if needed, and fertilize, of course), you should be able to grow any rose without sacrificing anything in the looks department. If you don't want to spray and don't want roses to defoliate from BS you should probably be a bit more picky. You could also try some Romanticas - a friend of mine in coastal NC thinks very highly of them. There's one Austin you should stay away from unless you're willing to spray religiously, and that's Tamora. Mine were very beautiful and great bloomers, but they would completely defoliate when not sprayed (although they were vigorous enough to grow back their leaves rather quickly). The Austins that did especially well for me when I lived in NC (which of course is not the same as coastal SC) were the following: William Shakespeare 2000 (a must) Sharifa Asma (a must) Heritage Molineux Pat Austin (a must, but blooms can wilt in strong afternoon sun) Abraham Darby Crocus Rose The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild Golden Celebration (a must) Fair Bianca Radio Times Portmeirion Jubilee Celebration Sophy's Rose Jude the Obscure Christopher Marlowe Teasing Georgia (needs to time to develop good rebloom, but is absolutely stunning when in full bloom) William Morris James Galway (totally BS and PM free even without spray, very beautiful, but very slow rebloom) The Prince (not a very strong plant, but a good bloomer with terrific scent) Extremely beautiful is also Crown Princess Margareta, but if not sprayed relatively regularly she'll catch BS if she's in a moist location. We live in southeast England now (Cambridge), and interestingly enough, the roses I grow here, Austins and others, perform very similarly compared to ones I had in NC. Among those I find also excellent are: Lady of Megginch The Prilgrim Lady Emma Hamilton (a must, and although it will catch BS without any spray, it does not at all defoliate here) Claire Austin (very healthy, always in bloom even in its first year) Prospero (stays small, but blooms all the time) Summer Song is a beauty of most unusual color with a fantastic banana scent, but its rebloom is a bit slow and it's not that BS resistant. Young Lycidas also looks promising in terms of performance (and is very beautiful and heavily scented), but it's a brand new rose which I got last summer before its official release in the fall, and it's still too early to really tell. Anyway, I hope this helps a little. Andrea

Thanks for the comments, everyone! John, I'd say that the surrounding area is healthy just like you said. It's a rural area but of course like most everywhere else getting built up more and more by the year. I hope that you'll have enough food to feed your American Ladies. Just last night I decided to bring some in so that we could watch them better. They're much easier to bring in on the Pearly Everlasting than they are on the pussytoes, although I have both and they lay eggs on both. I wasn't going to bring any in, but they're so pretty; I have about 20 on our screened back porch. I haven't seen any Monarchs yet. You're lucky that you've gotten a visit from them. I'm really hoping that more and more people will plant milkweed and that their numbers will increase after having such a dramatic drop. If other people would get as excited about the Monarchs and other butterflies as you are, I'm sure that their populations would soar. :-) Sherry, I wish too that you'd have the Giant Swallowtails pay you a visit. I think they're such a neat caterpillar and butterly even if my mom does say that the cats look like monsters. lol I guess she was used to less "scary"-looking types like the Monarchs and Black Swallowtails, and along comes this big bad Giant. Ha, my mom is in her 70's and makes me laugh with some of the things that she says, but then again, I suppose my family thinks I'm kind of goofy too. They do love raising the cats too though. I'll cross my fingers that you get lots of Giant Swallowtails because I know that you have plenty to feed them and would have fun raising them. I think I remember that you too love to raise those and the Pipevine Swallowtails. My PVST are hatching here and there and I have them in several instars now, which reminds me that I should go out and gather more leaves for them. Martha, That's great that your co-workers are leaving milkweed grow at their places and not pulling them or spraying them. It does our hearts good to see milkweed growing at places. My mom has some that came up in amongst the vines in her yard that I planted for her years ago. You can tell that they're not meant to be there and probably to other people looks unsightly, but I told her I'm leaving them there for the Monarchs and she's fine with that. I really do try to educate people about the butterflies and hope that some people pick up on it. I bought some parsley at Lowe's the other year and was showing the BST cats on it to people in the store. After having a lengthy talk about them to the clerk in the gardening section telling her what they were, etc., it was very disheartening to me as I was leaving to have her say, "I'd still squish them." Some people just can't be educated, unfortunately, but I think that a lot can. I think that the world would be a better place with lots of butterflies around. I think that all of us here are working on that. :-) Cathy

Hello Dave, I will try to post some here, I have not had much luck in the past. However, if you would like to see some of the past shows...at least since I have been involved, you can check out one of two places (or both) On Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/chascamshow/ On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CoastalCarolinaCamelliaSociety? Sorry you can't make it. Darren

Erin, there are currently quite a few people on my list that have shown interest in coming that have not posted within this thread. I first suggested this swap back in the early Spring but decided at that time to wait until Fall. Back then there were only 6 or 8 people interested. I think the current list has grown to over 20 people. Fran, if you'd rather post your wants and haves here, that's fine. I don't always remember to log in to GW to check the thread but now that I know some lists will be posted here, I'll have to try harder to check in more frequently. Steph, no need to email me again. You're on my list. Sandi