Thank you, Sheila. Yes ma'am, they were pretty big when received, which was a remarkable surprise as they weren't ninety days old from seed! And, yes, Virginia, species are easier here because the climate is triggering them to "repeat"! Where "spring" turns into "hades" like someone flipped a light switch, dealing with anything once-flowering can be difficult. You watch buds swell and await their opening, only to have them all explode and blow in a day once the heat arrives. Here, Banksiae has thrown the odd flower cluster for several months. R. Arkansana Peppermint is growing and flowering on the NEW growth as well as its original flowering on the old. Xanthina has thrown the occasional odd "repeat" as has Primula and several of the earlier Fedtschenkoana hybrids. The Minutifolias are also flowering and now there are Mexican forms here, which set SEED, it only makes sense to use them as much as possible. UC Berkeley Mexican Minutifolia bud and hip; L56-1 X Otay Mesa Minutifolia seedling flower; L56-1 X Otay Mesa Minutifolia self seedling flower; Arkansana Peppermint; UC Berkeley Minutifolia; Stellata mirifica; L56-1 X Eyeconic Lemonade; and lazy, tomato and rose hip stealing bums!

Thanks, guys. Kim, THREE plants of FDY in one two gallon can? I'm surprised the can has not exploded! Of course understand what you mean about waiting for cooler weather to separate them. I am glad that they are in good hands. What are you going to do with three FDYs? Just wondering... Nik - whenever mine blooms, I hope the blooms are bigger than they were when it was in shade (I was determined to grow it up that oak tree - bad idea). I will definitely post pics of the blooms when they arrive. My plant is in an area of our garden where our frequently visiting doe and her new fawn and her yearling doe from last year like to hang out, so I have explained to my FDY that the only solution to the deer issue is to get very tall very fast. It seems to have comprehended that. Jackie

Yes, that old huge one is still growing (with no "care" from humans whatever) in a little park next to a bike path. It is the one in Ross from which I got my cutting. That is an old pic, but right now it is just coming into full bloom, so I will take my camera on Monday when we go for our next bike ride. I am so glad I have my rose - unfortunately that huge one, and most of the trees, are planned to be taken out by the town. There has been serious awful flooding in Ross in the past (in the winter of 2001 the entire downtown was literally under 3-4 feet of water!), and the little park is right next to the creek. The Corps of Engineers built a concrete channel for that part of the creek decades ago. It has been a disaster - very bad for wildlife, and they have determined that it makes the flooding worse! So, they are going to take away the concrete channel next to the park, and make the park into a "flood plain" for the water to expand into if there are super heavy rains. This, for some reason, entails taking out the trees in the park, along with the rose. However, mine is not the only plant taken from that rose. We ran into the head of the Public Works Dept for Ross on our bike ride one day, and he told me the story about how he planted that rose 20 something years ago, after taking cuttings from the really old one growing where the 19th century mansion (and I do mean a real mansion) was. He said he offered rooted cuttings to anyone who wanted them, and that rose is now growing in gardens all over the town. He planted one on the grounds of the Police/Fire station. That one is interesting - it is pruned into a bush form, and seems happy that way - about 6-7 feet high and wide. It is also just coming into full bloom - I will try and take a pic of it tomorrow - I did not know you could do that with FDY! Jackie

FruitCat - My baby one (which has only been in a decent place for 1 1/2 years), is planted in a small clearing which is surrounded by BIG trees and bushes. It probably only gets 2-3 hours of dappled sun a day. When we planted it it was only about 2 feet high and got less. Now it is 7 feet high, and going UP. Is the place you are contemplating completely in shade, with no direct sun ever? Mine was planted in that sort of place (no sun at all, but bright shade) for 3-4 years. What it did was only get about 4 feet high, creeping up the huge trunk of an 80 foot tall oak tree, and only put out 4-5 miniature blooms a year. If you can plant it so that the sun hits it sometimes, I do think it would keep going up - it is very near to a wild rose, and that is what they do. Jackie