Thank you MayBee (and everyone else) Actually, I could use some landscaping advice Here is a picture a bit further back, which gives a better sense of the small little space I have. The garden "strip" (for lack of a better term) wraps around the side of my end-unit townhome. Most of this is in the shade (faces north), but the front edge is a small raised bed which gets sun all afternoon. Originally, it had three ugly old azealeas (sorry azealea lovers, I find them to be very boring bushes!!). So I was just going to replace them with three roses (Iceberg is what I was originally thinking). Well, that was 4 years ago...Let's just say I have "grown" as a garderner I wound up extending the raised bed a bit, it was about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide, now it is 15 feet long. But I cannot extend it any further. I have a lovely maple at the end of that bed, and I am already planting a bit too close to that tree as it is. Across the sidewalk from the raised bed is a small "island", which is community property...it has the fire hydrant and the light post. Because of Jude's popularity, I got the blessing of my neighbors to pull the ugly juniper ground cover and put in roses. I have 3 Lavagluts in there (one on lifesupport, after some bad transplant shock), and now have added 3 Souvenir de la Malmaison. I have ringed all 6 of the roses with dwarf lavendar, which should fill in nicely as the summer progresses. The full list of roses is as follows (16 in all): Jude the Obscure: In the corner closest to the steps. He is my first rose purchase, and first love - now 4 years old. It just keeps getting better Molineux (3 of them) They sit next to Jude. I planted them last year, they didn't do much last year, but this year I have gotten a good spring flush and they are starting to grow a bit. They have a nice tea fragrance Jardins de Bagatelle (2 of them, view obscured by red Lavaglut roses growing in the island): These are new this year. Not much yet, but pretty blooms on the baby plants with a nice fragrance. I wanted 3, to replace 3 Ducher (China) roses, which were perfectly fine rose bushes (bullet proof), but didn't really put out nice flowers for cutting. I have a small garden, I decided I wanted more cutting roses. I could only get 2 JdB this year (Roses Unlimited), so I am holding a spot for one more of these guys for next, assuming they perform well Crimson Bouquet (1, behind Molineux). It's 3 years old now. No fragrance, but lovely bloom, long lasting, great for cutting, and it repeats really well over the summer. Maggie (1, next to Crimson Bouquet on the pillar trellis). This is brand new (Antique Rose Emporium), just a baby, and not really visible. It replaced a hybrid tea (Beloved) that was constantly getting blackspot. I have high hopes for this one...already putting out new growth. Pickerings 4 Seasons Rose - in a pot, not in the picture (further up the steps). Doing ok, but not as nice a rose as Rose du Roi. Blooms are pretty, not a heavy bloomer, but it is still young. A very lanky plant though!! Rose du Roi (1, in a pot, next to Jude). I acquired as a happy accident last year, an apology gift from Rogue Valley Roses for sending me the wrong rose. I didn't have space, so he went in a pot. This rose is really growing on me. It produced a great, very fragrant flush last fall. That damask scent was just WONDERFUL!!!! This spring's flush has been very nice, and he is starting to fill in a bit. I may try and squeeze him in at the end of the garden later this summer, just past the space for Jardin des Bagatelles, roughly where the little white sign sits (I would have to fill in some dirt) I don't want to run a big "pot ghetto" Souvenir de la Malmaison (3 of these on the "island" next to the light pole, on the right) - What more can I say. They are brand new, and I am already very impressed. Patrick & Lori who live in my area, love this rose. I find the fragrance subtle, soft, not a strong as Jude or Rose du Roi, but nice. The flower form cannot be beat. They seem very happy in their new bed! Lavaglut (2 1/2, on the left side of the lightpole): They are only 1 year old, but are already 3 1/2 feet tall. They bloom non-stop all summer, and stand up INCREDIBLY well to the heat (and we have HOT, humid summers!!!). Blooms are long lasting (great cut flowers, but no fragrance), and a pretty deep red. Disease free foliage. I wrote off one of these (now a 1/2 rose, sitting, partially obscured by the fire hydrant) that I had transplanted (to make room for SDLM). But I looked last night, and it is showing signs of life (2 live canes, and a bunch of dead ones). I will look again at him tonight, and trim the dead canes. Should I keep him or pull him? If I pull him, I could conceivably buy & plant 2 more SDLM (on either side of the fire hydrant) and have 5 of those ringing the 2 remaining Lavagluts (and all framed by the new lavendar plants I put in). Or.... I could try and put in 2 of the SDLM sport, Capitaine Dyel de Graville (if I can find it!), to get a somewhat darker shade of pink. Oh the choices one has to make with a small garden!! I appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts (since I am still very much a novice!!) Basil

What a great week we've had in the tea bloom department despite having a slight frost last weekend. We've had a steady flush of blooms on all the teas and chinas around here. The colors are rich and lovely because of the cooler temps. The Duchess looks especially lovely in her pink blossoms. Mrs. B.R. Cant and Mons Tillier are new to my garden this year. Still in pots, but oh, so fun. Ducher, Cramisia Superior (sorry about the spelling) and Sombreiul (sigh, gotta practice my French spellings) are having a nice late fall flush. My china, Mutablius, is bursting with blooms. Silly roses. We will have a hard freeze within the next couple of weeks. They should be going to sleep, not putting on new growth and buds. But I'm not griping. They look incredible. Hugs to the teas and their growers. Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

Wow....what an amazing list of people.... too many of them no longer with us or active here. It is nice to remember some of their names and their struggles that we shared. Thanks for the memories.

Today I took a few more pics. The first one is rather similar to my previous shot of "Bermuda Spice", but this one shows a bit of its neighbors. Swallowing the raised deck railing near the upper left corner is "Nouveau Monde -- In Commerce As". It's not blooming, but it sure is growing! After its bloom, I cut its canes back to the top of the deck railing -- which, incidentally, is six feet from ground level. It more than replaced that growth, so what I've got will be kept. And what you see arching over the railing are actually laterals -- the main stems were trained in arches and/or horizontally along the deck railing. That encouraged lots of laterals -- which grow long and generally unbranched. I'll likely have to train it a bit better in Spring, however. To the immediate left of "Bermuda Spice" is 'Rose du Roi -- original. It doesn't have blooms now, but there are a few unopened buds hidden among the foliage. In the pots at the bottom, there's 'Mutabilis' on the left, and a sprawling "Ferndale Red China" on the right. Both are also bloom-less right now. I also shared a pic of 'Sweet Chariot' previously, but this shot shows the whole plant. This came as a band in June, spent some time "planted directly" in the ground, then was removed and repotted in a 2-gal container after I decided not to put it where I had it. It'll eventually go on the side of my house, helping to give some shade to the ferns and hostas and other things that seem to be getting too much sun there. This is 'Miss Lowe's Variety' in a 2-gal nursery liner, currently sitting next to "Bermuda Spice". The buds you see are actually mature, but were closed because it was so cloudy when I took the pics. In the background you can see lots of brown among the grass. I put down seed in the patches where the crabgrass has died off for the season, then topped it with Milorganite, then peat moss, then coffee grounds. Each layer was just sprinkled, and the total is still less than half an inch. I probably should have done this a month ago, but it's already starting to germinate. Fescue is fast. That tuft of blue foliage near the upper left corner is Dianthus 'Rose du Mai' which still has blooms. Above it is the one yellow bloom on 'Happy Child' which I show better later. There's also some blue foliage in the lower right corner. That belongs to Dianthus 'Horatio' -- not blooming. It sorta spills out onto the deck there, which I like even when not blooming. In the center of this pic is 'Nigrette', which is the same rose sold under the name 'Louis XIV'. I don't know which is correct -- perhaps 'Louis XIV' was reintroduced under a new name, or perhaps someone found an unnamed 'Nigrette' and matched it to 'Louis XIV'. Doesn't matter to me. This rose would probably be miserable in the ground, but when living in a 15" pot filled with my "magic mix", it grows and blooms and remains healthy without further assistance. There aren't open blooms on it now, but if you look closely, you'll find LOTS of unopened buds. I do hope they show their faces before a hard freeze. The pot in the upper right holds 'Oakington Ruby', which was once planted in the ground right from its band lined but later removed and potted up. It also has a couple of blooms on it, but they're rather ragged now. The pot in the lower right holds 'Chateau de Clos Vougeot', which isn't blooming now. It wasn't doing much for a while, until I realized it wasn't getting much sun. Since moving the pot to here, it sent forth two new basals that are a bit thicker than a pencil. All three roses came as bands this Spring from RVR. 'Lady Hillingdon' was hit pretty hard by blackspot this year, but then refoliated with those pretty plum-colored leaves -- and has a bunch of buds forming. This is the only bloom currently open. Those naked canes against the railing by the steps belong to 'Reine des Violettes'. It has lots of leaves at the tips, but didn't refoliate after blackspot hit. Instead, it just continued growing, and kept its leaves on the new tips. Here's 'Golden Buddha' with a range of ages among its blooms. I usually don't remove them until they start turning brown, which isn't for a week or more. But the initial color lasts only two or three days before fading to the off-white color you see on some here. Also note the foliage -- while it got no blackspot this year, I am noticing a bit of mildew along the tips of some stems. We had an unusually dry August, then a whole bunch of rain for a week in September, then it stayed rather cool and dry. That combination seemed to cause a bit of a mildew outbreak on several of my roses. I'm still studying how they do, so I'm not intervening. I'm considering using sulfur spray alternating with liquid castile soap for next year, and that's about as toxic as I'll go. Oh, and that photobombing foliage that doesn't "match" in the lower right belongs to 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'. I pegged two of its long canes, and this one stretched about six feet. I'll probably nip the tip back so it doesn't overlap 'Prospero' (not pictured, to the right of 'Golden Buddha'). 'Clotilde Soupert' is having such a heavy flush right now, its canes are bowing over from the weight. A couple are showing a touch of balling, but overall, they're mostly fine. We did have a cold wet night somewhat recently, and I think that's what did it. "Sophie's Perpetual" is growing at a glacial pace, but I'm fine with that. I'll just have to surround it with annuals next year to fill all that empty space I left in anticipation of the size I thought it'd be by now. 'Honorine de Brabant' had "scattered rebloom" during the Summer, then stopped in August. I suppose if I gave it a haircut it'd done better with an Autumn flush, but I'm still in the "let them grow wild" phase. This was a band two years ago, and is already reaching the roof of the garage. I pulled this cane down a bit to take the pic. 'Happy Child" got hit with spotty leaves somewhat recently, but keeps sending blooms regardless. Frankly, for this time of year, I don't care about spotty leaves. We have just a few more weeks before most of the leaves will drop, anyway. 'Happy Child' is planted between Dianthus 'Rose du Mai' and 'Honorine de Brabant', with some other miscellaneous things. ......to be continued :-) ~Christopher