Ha, postage size yards... that would be me. I live in New York City, proper, so this is a big yard comparatively. It's roughly 30x30 feet in the back. We have about 16 roses in the back, and 3 on the side. This is their 3rd year in the ground, so just starting to get to a good size. I do a 2 step cleanup for the roses, the first cut is usually late November. Just enough for good measure for winter, usually once most of the leaves have dropped, and I'll do another shaping in early march. I put mulch on after I've done any requisite fall bulbs. But we have such a small space, I garden very intensly, I've dug a lot of organics in, made somewhat of a raised bed with rocks I dug out of the ground, so the point in relation to the pruning, is that in a good year, these roses get gigantic, even though it's North facing (in summer it gets full sun 12 hours a day). Most are hybrid Teas or similar high maintenance, particularly because they are so close and get drip irrigation, there's always plenty of moisture. The first cleanup takes about 3 big garbage bags after I've tied up the stems and cinched them tight in burlap so they won't cut through the bags. It takes me most of the day with other various cleanup tasks. We're looking to start a family and get a larger house with yard, so I'd be taking most of these with me, and revert it back to grass or similar low maintenance plants. I love the roses, but I need more space for them. You can see the progression over a year in the pictures below. Each picture links to a collection you can see more pictures at that time of year. The pictures are "roughly" March, May, June, September. Each link goes to the collection. I've ommitted the July-August picture, because honestly with the veggies, you can't even see the roses! It's so overgrown... June is the prettiest month, nothing else has caught up yet.

I have both Penelope and Felicia...I say "have" with some trepidation in view of the -40 degrees in my weather forecasted for Monday, but I digress... My Penelope I actually moved a 12 year specimen of last year (I got 3 as my very first 'OGRs' and moved 1 from my old home because I couldn't bear to leave them all behind) just because I WANTED the 2 next to each other. Imagine that, getting so emotionally attached to a plant. ;-) (preaching to the crowd here, right?) They're are about 10 feet apart now. Felicia I got in 2010 as a band. The 2 are now roughly the same size after the hacking I had to do to safely lift and transport the 12 year old Penelope last year...so about 3 feet square. The flowers are very harmonious next to each other. Penelope gets a peachy pink heart in my yard...and Felicia gets a lovely golden blush in hers. Sort of yin and yang thing going on. Felicia has larger petals than Penelope that, as already stated, are oh-so-delicate and fade quickly in the heat. I have mine in partial shade, which she likes (Penelope gets more sun, we'll see if the 2 argue about this as time goes on). Felicia's scent is by far my favorite of the 2. The plants have very similar growth habits (at least my 2 do)...again, they are so very harmonious next to each other. Disease resistance very similar...both get some blackspot...both defoliate to some extent from said BS...but neither has ever looked like a total dog to me. But, as newer plants to my current garden, I'm not going to say that anyone else's experience would perfectly match mine. I'd share a photo of the 2 blooms together in 1 image but I didn't get one last year since Penelope was moved just last year (a move I might well regret in a couple days, ugh). Separate it is. Penelope May, 2013 Felicia May, 2012 Cheers! ~Anika Here is a link that might be useful: GothicLibrarian.net

Thanks! :-) Yes Marlorena, a house eater indeed. :-) It's a Stephanotis, we also call it Bridal Jasmine here. I am glad you also have one Melodye. Mine is about 3-4 years old. I walked in a nursery one day looking for a night blooming jasmine, then I saw this huge bridal jasmine in a pot with a 6' tall trellis, looked wild reaching to the celling, it made me smile.......also have 3 Grand Duke of Tuecany jasmine trees, flowers look like mini roses, very fragrant; and star Jasmine, Arabian Jasmine......have killed 3 orange jasmine trees plus 1 plant, will see if I can find another one....... Melodye, do you have a photo of yours? :-) Sorry Jeri, went off the topic.......how did I run from SGMC to jasmine? :-)

Marianne, I'm trying to find an address for you, and not succeeding, but will continue the search. It's quite odd, actually. You, meaning you and your husband, are cordially invited for next spring. Rose season usually begins around the start of May and keeps going through about mid-June. Spring flowering gets going well in April. It's an uncertain world, but April and May offer the best chances of good weather. Bart, I looked up Petrovic's availability list for this year so I could offer some sensible advice. Even though I have a lot of Gallicas--they're the single largest group of roses in the garden--the bulk of mine I don't know well enough to be able to recommend them or not; I need years to get to know a variety. A few comments. 'Cardinal de Richelieu' I would be wary about: it has never done that well for me, and appears to have shorter-lived canes and a greater susceptibility to sunburn than most Gallicas. I have it in two positions, one favorable, grafted and own root. I have, and like very much, 'Tuscany' and 'Tuscany Superb'; these actually look identical to me, which they're not supposed to be, but I think either of these would be a healthy, sturdy, dark Gallica for you, regardless of the confusion in my own collection. My 'Ipsilante'/'Ypsilante' is utterly superb, though I should add it has about the best spot in the garden and was slow to get going, so I don't know how it would perform in more trying conditions. 'Belle de Crecy' has a great reputation; mine is in a rose-killing part of the garden and its having even survived this long is a credit to its toughness. It is known as a great suckerer. 'Violacea' is tall, handsome, classic Gallica except for its height, supposed to be not very fragrant, though; mad_gallica warns that it suckers madly, mine suckers, not madly. In starved conditions it's shorter. 'Hippolyte' and 'Rosier Eveque' are both present in the garden, both have a reputation for being dark kinds; all my plants are in hot dry spots and poor soil and are hanging on and growing. They're in too poor positions for me to be able to evaluate them fairly, but they're certainly not bad roses, and I think you could consider them. 'Jenny Duval' is handsome, tough, and suckers far and wide. Some good (great, fabulous) Gallicas in other colors: 'Aimable Amie', pink, full, double large blooms, typical habit, lovely rose in every way (may be identical to 'Louis van Tyll' and 'Belle sans Flatterie'); 'Alain Blanchard', delightfully freckled, this may finally be growing for me; 'Belle Isis', smallish myrrh-scented soft pink flowers, beautiful (similar in appearance to 'Duchesse de Montebello'); 'Duchesse d'Angouleme', delicate pale blooms; 'Mme. Zoetmans', usually not classed as a Gallica but quite like a pale member of the class, fragrant, beautiful, charming. I mention possible identical roses and similar roses so that you won't be so likely to end up with more than one of the same variety or roses too like one another. I ran through P's list hurriedly, and may well have missed interesting varieties that I do know something about. The 'Onex' I got from P. is, I believe, the Moss 'Nuits de Young'. 'Beau Narcisse' I find overly thorny and disease-prone. Carol has a point about being able to distinguish suckers. Last June I went through part of the bottom bed and flagged suckers of 'Pink Leda', while they were bloom and I could tell them apart, for removal this fall. I try when planting rows of cuttings to alternate different classes so I don't confuse them when they grow. P.S. Carol, I would be totally happy to post photos of my roses, if I had any photos. We have only a cheap camera, and whether on account of that or because I'm terrible with it, I've never taken decent plant or flower pictures. I know I need a better camera and have posted asking advice. Trospero's photos linked to this thread are exemplary.